How to sponsor a podcast

Podcast ads are sold per thousand downloads and read by a voice the listener already trusts. That makes them simple to buy and easy to overpay for. This guide covers the ad types, where in the episode to run them, how downloads get counted, what the rate cards say in 2026, and how to buy.

What types of podcast ads can you buy?

You can buy three kinds of podcast ads: host-read, announcer-read, and programmatic. They differ in who records the ad and how it gets placed.

A host-read ad is the host talking about your product in their own words. Listeners hear it as a recommendation from someone they chose to spend an hour with. An announcer-read ad is a produced spot, voiced by an actor or by your own team, that can run on many shows at once. Programmatic ads are announcer-read spots bought through software, targeted by audience traits such as location or time of day, rather than by show.

The IAB and PwC study of 2021 podcast revenue found host-read ads made up 55% of US podcast ad revenue that year, and announcer-read ads 40%. Treat those shares as a 2021 snapshot.

For a brand's first podcast campaign, buy host reads. They cost more per thousand, but you are paying for the host's endorsement, and that is the part a produced spot cannot copy. Announcer-read and programmatic buys make sense later, once you know which shows and audiences convert.

Where in the episode should your ad run?

Run your ad in the mid-roll, the break in the middle of the episode, unless you have a reason not to. A pre-roll plays at the start and a post-roll plays near the end.

By the time a mid-roll plays, the listener has chosen to stay for the episode, and the host has their full attention. Advertisers put most of their money there. The 2021 IAB study found 64% of US podcast ad revenue went to mid-rolls, 32% to pre-rolls, and 4% to post-rolls.

A pre-roll reaches more people, but some of them skip ahead past it. Post-rolls reach your most loyal listeners and few others. If a show offers a post-roll for free as part of a package, take it. Don't pay full price for one.

What is the difference between baked-in and dynamic ad insertion?

A baked-in ad is recorded into the episode file and stays there for good, while dynamic ad insertion (DAI) stitches the ad into the file at the moment a listener downloads it. The same host can record either kind.

Baked-in ads keep playing to everyone who finds the episode later, months or years after you paid. That long tail is free reach, but you can't remove it. If your price changes or your company rebrands, the old read stays live. Pick a promo code and URL that will keep working.

Dynamic ads run for the dates you buy and then stop. Shows can target them by geography, rotate them across old episodes, and report how many were delivered. DAI took 84% of US podcast ad revenue in 2021 according to the IAB study, up from 48% in 2019.

Libsyn Ads prices the two differently. Its 2026 rate card lists dynamic placements on new episodes at $18 to $22 CPM and dynamic placements across the back catalog at $14 to $16. Baked-in host reads run $24 to $26 for a 60-second spot and $18 to $22 for 30 seconds.

Buy baked-in when your offer is evergreen and you like the idea of reaching future listeners. Buy dynamic when you need dates, geography, or a clean delivery report.

How are podcast downloads counted?

Podcast downloads are counted from server logs, using rules set by the IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines, whose version 2.3 came out in September 2026. A download is a unique request that delivers enough of the file to play for one minute.

Under the guidelines, measurement companies filter requests by IP address plus user agent, the label a podcast app sends with each request, over a set window that is typically 24 hours. They must remove known bots, data centers, and VPN traffic, and duplicate downloads from paired Apple Watches. For a dynamically inserted ad, every byte of the ad must download before it counts as delivered.

Version 2.3 also covers video episodes distributed through open RSS feeds and calls the audience "podcast consumers" to include viewers. True streaming, playback that never saves a file to the device, is outside the guidelines for now.

Two practical points follow. First, a download is not a listen. Nobody can tell you from server logs whether the listener reached your mid-roll. Second, ask for numbers from the show's hosting platform, not a screenshot of a social post. The IAB Tech Lab runs a compliance program that certifies companies against the guidelines, so ask whether the host's platform is certified.

How much does a podcast sponsorship cost?

Podcast sponsorships are priced on cost per mille (CPM), the price per thousand downloads, with Libsyn Ads' 2026 rate card running from $12 for programmatic spots to $26 for 60-second baked-in host reads. To estimate the cost of one spot, divide the downloads per episode by 1,000 and multiply by the CPM.

Say a show averages 20,000 downloads per episode in its first 30 days and charges a $25 CPM. One mid-roll costs 20 times $25, or $500. Four episodes cost $2,000. The sponsorship cost calculator runs the same math for other channels.

Libsyn Ads, the ad sales arm of the hosting company Libsyn, publishes this 2026 rate card for 30-second and 60-second spots:

Category matters. Libsyn's monthly report for September 2024 put the average 60-second CPM across its marketplace at $21.37, with government shows at $31 and technology shows at $29.

These are rate cards and marketplace averages, not promises, and rates move with demand. Some shows, especially small ones, quote a flat fee per episode instead, so convert any flat fee back to a CPM before you compare. The guide to what creator sponsorships cost covers flat-fee and hybrid deals in more detail.

How do video podcasts on YouTube and Spotify change the deal?

Video podcasts turn a host read into something viewers can see, so the host can hold the product, show the app, or point to an on-screen code. It is also counted differently from audio, so treat it as a second deliverable with its own price.

YouTube said it had more than 1 billion monthly active viewers of podcast content in January 2025. YouTube counts views, not IAB downloads, so a show's YouTube numbers and its RSS numbers are separate audiences measured in separate ways. Ask for each, and price each. On YouTube, the creator must declare the sponsorship with the paid promotion setting, which shows viewers a disclosure at the start of the video under YouTube's branded content policies.

Spotify pays video podcasters through its Partner Program. In January 2026, Spotify said Premium subscribers in select markets watch Partner Program videos without dynamic ads, but may still hear creator sponsorships. It also said Partner Program creators would be able to add, remove, and replace host-read sponsorships in video episodes and track delivery, with a rollout starting in April 2026. A host read can reach Premium listeners that Spotify's own ads skip.

When a show offers audio plus video, get the video deliverables in writing: how long the product is on screen, whether the code appears as text, and whether the clip can be cut into short videos. Reuse of that clip in your own ads is a separate right, covered in usage rights and whitelisting.

How do you track results with promo codes and vanity URLs?

Give every show its own promo code and its own vanity URL, a short web address such as yourbrand.com/showname, so you can tie sales to the show that drove them. Listeners can't click an audio ad, so these two tools do the work a link does elsewhere.

Codes and URLs undercount. Some listeners forget the code, type your main address, or search your brand name a week later. Codes can also leak to coupon sites, which credits the show for sales it didn't drive. Add a "How did you hear about us?" question to checkout and accept free text, because buyers will type the show name in their own spelling.

Pixel-based attribution fills some of the gap. Tools such as Podscribe put a tracking pixel on your site to connect sponsored episodes to visits and purchases, and run automated checks that the ad aired as bought. Ask whether the show's hosting platform supports attribution pixels before you sign.

Judge each show after three or four episodes, not one. A single episode can land on a slow news week or a guest the audience disliked. The guide to measuring sponsorship ROI shows how to turn codes, URLs, and survey answers into a cost per customer.

Where do you buy podcast ads?

You buy podcast ads directly from the host, through a network that sells for many shows, or through a self-serve marketplace. Which one fits depends on how many shows you want and how much control you need.

Acast's ad platform lets advertisers book host-read sponsorships and upload pre-produced ads across shows on its marketplace. Spotify's Ads Manager sold podcast inventory, including Spotify Originals, in eight markets as of July 2025, and its Ad Exchange sold the same inventory to programmatic buyers through The Trade Desk and Google Display & Video 360, according to a Spotify note published by Podnews.

Start direct. Find five shows your customers already listen to, pitch them, and buy three or four episodes each. The guide to finding creators covers where to look and what to ask. Move to networks and marketplaces once you know which show types pay back.

Whichever route you take, ask the host to announce the sponsorship at the start of the read as standard practice. In the US, the FTC's Endorsement Guides give the example of a host reading what is obviously a commercial near the start of an episode, and say listeners would expect payment, so a separate payment disclosure may not be needed. If the read sounds like the host's personal opinion, the host must actually hold that view. UK guidance from the CMA says podcast ads must give the disclosure at the beginning of the ad. The disclosure rules guide covers the details.