The news: Podcast listeners say they skip ads—but the playback data tells a more nuanced story.
- In a recent discussion podcast agency Bumper held with ad buyers and sellers reported on its blog, every participant admitted to skipping ads. Survey data reinforces that perception: 18% of Canadian listeners say they skip podcast ads “all the time,” per The Canadian Podcast Listener survey, and 46% say they “always or often” skip, according to Sounds Profitable’s 2024 research.
- Sounds Profitable notes that consumers tend to overstate skipping behavior in surveys.
- Playback retention histograms from Apple, Spotify, and YouTube reveal real-time listener drop-offs during midroll breaks. Yet Bumper’s analysis of hundreds of ad breaks shows many episodes achieve ad retention rates of 90% or higher.
At the same time, podcast advertising continues to grow. US podcast ad spending is projected to reach $2.97 billion in 2026 and $3.70 billion by 2029, per our forecast. The format’s share of digital audio ad spending is expected to exceed 40% by 2028.