You might need heard individuals discuss IAB podcast stats, measurement pointers, compliance, and certification. Here is what all of meaning, and whether or not it even issues!
Who’s the IAB?
As soon as upon a time, podcast measurement was thought-about 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 finally 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 authentic 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 regular approach to measure podcast advert impressions. And thus, the IAB podcast measurement guidelines have been born with model 1.0 in September 2016!
What are IAB stats
IAB’s podcast measurement pointers are literally not inflexible requirements, however mere pointers for podcast-analytics suppliers to make use of.
Like Elizabeth Swan mentioned in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, “Cling the code and cling the principles! They’re extra like pointers anyway!”
With out entering into the technical particulars, these pointers are meant to filter out any sort of invalid podcast obtain in makes an attempt to get an correct depend of what number of individuals truly downloaded or streamed the episodes (and with the hopes, backed by survey information, that the general public truly take heed to most of these episodes).
(Sidenote: podcast “streams” are additionally downloads, merely not downloaded till the particular person presses play.)
These pointers contain issues like the next.
- Ignoring all downloads from an IP tackle blacklist (equivalent to information facilities, bot farms, and such)
- Ignoring all downloads from recognized invalid person brokers (how a downloading app or service identifies itself)
- Ignoring duplicate downloads that look precisely the identical inside a time frame (often 24 hours)
- Ignoring downloads that do not attain a threshold (one minute of audio)
- Whitelisting some IP addresses recognized to have plenty of customers—like public wi-fi, companies, faculties, and such—and permitting such downloads to be counted individually with the affordable assumption that it’s separate individuals
The highest objective is to depend individuals, not merely downloads. As a result of it is solely individuals who purchase issues from advertisements, have interaction with the podcaster, and take heed to or watch the episodes.
These IAB pointers get up to date each few years. As of March 2024, the latest version is 2.2 still in proposal stage for public comment.
IAB “compliance” versus “certification”
When the IAB pointers have been first launched, many within the podcasting trade—together with myself—expressed the significance that every one podcasting firms that present viewers analytics shouldn’t solely observe the IAB pointers, however even get licensed to be following them.
However there have been additionally many others who disagreed with the rules—some individuals thought the rules have been too conservative, others thought they have been too liberal.
As a result of the rules are publicly accessible, anybody can construct a software 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 carried out 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 assessments and evaluate code to make sure the businesses have been actually following the rules, after which certifying them.
You can see the list of certified podcasting companies here.
Not solely does it price 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 price of these items, plainly a number of firms are usually not so involved about being “licensed” anymore. And you may see in the list of certified “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 pointers: to have a constant measurement “normal” throughout the podcast trade. The dream of this normal is that irrespective of who you employ for podcast internet hosting and analytics, the statistics you get can be primarily the identical. Put one other means, 100 individuals 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 another supplier.
If everyone seems to be following the identical normal, then there would not be the heartbreak and confusion in the event you swap from one supplier to a different and see a major 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 means!
So it is undoubtedly a great factor for a podcasting firm to observe the IAB pointers, and being licensed implies that a impartial third celebration can verify the rules are being adopted appropriately.
However each normal may have loopholes
That dream is, sadly, not the fact. The largest purpose is that, going again to Miss. Elizabeth Swan, the IAB podcast measurement pointers are precisely and solely that: pointers!
As such, some firms will implement these pointers otherwise. Or they use totally different whitelists and blacklists.
And over time, there have been a number of loopholes discovered that some firms independently patch although the IAB pointers 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, daily. Firms like Blubrry and Libsyn caught this habits pretty rapidly and have been capable of 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 have been Twitter-bombing my very own visitor look on their podcast. After I politely tried to share the reality with them, they deleted my episode!
Or extra lately, some podcast networks put ads in mobile games the place the podcast audio would begin enjoying robotically and sufficient of the audio would pre-download (or “buffer”) that it might truly get counted as a reputable obtain, even for IAB-certified suppliers!
In my past research for testing the fastest podcast 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 individuals utilizing podcast apps! (Please observe that some or—let’s hope—all of these beforehand responsible firms have in all probability improved their measurement algorithms since that take a look at in 2019! However in all probability not Soundcloud.)
Why you do not truly want IAB-certified podcast stats
Does it actually matter anymore in case your podcast-hosting supplier has IAB-certified stats?
I feel it is good to know your numbers are licensed, particularly in the event you receives a commission by advertisers based mostly in your downloads.
However at this level, I feel 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 may in all probability higher make investments the cash it would price to be licensed as a substitute into constructing higher options for his or her buyer: you!
And here’s what I feel is the much more essential strategy: do IAB-certified stats matter to your viewers?
The reply is almost certainly an enormous fats “HUH?” As a result of your viewers in all probability does not know or does not care, and so they should not must 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 far more in regards to the worth you ship by way 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. (recognition, relationships, alternatives, enjoyable, revenue, or tangibles) for each you and your viewers, and it could actually imply a much bigger neighborhood in your viewers to interact with one another. However that comes with the precise individuals 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 software I like to recommend. It is good to have, however not obligatory.
As an alternative, I am way more within the improvements podcasting firms are making, in order that the entire expertise may be higher for you and your viewers. That is why I take into account help for Podcasting 2.0 to be my litmus take a look at for podcast-publishing instruments, and not IAB certification.
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This put up could include hyperlinks to services or products with which I’ve an affiliate relationship. I could obtain compensation out of your actions by way of such hyperlinks. Nevertheless, I do not let that corrupt my perspective and I do not suggest solely associates.
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