Video ads by channel / Podcasts
Podcast and video podcast ads.
A host read the host can honestly say, a produced spot mixed to the network, and a video package for the episode on camera.
The medium
A podcast ad is heard close up, often in a voice the listener trusts. YouTube says more than a billion people a month watched podcast content there as of January 2025, Spotify says more than 390 million have streamed a video podcast, and trade reports of Edison Research's 2026 Infinite Dial put the share of Americans who have both listened to and watched a podcast at 57 percent. The ad now has to work as sound and as picture.
There are two kinds. A host read is voiced by the show's host from a brief; a produced spot is a finished file, which Spotify takes at up to thirty seconds for pre-roll and sixty for mid-roll at minus 16 LUFS. Either can be baked into the episode or inserted when it is downloaded, and the IAB counts an inserted ad only when every byte of it arrives.
Honesty is written into the rules: the FTC's guides say a host must hold any views expressed and have actually used the product, and the UK's ASA wants a paid ad named before or as it starts.
The specs
Quoted from the platforms' own pages. The source and the date each was read are under the table.
| Placement | Ratio | Resolution and file | Length | Sound and captions | Safe zone and rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify podcast ads (inserted when streamed) | Audio only | MP3, WAV or OGG; up to 50 MB; 44.1 kHz; 192 to 320 kbps; stereo | Up to 30 seconds in the spec; the creative guide allows 30 for pre-roll and 60 for mid-roll | Minus 16 LUFS plus or minus 1.5, true peak minus 2.0 dBTP; half a second of silence at top and tail | No more than 65 words for a thirty in the spec, 60 to 90 in the guide; avoid music with lyrics; host reads through a Spotify representative |
| Acast inserted ads and sponsorship reads | Audio only | Not stated | Not stated | Inserted ads normalized to minus 18 LUFS; host-read sponsorship messages not normalized | Sponsorship recordings matched to the episode's own level |
| Megaphone-hosted shows | Audio only | MP3 at 44.1 kHz or higher | Not stated | Minus 16 LUFS recommended, 1 dB true peak, a range of 6 to 9 dB | Stereo or mono kept consistent between episodes and ad files |
| Video podcast ads (YouTube and Spotify) | YouTube follows its own video specs; Spotify 9:16 or 16:9, desktop 16:9 only | Spotify MOV or MP4 up to 500 MB, 720 x 1280 or 1280 x 720 | Spotify up to 30 seconds | Spotify refuses silent files | In Google Ads, a video or audio campaign with Podcast selected as the placement; a host-read integration is a separate deal with the show |
| Measurement (IAB Tech Lab, version 2.3, September 2026) | n/a | Audio and video podcasts as MP3, MP4 or HLS | A download needs the file header plus about a minute of content | n/a | An inserted ad counts only when all of it downloads; apps such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify usually send no playback data to publishers |
- Spotify Advertising, audio ad specs, read October 27, 2026
- Spotify Advertising, podcast ads minimum requirements, read October 27, 2026
- Spotify Advertising, podcast ad specs, read October 27, 2026
- Acast, how loud are Acast ads, read October 27, 2026
- Megaphone, audio specs and standards, read October 27, 2026
- Google Ads Help, podcast placements, read October 27, 2026
- IAB Tech Lab, podcast measurement guidelines, read October 27, 2026
- 16 CFR 255.5, FTC endorsement guides (Cornell LII), read October 27, 2026
- ASA, making ads clear in podcasts and audio streaming, read October 27, 2026
- YouTube blog, one billion monthly podcast viewers (as of January 2025), read October 27, 2026
- Tubefilter, Edison Research Infinite Dial 2026 video podcast report (trade press), read October 27, 2026
Spotify's own pages disagree on words per thirty seconds: 65 in the spec, 60 to 90 in the guide. Edison's 2026 figures come from trade reports because Edison's site refused automated reads. YouTube's figure is dated January 2025. No iHeart, SiriusXM or Libsyn spec sheet was found.
How we build an ad for it
Directed by people, made with AI, finished by hand. You approve the script and the sound before any footage is made.
Host read or produced, decided first
A host read is a brief: talking points, the must-say claims, the code or address, and the disclosure, recorded in the host's own voice. A produced spot is a finished file for pre-roll or mid-roll. They are different jobs, and the choice comes before a word is written.
The disclosure is the first line
In the US the disclosure has to be heard at a normal volume, speed and cadence, and shown on screen in the video version; the ASA wants it before or as the read starts, and ruled that a page-turn sound and the words Quick one were not enough. We open with it.
Only what the host can honestly say
The FTC's guides require an endorser to have actually used the product and to hold the views they voice. We write the brief so the host's first-person lines are ones they can stand behind, and the host appears on camera with the product they really use, never a stand-in.
A video package for the episode
For video podcasts we cut b-roll and product inserts to the host's read, a lower third with the brand and the paid ad line, and an end card with the address or code, framed for the show's own set, in 16:9 for the episode and 9:16 for the clips cut from it.
An audio master that needs no picture
The feed and the audio apps get a mix that never says as you can see, with the address and code spoken twice, mixed to the network: minus 16 LUFS and minus 2 dBTP for Spotify, the episode's own level for an Acast sponsorship read, which is not normalized.
Baked-in copy that stays true
A baked-in read lives in the episode file for years, so it carries no dated offer; an inserted ad can be swapped and is counted only when every byte downloads, so it is kept tight. Music is used sparingly and without lyrics, as Spotify asks.
Films that fit
Finished Filmito films, labeled with what each one is. Hover or tap to play.
What to order
A podcast flight spans several shows and weeks; each show needs its own brief and each format its own file, the steady monthly volume Growth is built for.
A full minute. Brand film territory. Used in lobbies, decks, hero placements. First cut in 3 days, 2 revision rounds, 16:9 and 9:16 included.
Launch on the pricing page4 unique ads every month. Different angles, not shorter cuts.
Growth on the pricing pageQuestions about podcast ads
Does a podcast host have to say an ad is paid?
In the US a material connection must be disclosed clearly, and the FTC's podcast example notes the host must hold any views expressed in the read. In the UK the ASA suggests saying this is a paid ad for, before or as the ad starts. We write the disclosure as the first line.
Can the host say they use the product every day?
Only if it is true. The FTC's endorsement guides say an endorser who claims to use a product must have been a genuine user when the endorsement was given. We get the product to the host early so the first-person lines are honest.
How long should a podcast ad be?
Spotify takes thirty seconds for pre-roll and sixty for mid-roll, at roughly 60 to 90 words per thirty seconds in its guide, though its spec page says no more than 65. Host reads run as long as the show agrees; we write to the slot.
How loud should a podcast ad be?
Spotify asks for minus 16 LUFS plus or minus 1.5 with a true peak of minus 2.0 dBTP. Acast normalizes inserted ads to minus 18 LUFS but leaves host-read sponsorship messages as submitted, so those are matched to the episode's own level.
How do we advertise on video podcasts on YouTube?
Through Google Ads, with Podcast selected as the placement in a video or audio campaign; through YouTube Select podcast lineups in the US; or by sponsoring a show directly for a host-read integration. We make the spot for the first two, and the brief and video package for the third.
How are podcast ads counted?
Under the IAB's measurement guidelines, version 2.3, a download needs the file header and about a minute of content, an inserted ad counts only when all of it downloads, and video podcasts as MP4 or HLS are now covered. Most listening apps report no playback to the publisher.
Keep planning
Other screens, the craft behind the films, and the public prices.
Other channels
- Video ads for SpotifyNever silent, mixed to sit between songs, and written for a listener who chose the music.
- Video ads for YouTubeWritten for the five-second skip, cut as a six, a fifteen and a thirty, and mixed for the television it mostly plays on.
- Every channelThe index and the glossary of format terms.
Craft and proof
Plan your ad
Filmito
Tell us the screen. We build the film.
Six short questions about your brand and where the ad will run. A person replies within one business day with the idea, the price and the date.
Since 2017 · 9,700+ films · 4.8 from 970+ reviews, every one readable