Podcast Ads: How long is too long?

I'm all for creators getting compensated through ads and sponsorship. If your ads annoy me, I'm skipping or moving on.

May 05, 2024

I appreciate podcast creators are able to monetize something built from their blood, sweat, and tears accumulated to craft a quality podcast creation.

I don’t appreciate having to listen to a podcast host go on for over 2 minutes about a product that I’m not even sure I remember.

After seeing a social media friend sharing about a wonderful episode they were a guest on, I felt the overwhelming desire to listen and, maybe, learn something new.

The episode run-time was a little over an hour and I was prepared to give this the old college try.

Before the intro. Before any idea of what was going on.

The pre-roll- Also known as an advertisement that is at the beginning of a podcast. A great way to catch the listener’s attention to sell a product or service without the listener feeling the need to tune out or skip the ad altogether.

This pre-roll host-read advertisement went off the rails and felt to be a bit sidetracked and I, honestly, was confused and lost. I forgot what the product was about and I was no longer interested in the episode. I gave a few minutes a listen and then moved on to something else. “Maybe later,” I said to myself as I thought it’d be better to listen another time knowing that it’ll be 2+ minutes before I hear anything.

I’m on both sides of the podcast equation and I understand the effort it takes to create a good quality podcast. As well, as a listener, I understand how annoying that host-read ads are which lack concise communication.

Reddit, although not known for it’s positivity, is my go-to for super honest opinions. In this podcast subreddit, I was surprised to find multiple opinions about this topic.

Skip ads (30 seconds at a time), seek out the option of a subscription model to support the creator and, possibly, enable “ad free mode.” Some also said they would never listen to the podcast again.

Curious what overly honest internet users said? Check out the various perspectives:

r/podcasts
Ads - How long is too long?

What I’m not sure of is if every podcast creator (and advertiser) has the ability to track whether or not the listener skipped the ad at all. If so, does that mean that the creator does not get paid and this effort is lost? I feel that’s very similar to YouTube’s advertising model: Creators get paid only if the full advertisement is completed for the viewer.

The reason why I’m critical is because advertisements are shoved at consumers every second.

Prime and Netflix have advertising / ad-free subscription tiers
YouTube forces a 15 second ad on almost every video provided
Radio has three ad-blocks every hour (10, 30, 50 mark or 20, 40, and 00)
Podcasts have more and more advertisements read, played, or pushed to the listener

Too much I say.

Have your own thoughts about how podcast ads should play out?

Leave a comment

YouTube has noticeably shortened their ad timing. You’ll see that many advertisements are super short or can be skipped early on in the ad if it is of no interest. That’s not perfect; yet, it is a sign that consumers are skipping ads more often and they’ll (most likely) tolerate a shorter ad shoved in their face.

The reason I’m critical of an annoyingly long podcast advertisement is that I am always comparing to an industry standard (possibly a curse and a blessing).

Let’s review a few great examples of “short and sweet” advertisements from creators.

A mechanic I stumbled upon after watching Junk Yard Digs, is pretty much what I’d stereotype a mechanic who loves to tinker on old cars. Always has a cigarette in his hand, domestic beer (in can form only) is required during each car revival. Pole Barn Garage YouTube channel performs a sponsor advertisement which is about 30 seconds long. He’s able to show you how he uses the product, is very clear about how to operate the product, and how much you can save by using his referral link. I’ve linked the video at 8:14, below, to highlight the sponsor segment for you (you’re welcome)

I caught a recent episode of the Theo Von Podcast with special guest Dave Ramsey. I was served an ad from YouTube which I could skip within 5 seconds. Not bad. From there, Theo Von reviewed the locations of his comedy tour and went right to talking about who’s on his show. Super quick.

One example I’d like to highlight is way too long at the beginning.

I think Maron is an amazing story-teller. I enjoy his comedy. He’s quirky and fun to listen to. BUT - he takes up the first 15 minutes talking about his cat, what he had for lunch three days ago, and serves up about three different ads in that 15 minutes. If you’re lucky, you’ll start to hear the conversation with his guest. I did skip around a fair bit to get to the episode with Billie Joe Armstrong. Dookie was my first album that I purchased on cassette back in the mid 1990s.

Le sigh.

I’m torn.

I want to support podcast creators. Yet, I’m not confident that paying $5+ per month to each podcast creator who will trade me payment for ad free listening isn’t as feasible as I’d like.