Podcast host ART19 will be using Veritone Inc.’s (Nasdaq: VERI) artificial intelligence software to provide target ads based on the content of an individual episode.
Veritone last month announced that Oakland-based ART19 will be using the Costa Mesa-based company’s aiWARE software. Veritone’s product helps to track advertisers’ visibility and return on investment in broadcast and other media.
The podcasting company—which helps podcast publishers monetize their content—will use aiWARE to identify the topics discussed in a podcast episode, enabling the digital audio ad server to target or exclude ads based not only on who is listening to the content, but on the classification of the content by topic.
“While this is the first podcast distribution network to take advantage of aiWARE, Veritone is very, very engaged in the podcast ecosystem,” Veritone Product Marketing Vice President Mike Morper told the Business Journal on Aug. 22.
He noted that the company’s product Veritone One is the “largest performance-based podcast agency in the U.S.” Morper said Veritone One uses aiWARE to identify podcasts for ad buys among other functions, similar to ART19’s use.
Morper expects Veritone, which has a $95 million market value, to make “more podcast-centric news’’ in the future.
Targeted Ads
Lex Friedman, chief revenue officer at ART19, said that “by adding aiWARE to our platform, we’re empowering buyers to target ads to consumers based on the content of the episode they’re listening to.”
The ART19 sales team will be able to place “contextually relevant” advertisements within the podcast based on subject matter.
“We’re always looking for powerful tools that benefit everyone in our ecosystem to keep pushing podcasting forward—for publishers, advertisers, and listeners alike,” Friedman added. “AiWARE will lead to contextually relevant ads, which will serve publishers well in terms of revenue; yield great results for advertisers; and provide listeners with ads that feel native, custom, and in line with their interests.”
