The news: Spotify is expanding its automated podcast buying capabilities, giving advertisers the opportunity to reach podcast listeners through two automated buying channels, per a company announcement.

• Spotify Ads Manager is evolving to give advertisers in several regions “direct access to premium podcast inventory,” including content from original and licensed podcasts and podcasts from Spotify’s Audience Network. Regions with access to expanded inventory include the US, UK, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, and Germany.
• More advertisers, including programmatic buyers in the US, UK, India, France, and Mexico, will now have access to premium podcast inventory in Spotify Ad Exchange through industry partners like Google Display & Video 360 and The Trade Desk.
• Spotify also made its partnership with Magnite live, with more DSPs to come in the future.

Spotify’s podcast push: Spotify is enhancing its podcast offerings for advertisers as part of its broader push to become the preferred podcast platform—a title currently held by YouTube.

• Recently, Spotify debuted a redesigned podcast feed, offering enhanced discovery tools and expanded creator features, including linked content and comment threads, with the aim of boosting engagement.
• Spotify is simultaneously accelerating its investment in video podcasts to catch up with YouTube, and expanded its Partner Program to remain attractive to creators.

Our take: The updates could enable Spotify to increase its share of ad dollars, attracting advertisers looking for more opportunities to reach engaged audiences representing key demographics. But to continue drawing spending, Spotify will need to shift some focus to drawing in more listeners to keep its podcast offerings attractive.