Spotify announced the acquisitions of Podsights and Chartable, two services that provide insights for advertisers and podcasting publishers.
Podsights helps marketers assess the effectiveness of their ads. Chartable provides audience insights that help podcast publishers measure the effectiveness of their growth campaigns.
Financial details of the transactions were not available.
“Our acquisitions of podcast technology players Podsights and Chartable are helpful in our pursuit of up leveling digital audio measurement insights,” said Khurrum Malik, head of ads business marketing at Spotify.
Stockholm-based Spotify has been investing in podcasts as unlike the music business, which is largely commoditized and low margin as it pays out a part of the revenue to the rights holders, podcasts engage listeners for hours on end.
Spotify has acquired podcast networks such as Gimlet Media and Anchor, negotiated exclusive deals with popular personalities including Joe Rogan and “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper, and invested in underlying technology.
Rogan has emerged as Spotify’s most popular podcast in 90 markets, even as he has become a lightning rod for criticism for views on COVID-19 and use of racist language. He has apologized and more than 100 episodes of his show have been removed.
Spotify has been working to modernize podcast advertising through features such as the real-time ad insertion. The acquisition of Megaphone helps podcast publishers earn more from their content. Spotify is hoping to capture a share of the $2 billion that eMarketer predicts will flow into podcasting by 2023.
According to eMarketer, annual U.S. digital audio advertising revenue is poised to grow to nearly $8 billion — and of that, $2.7 billion for podcast advertising alone — by 2025.
