Topic: Advertising Inventory

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) held its podcast upfronts, an event designed to sell advertising inventory in advance. Despite the growth of the medium, reports indicate that only about 20% of available podcast inventory is currently filled, with approximately 400,000 active podcasts updating in the last 60 days out of millions indexed.

NPR's new podcast platform, Earbud.fm, is criticized as a flawed attempt to monetize repurposed content. The hosts argue that the unlimited inventory of digital advertising naturally drives prices toward zero, unlike traditional broadcast models. They suggest that NPR's reliance on advertising and corporate structures prevents them from understanding the true value of independent podcasting.

A discussion of successful podcast monetization highlights Leo Laporte's effectiveness as a pitchman for the TWiT network and the pre-roll strategy used by the Serial podcast. The hosts compare the scarcity of Super Bowl ad spots to the infinite inventory of digital banner ads and podcasts, which drives prices down. They conclude that "per inquiry" codes and loyalist listener groups are currently the most viable paths for podcast revenue.

The collapse of Facebook's stock price is cited as proof that internet advertising is a flawed business model due to the lack of inventory scarcity. Unlike television, which has finite ad slots, the internet offers unlimited inventory, which naturally drives prices down. Most "free" internet services, including Flickr and Instagram, struggle to monetize their users because display ads lack the effectiveness of traditional media.

National Public Media, the commercial arm of NPR, is selling "remnant inventory" on its websites at high CPM rates of $15 to $20. The hosts argue that this is a move toward blatant commercial advertising for a network that claims to be listener-supported. They contrast NPR's high ad rates with the lower rates typical for standard websites.