How programmatic advertising will evolve this year on the heels of audio growth and privacy changes
Image credit Ivy Liu
Audio advertising is experiencing record growth, as privacy regulations continue impacting targeting tactics, according to a State of Programmatic study released on Tuesday by Comscore’s programmatic division Proximic.
Based on the findings of of hundreds of marketers across different industries in the U.S., programmatic advertisers are preparing for a year of many changes. This points to a need for marketers to adapt with new targeting methods and data partners to be prepared for regulatory changes.
The research found that connected TV ad spending is stagnating while audio and podcasting continue to rise. While the net new marketers investing in CTV is slowing down, it remains a major part of most clients’ media plans, alongside linear TV, digital and social. Audio and podcast advertising, however, saw record growth, with the largest year-over-year gains compared to other channels from last year — with 5% of marketers expected to invest in CTV for the first time this year.
It is expected to be a cumulative 5% increase to the overall share of marketers investing in this media type, Comscore noted.
“CTV has been a more accessible medium over recent years with the help of programmatic technology, so it’s not surprising if many marketers who were going to adopt advertising on this media type have already done so,” said Rachel Gantz, managing director of Proximic by Comscore.
“There are three main contributors to this, which include the huge investments in content from publishers, increases in listenership, and advances in measurement as well,” Russell said. “Podcasts are a particular standout and place of interest for our clients.”
Others say audio will always remain secondary to CTV in the future. “We don’t see audio overtaking CTV. In fact, over the last six months, we’ve seen renewed interest in CTV inventory,” said Paul DeJarnatt, vp and head of digital at Novus, who noted that from his experience, about 70% of audio budgets are spent in music-related content and about 30% in podcasts.
