Picture this: You notice you're running low on storage on your phone. You check your data usage, and there's a bunch of podcast episodes that have automatically downloaded to your device—95% of which you've never listened to.

Downloads were the original way content creators and advertisers gauged podcast listenership—but streaming has changed everything. So, what's the difference between these two measurements? Read on to dig in.

A brief history of podcast ad tech

In the past, podcast ads were recorded during (or “baked into") an episode.

Then in 2013, we saw the rollout of Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), which made it easier for advertisers to serve different ads to specific sets of listeners. It also allowed advertisers to scale campaigns across multiple podcast episodes or series. But DAI wasn't perfect, and it still used downloads as its primary success metric.

As marketers began looking for ways to make their ads more interactive and actionable, podcast ad tech evolved again. The latest iteration is Spotify's Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI) feature. With SAI, ads strategically appear in podcast episodes while listeners stream them, which provides a more scalable and measurable solution for advertising on podcasts.

What are podcast downloads?

Now, back to our original question: What's the difference between podcast downloads and streams, and why does it matter to advertisers?

Essentially, a podcast download happens when a smartphone or other device downloads audio files. Many apps automatically download podcasts to listeners' devices by default—as soon as new episodes air.

While this provides insight into how many people are downloading episodes or "following" a podcast, it tells advertisers little about whether or not these episodes are actually being listened to.

What are podcast streams?

On Spotify, a podcast stream counts when someone listens to a podcast episode for at least 60 seconds.

Podcast streams are becoming more popular—in the U.S., the number of podcast shows streamed per person has increased +15% year-over-year on Spotify.¹ With metrics based on streaming, podcast creators and advertisers alike are able to see which content people are actually listening to. This provides a much clearer look at audience engagement.

Downloads vs. streams: Which is better for advertisers?

Although both downloads and streams help podcasters and advertisers understand how many listeners a show has, the two paint a pretty different picture. Downloads are a great way to gauge a podcast's overall reach, while streams help us see the number of times listeners actually play podcast episodes—whether in audio or video format.

Streaming metrics also help podcasters discover:

• Which episodes are resonating
  
• Which episodes aren't
  
• What the general listening trends of the show look like

Ultimately, podcast streaming benefits everyone engaging with podcasts: listeners, creators, and advertisers. Listeners don't lose valuable storage space. Creators get stronger audience analytics. And podcast advertisers get a clearer picture of how their campaigns are performing—and who they're actually reaching.

How Spotify approaches streaming metrics

Streams are the main metric we think about at Spotify. Although users are still able to download individual episodes (or entire shows) if they want to, we're a streaming service at heart. This means advertisers can gather accurate insights into how many people are engaging with various podcasts, along with their demographics. With Spotify's SAI, podcast advertisers can use this information to decide where their ads are the best fit.

This is especially true given the Spotify Audience Network, which is available to advertisers running direct campaigns with us. When advertisers access the Spotify Audience Network, they can choose to target SAI ads to specific audience segments spanning multiple shows. For instance, instead of buying ads on one specific podcast, a brand can use the Spotify Audience Network to reach "women ages 18-34"—and run their ads across many different podcasts that reach that audience segment.

Because brands are able to see who is really listening to podcasts—and how often—they have better insight into targeting, audience habits, and how to scale their campaigns. Being able to select placements based on impressions, reach, and frequency creates a completely different advertising experience than baked-in ads that appear in podcast downloads.

Plus, podcasters of all sizes—including advertisers with a podcast to promote—can leverage Ads Manager's Podcast Streams objective to potentially increase streams of their shows by reaching listeners who are more likely to stream podcasts on Spotify.