IAB Tech Lab Launches Podcast Measurement Compliance Program

NPR & Rawvoice/Blubrry Earn First Seals of Compliance

The IAB Technology Laboratory Podcast Measurement Compliance Program has entered the marketplace championed by major podcast publishers and platforms, signaling high demand for the guidelines that help solve podcast advertising’s many measurement challenges. NPR and Rawvoice/Blubrry are the first companies to earn the Podcast Measurement Certification.

“NPR is excited to lead the way in accurate and transparent metrics for podcasts, and the IAB guidelines ensure this entire skyrocketing industry speaks a common language”

The IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement Compliance Program certifies that companies are adhering to the IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines, released in December 2017. These guidelines establish a common set of ad metrics for podcasts and a base set of principles that any measurement system should support.

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Podcast advertising has been challenged by a lack of uniformity in measurement systems and metrics. Meaningful measurement has been thwarted by an inability to connect, track, and analyze user requests; measurement products that use dissimilar, proprietary algorithms; and a lack of an agreed-upon set of metrics and their meanings. With the Podcast Measurement Compliance Program, the IAB Tech Lab seeks to ensure these common challenges are addressed.

The IAB Tech Lab Seal of Compliance for Podcast Measurement includes the following metrics:

• Download
• Listener
• Ad Delivery

“According to the latest IAB/PwC study, podcast advertising is estimated to hit revenues of $402 million this year alone, and the marketplace is growing very rapidly, despite measurement hurdles,” said Dennis Buchheim, Senior Vice President and General Manager, IAB Tech Lab. “To continue this growth, measurement practices need to become consistent, accurate, and meaningful. The Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines and Compliance Program help get us closer to this goal—and we applaud NPR and Rawvoice/Blubrry for becoming the first to be certified and all the other companies that are going through certification at this time.”

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“NPR is excited to lead the way in accurate and transparent metrics for podcasts, and the IAB guidelines ensure this entire skyrocketing industry speaks a common language,” said Steve Mulder, Senior Director of Audience Insights, NPR. “We are committed to advancing podcast measurement on all fronts: providing critical download-based metrics according to the IAB guidelines as well as moving into listening-based metrics through our Remote Audio Data spec. This certification is a key step for us and for the industry.”

“In 2008 we began work on metrics standardization, and it’s the base of what we still utilize today,” said Todd Cochrane, CEO, Rawvoice/Blubrry. “This certification validates what we have known and advocated for years. We are pleased and grateful to be one of the first to obtain certification, which will now be the gold standard of audited, tested, and validated podcast statistics for our 50,000-plus customers.”