Audio Ads
Audio ads are short spoken spots played before and during a podcast or web radio stream, with the advertiser’s image next to the player. Listeners can skip after a few seconds, and you see how many of them hear each spot to the end.
For advertisers: a spot and an image
Upload a spot of 3 to 120 seconds as mp3, m4a, aac, ogg, opus or wav, add your destination URL and, if you like, a companion image. The ad server converts the spot to mp3 for every player. Audio campaigns are bought like any other format: on CPM or CPC, with the same targeting by country, device and schedule.
For publishers: one line on your player
Create an audio ad zone, enter the CSS selector of your own audio player and paste the zone code once. A spot plays before the first play and, if you want, again every few minutes of listening. Your content pauses for the ad and continues where it was. A small bar under the player shows the ad label, the advertiser’s image, a countdown and a skip button.
Listen-through you can count
The impression counts when the spot starts playing. On top of that, the ad server records how many listeners reach a quarter, half, three quarters and the end of each spot, so advertisers buy attention they can measure and you can show which placements hold listeners.
Podcast apps and VAST
Apps and podcast hosts that insert ads themselves use the zone’s VAST URL instead of the script. They get a VAST 4 audio ad: the audio file, its length, a companion image and the trackers for every quarter of the spot. The settings for TV and streaming players, such as several ads per break, a break schedule and server-side ad insertion, work on audio zones too.
See it live
The audio ad demo plays a short podcast episode with a spot before it and one after a minute, and shows the listen-through events as they are sent. For video and TV, see CTV & OTT ads and the video ad server. Every format is on ad formats.
How to set it up
- Advertisers upload the spot under Creatives as type Audio, create a campaign with the ad type Audio ads and add the destination URL and an optional companion image.
- Publishers create an ad zone of type Audio Ads and enter the CSS selector of their audio player, for example
#podcast. - Choose how often a mid-roll plays (0 means only before the first play), the ad label, skip and capping.
- Paste the code from the Ad Zone Code tab on the page with the player, or give a podcast app the zone’s VAST URL.
Frequently asked questions
Which audio files can I upload?
mp3, m4a, aac, ogg, opus and wav, 3 to 120 seconds long. Every spot is converted to mp3 on upload, so it plays in every player.
When does an audio impression count?
When the spot starts playing. The ad server also records how many listeners reach a quarter, half, three quarters and the end of the spot.
Do podcast apps need the script?
No. Apps and podcast hosts that insert ads themselves use the zone’s VAST URL and receive a VAST 4 audio ad with its companion image.
Documentation
Set it up step by step in the GoAdserver documentation: Audio ads and, for ad breaks in apps, Connected TV and streaming apps.