Podcast advertising glossary
The words used when podcast ads are planned, bought and measured, defined plainly, with the source named wherever a definition rests on a figure or a standard.
A
- Ad break
A point in an episode set aside for ads, usually at the start, in the middle or at the end. Dynamically inserted ads are placed into breaks that the show marks in the audio file.
- Ad load
The share of an episode's running time given to ads. Magellan AI tracked an average ad load of 8.75% across the episodes it analyzed in the second quarter of 2026. A show well above the average asks its listeners to sit through more before they reach any one brand.
- Aircheck
A recording, or a link with a timestamp, of an ad as it actually aired. Advertisers use airchecks to confirm a read ran in the agreed position and length, with the offer and mandatory lines as briefed.
- Announcer-read adAlso: Voice talent ad
A pre-recorded ad voiced by an actor, announcer or producer instead of the show's host. The IAB treats it as one of three kinds of podcast creative, alongside host-read ads and brand-produced spots, which the brand writes and records itself.
- Attribution windowAlso: Lookback window
The period after someone is exposed to an ad during which a visit or purchase is credited to it. Magellan AI's podcast benchmarks use a 30-day window, and in them response was still climbing on day 30.
B
- Back catalog
A show's earlier episodes, which keep being downloaded after release. A baked-in read plays in the back catalog for as long as the episode is downloaded, while dynamically inserted ads in old episodes can be replaced or sold again.
- Baked-in adAlso: Integrated ad
An ad that is part of the episode's audio, so it plays for every listener of that episode, however long after release they press play. Targeting is limited to choosing the show and the episode.
- Brand lift study
A survey that compares people who were exposed to ads with a similar group who were not, and measures the difference in recall, awareness or consideration. It measures a change in perception and does not measure sales.
- Brand suitabilityAlso: Brand safety
A brand's own judgment of which content it is willing to appear beside. Brand safety is the floor beneath that judgment, the content no advertiser should sit beside. In podcasting both are checked by listening to the back catalog and by scoring episode transcripts. The World Federation of Advertisers wound up GARM, the industry initiative whose categories were once widely used, in August 2024.
- Branded segment
A few minutes inside an episode on a subject agreed with a sponsor, led by the host. Because it can be mistaken for the show's own material, the FTC's Endorsement Guides call for the sponsorship to be disclosed clearly, which in an audio show means said aloud.
C
- CPA dealAlso: Cost per acquisition
A deal priced per customer or sale instead of per thousand downloads. CPA deals exist in podcasting, though we have found no neutral source on how common they are or what they typically cost.
- CPMAlso: Cost per thousand
The price of a thousand downloads or impressions, the M standing for mille, Latin for a thousand. Libsyn Ads calculates a campaign's cost by multiplying reach by the CPM and dividing by 1,000, taking reach as the downloads in an episode's first 30 days, so a read reaching 20,000 downloads at a sample rate of $25 CPM would cost $500.
- Creator partnerships boost
A Google Ads feature for running a YouTube creator video linked to the advertiser's account, such as a sponsored integration, as an ad in Google's Video, Demand Gen or Performance Max campaign types. According to Google, the advertiser must hold adequate rights from the creator.
D
- Dedicated video
A whole YouTube video about the sponsoring brand, as opposed to an integration, which is a segment inside a video on another subject.
- Download
In podcast measurement, an episode file delivered to a listener's device or player. Under the IAB Tech Lab guidelines downloads are counted on the server, because podcast apps report so little about playback, which means a download is no proof that anyone pressed play.
- Dynamic ad insertionAlso: DAI
Ads that an ad server picks and splices into marked breaks whenever an episode is requested, so they can be targeted by place and date, capped, swapped and removed. The IAB described it in 2023 as the dominant form of podcast ad insertion, at more than 80 percent. Host-reads can be inserted dynamically too.
E
- Exclusivity
An agreement that a brand's competitors will not advertise in the same show, break or format for a set period. The IAB says it has to be defined campaign by campaign, since a brand might hold exclusivity for host-reads while competitors' announcer-read ads still run in the back catalog.
F
- Flat-rate deal
A fixed price for a read or a package of reads, regardless of how many downloads or views the episode gets. On YouTube a flat fee may come with a guaranteed minimum of views, or cover several videos at once.
- Flight
A run of ads over a set period, usually several episodes on each show. Campaigns are planned and judged flight by flight, with the first flight designed as a test.
- Frequency cap
A limit on how many times one listener hears the same ad. It is only possible with dynamically inserted ads, where the ad server decides what each download receives.
H
- Halo effect
The lift an ad gives to results that direct tracking misses, such as searches for the brand's name, direct visits to its site and sales at retailers. We have found no neutral published study of its size, so we watch for it around each flight and report it separately.
- Host-read ad
A podcast ad in the host's own voice and words, usually worked up from talking points and delivered in the show's style. Nielsen reported in 2020 that host-read ads produced on average a 50% increase in purchase and recommendation intent compared with ads that were not host-read.
I
- Incrementality testAlso: Holdout test, conversion lift
A test that puts an exposed group beside a randomly chosen control group that saw no ads, so that the gap between them counts only the conversions the ads caused.
- Insertion orderAlso: IO
The signed booking between an advertiser and a show or network. It sets out what will run, where, when, at what price, and the terms for exclusivity and make-goods.
- Integration
On YouTube, a brand segment that sits within a video, whether ahead of the main content, part way through or after it. A sponsored read in a video podcast is an integration.
L
- Live read
A host-read recorded during the episode itself, as part of the conversation, rather than separately. Live reads are usually baked in, which lets the host tie the read to what they have just been discussing.
M
- Make-good
A replacement ad, usually at no extra cost, given when an ad did not run as agreed or a booking under-delivered. Airchecks are how most make-goods are found.
- Mandatory line
Wording a host has to say exactly, such as a regulatory statement, a pronunciation or the URL. Good briefs keep them to two or three and explain why each one is there.
- Mid-roll
An ad placed in the middle of an episode. Acast ranks it as the most expensive placement, ahead of pre-roll and post-roll.
P
- Paid promotion setting
A YouTube setting that creators must switch on whenever a video carries a sponsorship or endorsement, after which viewers see a label as the video begins. Keeping within the law, YouTube notes, remains the job of creators and brands.
- Pixel attribution
A method that matches the IP addresses of households that downloaded an episode with the IP addresses of visitors to the advertiser's site, within an attribution window. It works best for listening at home.
- Post-purchase survey
A question asked of new customers, usually on the order confirmation page, about where they heard of the brand. It counts buyers that codes miss, and is best read as an indicator of the channel's overall share.
- Post-roll
An ad placed at the end of an episode. Acast ranks it as the cheapest of the three placements.
- Pre-roll
An ad that plays as an episode opens, ahead of the main content. Acast ranks it between mid-roll and post-roll on price.
- Presenting sponsorship
A sponsorship that attaches a brand to an episode or series, usually with reads at the start and in the middle and a mention at the close.
- Programmatic audio
Podcast and audio ad space bought automatically through platforms, usually with produced spots priced by the impression. The Libsyn Ads rate card for 2026 lists programmatic at $12 to $15 CPM.
- Promo code
A discount code given to one show's listeners so sales can be tied to that show. By Right Side Up's estimate, codes and vanity URLs together pick up only 20% to 30% or so of what a podcast actually sells.
R
- Response rate
In Magellan AI's podcast benchmarks, the share of reached households that visited the advertiser's site within a 30-day window. Its median for the first half of 2026 was 2.23%.
- Run of network
A buy placed across a network's shows as a whole, where the network decides which shows and episodes carry the ad. The brand gives up the choice of host and show in exchange for reach.
S
- Sponsored episode
A whole episode built around a subject a brand supports, made by the show in its usual style and disclosed as sponsored.
T
- Talking points
Facts and reasons a brand gives a host to use in their own words, in place of a script. Each one should give the host something true and specific to say.
- Test flight
A first flight designed to answer questions, usually a few episodes on each of a short list of shows. Right Side Up says a campaign usually needs a first flight of about three episodes to reach peak performance.
- Trafficking
The work of getting briefs, codes, URLs, files and dates to every show in a plan, on time and in the form each show needs.
V
- Vanity URL
A short web address given to one show's listeners, such as a brand's domain followed by the show's name. Fairing notes that most people type the brand name instead, so vanity URLs undercount.
- Video podcast
A podcast published with video, most often on YouTube. Edison Research's metrics from October 2024 found YouTube to be the most used service among Americans who listen to podcasts weekly, chosen by 31% of them.
- View guarantee
The least number of views a creator or show commits to deliver on a flat-fee YouTube integration, with a remedy, such as a make-good, agreed in advance in case the video falls short.