How Spotify fosters a safe and sound digital audio environment for brands
Regardless of channel, platform, or device, brand safety is always on advertisers' minds. After all, no creative team wants to see their efforts sidelined because their ad showed up beside inappropriate content, creating unintended brand associations. Knowing your messages are appearing in safe and suitable environments is critical—which means staying far away from harmful or offensive content.
As pioneers in audio, Spotify's goal has always been to provide advertisers with the confidence that their message will be heard in a trustworthy environment.
Spotify brand safety in audio content
Podcast listenership continues to rise. In the U.S., the largest podcast market, nearly 75% of daily internet users regularly listen to digital audio, and those users spend one-fifth of their day with audio. Podcast listenership, specifically, will grow from 129.9 million in 2023 to 150.6 million by 2027, and podcast ad spending will also continue to increase.1
So, it's never been more important to keep both advertisers and listeners safe.
But brand safety isn't something you can set and forget. As the industry evolves, content with negative sentiment continues to appear, and societal norms shift on a dime. That's why Spotify is always thinking of ways to improve—and seeking out expert opinions for objective guidance and validation.
![[US, UK, AU, CA] IAS Brand Safety Update // Inline Image](//images.ctfassets.net/tvhwpwv117no/1c6NprcmKzwhZvNsp0GNbs/42b21d022b16d47ea3a89078dc745302/SP1079_Brand-Safety-Inline_1600x1200px_230425.jpg)
Testing, testing
Spotify recently invited the global media measurement and optimization company Integral Ad Science (IAS) to sample 800,000 of our monetized podcast episodes to see if they met the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM)'s Brand Safety Floor and Brand Suitability Framework. Using advanced machine learning, IAS classified all of the episodes by 11 GARM categories and all risk levels, randomly selecting episodes for human review.
In their audit, IAS reviewed 12 months of podcast episodes to verify that Spotify's monetized content was over "99% brand safe,"2 based on GARM brand safety standards. The firm found that less than 1% of Spotify's Originals & Exclusives and Spotify Audience Network content fell below the Floor classification in the GARM Brand Safety categories within the sample.
A space for brands that's safe and sound
Spotify Advertising is all about easy-to-use controls that connect advertisers and listeners in a trusted space. We're committed to being brand-safe by design, and remaining at least 99% effective at providing an audio environment that's up to those rigorous GARM standards.
In addition to reviewing content and building brand-safe solutions, our teams focus on finding industry experts that can lend real-world insights to our Spotify brand safety approach. We also lean on key third-party partnerships—like the one with IAS—to provide a continuous feedback loop and work together to create solutions for marketers.
Looking to the future, we remain committed to partnering with IAS to establish first-of-its-kind brand safety and suitability solutions for digital audio—starting with podcasts. We're also committed to preventing the monetization of any content that would not be appropriate for our advertising brands.
At Spotify, we take brand safety seriously. Today and every day, we're investing in better, safer experiences for creators, brands, and listeners alike. Spotify is excited to continue working with IAS to innovate for the first brand safety measurement and optimization solutions for Spotify podcast content.
Interested in learning more about advertising on a Spotify podcast? Find out how your brand can benefit from brand-safe podcast ads today.
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