You might need heard folks speak about IAB podcast stats, measurement tips, compliance, and certification. Here is what all of which means, and whether or not it even issues!
Who’s the IAB?
As soon as upon a time, podcast measurement was thought of the “wild, wild west”: with out requirements. Everybody measured what was proper in their very own eyes.
However like most issues that begin with “As soon as upon a time,” that was solely fairy story. And but a fairy story that many company podcasting firms believed.
A few years in the past, there was the Affiliation of Downloadable Media (ADM) that included Blubrry, Libsyn, Podtrac, and different podcasting firms. The ADM got here up with requirements for measuring podcast downloads nonetheless within the extraordinarily early days of podcasting.
The ADM ultimately dissolved and high podcasting firms improved on the measurement requirements inside their very own proprietary programs. Then alongside got here the Web Promoting Bureau (IAB), involving a lot of those self same unique podcast-hosting suppliers but additionally giant distribution networks like PodcastOne and extra.
As its identify implies, the IAB is all about web promoting. And the podcasting trade wanted a normal strategy to measure podcast advert impressions. And thus, the IAB podcast measurement tips had been born with model 1.0 in September 2016!
What are IAB stats
IAB’s podcast measurement tips are literally not inflexible requirements, however mere tips for podcast-analytics suppliers to make use of.
Like Elizabeth Swan stated in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, “Dangle the code and dangle the principles! They’re extra like tips anyway!”
With out stepping into the technical particulars, these tips are meant to filter out any form of invalid podcast obtain in makes an attempt to get an correct depend of what number of folks really downloaded or streamed the episodes (and with the hopes, backed by survey knowledge, that the general public really hearken to most of these episodes).
(Sidenote: podcast “streams” are additionally downloads, merely not downloaded till the individual presses play.)
These tips contain issues like the next.
- Ignoring all downloads from an IP deal with blacklist (akin to knowledge facilities, bot farms, and such)
- Ignoring all downloads from identified invalid consumer brokers (how a downloading app or service identifies itself)
- Ignoring duplicate downloads that look precisely the identical inside a time frame (normally 24 hours)
- Ignoring downloads that do not attain a threshold (one minute of audio)
- Whitelisting some IP addresses identified to have a number of customers—like public wi-fi, companies, schools, and such—and permitting such downloads to be counted individually with the affordable assumption that it’s separate folks
The highest objective is to depend folks, not merely downloads. As a result of it is solely folks who purchase issues from adverts, have interaction with the podcaster, and hearken to or watch the episodes.
These IAB tips get up to date each few years. As of March 2024, the most recent model is 2.2 nonetheless in proposal stage for public remark.
IAB “compliance” versus “certification”
When the IAB tips had been first launched, many within the podcasting trade—together with myself—expressed the significance that each one podcasting firms that present viewers analytics mustn’t solely observe the IAB tips, however even get licensed to be following them.
However there have been additionally many others who disagreed with the rules—some folks thought the rules had been too conservative, others thought they had been too liberal.
As a result of the rules are publicly accessible, anybody can construct a device that follows the rules. And that is the place the time period “IAB–compliant” got here in. It was firms merely claiming compliance based mostly on how they applied the rules.
Then alongside got here the certification program. This was a expensive course of—in each money and time—for a third-party group to conduct exams and assessment code to make sure the businesses had been really following the rules, after which certifying them.
You possibly can see the record of licensed podcasting firms right here.
Not solely does it value to be licensed, it additionally prices to be a member of the IAB. And it additionally prices to be relicensed, which the IAB was pushing in 2023. And it prices to have up to date entry to the IAB’s whitelists and blacklists of IP addresses. However with the excessive value of this stuff, plainly a number of firms will not be so involved about being “licensed” anymore. And you’ll see within the record of licensed “podcast compliance” that a number of firms are nonetheless licensed solely to model 2.0.
Why IAB-certified podcast stats are good
I agree with the premise of the IAB podcast measurement tips: to have a constant measurement “commonplace” throughout the podcast trade. The dream of this commonplace is that irrespective of who you employ for podcast internet hosting and analytics, the statistics you get might be primarily the identical. Put one other approach, 100 folks downloading your newest episode can be counted as 100 downloads on Blubrry, or 100 downloads on Captivate, or 100 downloads on Buzzsprout, or 100 downloads on some other supplier.
If everyone seems to be following the identical commonplace, then there would not be the heartbreak and confusion for those who change from one supplier to a different and see a big drop in your stats—as a result of there should not be a lot of a distinction if everyone seems to be measuring the identical approach!
So it is positively a very good factor for a podcasting firm to observe the IAB tips, and being licensed signifies that a impartial third celebration can verify the rules are being adopted accurately.
However each commonplace can have loopholes
That dream is, sadly, not the fact. The largest cause is that, going again to Miss. Elizabeth Swan, the IAB podcast measurement tips are precisely and solely that: tips!
As such, some firms will implement these tips otherwise. Or they use totally different whitelists and blacklists.
And through the years, there have been a number of loopholes discovered that some firms independently patch though the IAB tips won’t account for them, but. For instance, “Twitter bombing” was an issue a number of years in the past. That is the place somebody would put up a direct hyperlink to their podcast media file (like an MP3) on Twitter, after which repeatedly put up that hyperlink all day, every single day. Firms like Blubrry and Libsyn caught this conduct pretty rapidly and had been in a position to filter it out so these misled (or outright misleading) podcasters would not have fraudulent stats.
I even caught a podcaster responsible of such a “crime” once they had been Twitter-bombing my very own visitor look on their podcast. Once I politely tried to share the reality with them, they deleted my episode!
Or extra not too long ago, some podcast networks put adverts in cellular video games the place the podcast audio would begin enjoying mechanically and sufficient of the audio would pre-download (or “buffer”) that it could really get counted as a respectable obtain, even for IAB-certified suppliers!
In my previous analysis for testing the quickest podcast internet hosting, I additionally found that some internet hosting suppliers counted some and even all of my bot downloads. And I did not even try to disguise my bot downloads as actual folks utilizing podcast apps! (Please word that some or—let’s hope—all of these beforehand responsible firms have most likely improved their measurement algorithms since that take a look at in 2019! However most likely not Soundcloud.)
Why you do not really want IAB-certified podcast stats
Does it actually matter anymore in case your podcast-hosting supplier has IAB-certified stats?
I believe it is good to know your numbers are licensed, particularly for those who receives a commission by advertisers based mostly in your downloads.
However at this level, I believe it is protected to imagine all the nice podcast-hosting suppliers are following the rules and search to filter out all non-person downloads. They might most likely higher make investments the cash it would value to be licensed as an alternative into constructing higher options for his or her buyer: you!
And here’s what I believe is the much more vital strategy: do IAB-certified stats matter to your viewers?
The reply is most certainly an enormous fats “HUH?” As a result of your viewers most likely does not know or does not care, and so they should not should know or care, both!
Your viewers can rejoice milestones with you irrespective of whether or not these milestones are licensed by an costly impartial third celebration. Your viewers cares way more in regards to the worth you ship by means of your podcast than they care about what number of downloads you are getting.
In different phrases, the reply to the viewers’s “What’s in it for me?” might be “nothing.”
Sure, extra downloads may imply extra P.R.O.F.I.T. (reputation, relationships, alternatives, enjoyable, revenue, or tangibles) for each you and your viewers, and it will possibly imply an even bigger group to your viewers to interact with one another. However that comes with the precise folks in your viewers, not the usual by which you measure them!
I’ve modified my thoughts about IAB certification
Thus, as a result of IAB certification actually does not matter to your viewers, I’ve stopped contemplating it a requirement for any podcast-hosting supplier or analytics device I like to recommend. It is good to have, however not necessary.
As an alternative, I am much more within the improvements podcasting firms are making, in order that the entire expertise will be higher for you and your viewers. That is why I contemplate help for Podcasting 2.0 to be my litmus take a look at for podcast-publishing instruments, and now not IAB certification.
New characteristic: The Neighborhood Nook
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Disclosure
This put up might include hyperlinks to services or products with which I’ve an affiliate relationship. I’ll obtain compensation out of your actions by means of such hyperlinks. Nevertheless, I do not let that corrupt my perspective and I do not advocate solely associates.
