AdsWizz Launches Podcast Targeting Service

Digital audio ad tech firm AdsWizz has formally launched PodScribe, a contextual targeting solution for podcasts - backed by a brand safety agreement with Comscore.

AdsWizz technology provides music platforms, podcasts and broadcasting groups with a suite of digital audio software solutions connecting them with the advertising community, from dynamic ad insertion to advanced programmatic platforms and new audio formats. The firm is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with an IT Development hub in Bucharest, Romania, and a presence in 39 markets around the world.

PodScribe, which has been in private beta for more than a year with leading publishers, uses the firm's AudioMatic platform to help agencies and buyers target the podcast listening audience by keywords, concepts, topics, and interests within the podcast. The new service can be combined with podcast marketplace PodWave to activate targeting at scale, and with AudioServe to manage and traffic campaigns, and monetize inventory. PodScribe is available immediately with select publishers and advertisers around the world, in multiple languages.

The Comscore partnership taps the audience measurement giant's detailed page-level analysis to allow custom keyword targeting and avoidance; and gives access to Comscore's Activation brand-safe, segment-based audience solution suite.

Alexis Van de Wyer (pictured), CEO of AdsWizz, says: 'The podcast industry can only truly take off if ad buying is easy and accessible. In order to fully scale, podcast advertising needs to evolve the way programmatic buyers look at digital audio as a whole'. Rachel Gantz, General Manager of Activation Solutions at Comscore adds: 'With more than 67 million Americans listening to podcasts on a monthly basis, the audio channel represents one of the fastest growth channels within advertising, and the industry has been asking for a solution that helps them keep up with that rapid expansion'.

Web sites: www.adswizz.com and www.comscore.com .