Bryan Barletta on AdTech, Audio Advertising Wars, and the Power of Attribution

It's my pleasure to welcome Bryan Barletta to the show, a name that will be instantly recognizable to anyone in the podcasting and AdTech space.

Bryan is the founder of Sounds Profitable, a collection of media properties that covers the changing face of AdTech and the business of podcasting. Bryan's goal with Sounds Profitable is to make the AdTech space less daunting for podcasters and brands alike, and with over 13 years experience in the AdTech space, he's the ideal person to do so.

A Career Shaped by Mobile

Bryan's been in the ad tech space for over 13 years, but his early career was in the mobile tech/app space, where he was a journalist for various publications. He was there at the birth of Android, and shared what he thought of their chances when they first launched.

How Building Rich Media Ads for Mobile Led to AdTech

While Bryan's career started off in mobile journalism, it was he moved into mobile ads through an agency that he really caught the AdTech bug. He was part of the team that brought a very cool interactive ad to mobile, back when animated gifs were viewed as high end tech. This led to building data points that would track how successful the ads were when it came to conversion.

The Power of Attribution

It was Bryan's work in the mobile space that saw him work at an agency that came out with a solution called One Pixel, that went beyond javascript implementation for tracking ad campaigns and successes. As Bryan shares, this tech is still being used today in a variety of forms, and is helping drive ad spend increase in podcasting.

The Genesis of Sounds Profitable

It may seem that the hugely popular and respected Sounds Profitable newsletter and podcasts has been around for a long time, but it only came to life in 2020. When Megaphone was sold to Spotify, Bryan had a lot of ideas that he had wanted to implement around ad tech and advertising in podcasting, but didn't get the chance while at Megaphone. So when the platform was sold, he decided he'd take the rein and create a publication where he could share these thoughts, and Sounds Profitable was born.

Why Monetization is Not Selling Out

With his place in AdTech and monetization of podcasting, Bryan has a wealth of insights around the topic of what it means to monetize. When it comes to accusations that podcasters have sold out if they accept ads, he has a very definitive viewpoint on why podcast monetization is not selling out.

I think the closer you are to the podcast space, the more you hear the negatives about ads. I think the general public understands that ads are how things go around.The Promise of Dynamic Ads for Any Podcaster

With the increase in support for dynamic ad insertion for podcasters of all levels, it's never been easier for smaller podcasters to make money. From baked in ads to dynamic to programmatic, the opportunities are there. The trick, as Bryan mentions, is implementing it properly.

Spotify has Won the Audio Advertising War

If there's been one thing that's driven a lot of conversation in the podcasting space in the last 12-18 months, it's been the aggressive acquisitions by Spotify. From buying podcast hosts to data analytics platforms, the streaming giant is clearly setting its stall out when it comes to its goals for podcasting. Bryan shares why he firmly believes that Spotify has won the audio advertising war, but podcast advertising still has its own place outside of Spotify.

Key points:

00:00 Bryan on the Future of Podcasting and Ad Tech

08:13 The One Pixel Mindset and Barometric's Focus on Podcast Attribution

11:13 The Benefits of Expanding Your Podcast to a Second Language

16:35 The Different Ways That Monetization Can Impact a Podcast

19:03 The Benefits and Risks of Programmatic Advertising for Podcasters

24:54 The Future...