By comparison, in Australia, the US, and Canada, this rate will be in the low to mid-70% range and climbing. Digital audio listening is often a precursor to podcast listening, particularly since the access points increasingly overlap. Finally, there is an awareness gap in Europe about the existence and nature of podcasts in general.

Receiving eerily accurate or opportune ads has also led to a belief that platforms capture audio signals from their conversations, despite Facebook issuing a denial.

Sweden, Norway, Australia, and Canada round out the top five countries in terms of podcast listening adoption. Core APAC markets lag behind other top-tier markets. China, Japan, and South Korea have the lowest podcast listener penetration of the markets we forecast.

The high base of listenership among internet users in places like North America, Australia, and the Nordic countries means that a rapid influx of new listeners is no longer possible. Listening to podcasts has become commonplace in the US, but growth will decelerate from now on because the base is so high.

On today's episode, we discuss Google and Facebook paying for news in Australia, what consumers think of Apple's privacy labels, the changing content moderation rules, Maryland's digital ad tax, how much time is spent with social, controlling someone else's dreams, and more. Tune in to listen to the discussion with eMarketer analyst Blake Droesch, principal analyst Jeremy Goldman, and senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Sara M. Watson.

eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin discusses whether major marketers will pull spending on social platforms because of brand safety and ethical concerns, what to make of Facebook's new advertiser “topic exclusion controls” test, and the types of content consumers prefer brands avoid the most. She then talks about tech companies introducing rules that favor their own business models, Facebook's relationship with political content, and whether Google is waving goodbye to Australia.

eMarketer principal analysts Mark Dolliver and Nicole Perrin and junior analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch discuss whether TikTok will get banned or bought by someone (like Microsoft), Australia making big tech pay for media, "Prime Gaming," digital revenues exceed print at The New York Times, appealing to the LGBTQ+ community in ads, who gave America it’s most popular chocolate and more.