Google Seen Powering Podcast Ad Growth

Podcasting advertising revenues are expected to nearly quintuple in the next five years, according to a report to be issued this week by eMarketer, Mediaweek reported. That would mean marketers will spend $400 million dollars on podcasts in 2011, which would be only 2% of spending expected this year in the interactive ad market.

James Belcher, the eMarketer analyst, credits most of the ad growth to Google (GOOG). He expects the company to develop an audio version of AdSense which would allow any podcast producer to include ads in their shows. Podtrac's Mark McCrery, who has been building an advertising sales network for podcasts, was quoted by Mediaweek saying companies are buying spots in podcasts. "They are investing ... getting some good learning and coming back for more," he said.

Meanwhile Oneupweb said its podcast audience measuring technology has been scaled up for use within a corporate environment and has begun to attract attention of major media publishers. CEO Lisa Wehr said its technology for smaller publishers has been in use about six months by about 25 clients. She detailed some observations about podcast use:

• Evergreen content attracts an audience long after it's initially uploaded. Credit visibility in search engines for additional downloads.
• Corporate podcasts, those done by companies, are downloaded primarily during lunch hours. Podcasts of an educational or entertainment nature are most popular at 4 p.m., presumably when people are getting ready for the commute home.
• Mondays and Tuesdays are the most popular days for podcast downloading, probably due to their promotion via banner ads and press releases early in the week.
• Having statistics on podcast consumption helps persuade decision makers to support podcast production.

Listen to OneupWeb.com's Lisa Wehr on podcast usage.

Disclaimer: I own shares of Google.