Triton Digital

Viant struck a deal with IHeartMedia and its Triton Digital advertising platform that will make IHeart’s broadcast radio inventory available through Viant’s DSP.

The New York Times’ growth rate blows other large news companies out of the water; Shopify’s shares leapt by 20% after an upbeat Q2 earnings report; and Google’s AI Overviews may or may not be causing web traffic to plummet, depending who you ask.

On Wednesday, AI-powered audio intelligence platform Sounder launched a new version of its brand suitability and contextual targeting tool for podcasts that can understand the nuances of Spanish-language audio content.

Brands need more automated tools for buying podcast ads at scale, says Publicis Groupe. Now, Barometer will provide brand safety rankings for all of Acast’s podcast inventory to assist pre-campaign planning.

On Tuesday, iHeartMedia-owned Triton Digital acquired AI brand safety and suitability startup Sounder in a bid to improve its programmatic chops.

On Monday, iHeartMedia-owned SSP Triton Digital announced an integration with Amazon Publisher Services that allows advertisers to buy interactive audio ads through the Amazon DSP on streaming audio.

Omnichannel advertising workflow platform Frequence claims it has a new way for audio companies to court advertisers. On Tuesday, Frequence announced an integration with iHeartMedia-owned Triton Digital, a streaming audio and podcast tech company.

Gayle Troberman, iHeartMedia’s CMO, talks up iHeart’s programmatic advertising ambitions and the power of audio to engage – in some cases even more deeply than video. Also in this episode: Lessons learned from 16 years as Microsoft’s chief creative officer.

The IAB’s Podcast Upfronts in May touted advancements in dynamic ad insertion, measurement and attribution and brand safety and suitability, as well as the rise of podcast networks. But ad agencies say the technology powering podcast-based marketing is not sufficiently developed to deliver what advertisers need to effectively target impressions and measure campaign effectiveness. And they believe the industry should do more to address brand safety concerns around podcast content.

Podcast ad revenue in the US cracked $1 billion for the first time last year, due in large part to the rise of dynamic ad insertion (DAI). At $1.4 billion – up 72% from roughly $840 million in 2020 – podcasting is now one of the fastest-growing digital media channels, and it’s growing twice as fast as the internet advertising market as a whole, according to a report on podcast ad revenue released by the IAB and PricewaterhouseCoopers on Monday.