Advanced audio feature developed for growing podcast industry will increase optionality for publishers to load ads from any server and increase monetization opportunities

Backtracks, the world’s most advanced platform for end-to-end podcast and audio management, advertising and data analytics, announces today the addition of dynamic client-side ad insertion (CSAI) for audio. This latest offering will provide publishers, advertisers and creators “over the top” ad insertion capabilities by using VAST (video ad serving template, the combined standard in the digital advertising industry for both audio and video advertising) to access ads from multiple servers and destinations, with accurate measurement and analytics provided by Backtracks’ robust and feature-rich platform. The advancement of CSAI in audio and podcasting content adds extra value for marketers, expanding contextual ad and episodic targeting capabilities, the ability to benefit from and extend the advertising ecosystem built around video advertising into audio. Additionally, it allows creators to take advantage of growing demand from advertisers, while having yet another way to increase creator earnings.

This announcement marks the first of multiple innovative product releases from Backtracks to come in early 2022, all aimed at further modernizing the podcasting industry through the development of technology and tools that gives advertisers and publishers greater access to the best fit of content, ads, and audience. Advertiser enthusiasm for podcasting rapidly increased in 2021 as consumer behavior towards spoken audio has evolved and audiences have steadily expanded. IAB projected that podcast advertising revenue would top $1 billion in 2021 and double to $2.2 billion, by 2023. Backtracks is dedicated to continuing to serve this rapidly growing media channel by providing the most advanced infrastructure platform for advertisers and publishers alike.

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“Our universal approach to audio advertising is the first-of-its-kind,” said Jonathan Gill, Founder and CEO of Backtracks. “Backtracks is applying the power and flexibility of all the versions of VAST from 2.0 to 4.2 to podcasts, pre-recorded audio, and live audio. By pushing the envelope we are directly solving long standing problems in podcast and audio advertising capabilities and optionality. Host read or spoken ad’s have long been the podcasting norm, and while they have their benefits, there are limitations to the reach and scale for both publishers and advertisers.”

Client-side audio ad insertion allows for dynamic and targeted advertising that’s interchangeable by listening context location, time-of-day, episode, content, and more. Similar to experiencing a YouTube ad, but without breaking apart the listening experience in the middle of a sentence, dynamically inserted and contextually relevant ads that are not embedded or baked-in allow for a more satisfying user experience, and additional campaign scale revenue options for advertisers and publishers.

Backtracks’ integrated software platform allows advertisers to find, click and buy podcast ads with confidence and clarity – seamlessly integrating with brands and agencies’ advertising strategies, while harnessing the power of in-depth actionable analytics to know and grow podcast advertising campaign success without the capture and storage of personally identifiable information and cookies. Backtracks allows publishers and creators using the Backtracks Player to monetize their content and control ad placement across shows and episodes on any app, live-stream, over-the-top audio or digital radio with IAB verified metrics and analytics.

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2021 was a year of innovation and milestones in the product landscape for the Backtracks platform to deliver unprecedented value to podcast publishers and advertisers. The company made advancements in technologies including; podcast analytics, podcast attribution and conversion tracking, AI insights, machine learning, Backtracks SDKs, Backtracks Player and accessibility tools, interactive audio and head-nod detection in Apple AirPods and supported earbuds, IAB podcast measurement certification for podcast analytics and advertising metrics, and a collaboration with Google Cloud to allow advertisers view their analytics data within Google Data Studio.

In 2022, Backtracks will continue to invest heavily in further development of existing and new product offerings across its infrastructure and data platform. Its continued innovation in audio technology is aimed at advancing the industry and continuing to help podcasters and audio partners around the world better measure, monetize, and advertise in audio and podcasting.