You might occasionally have trouble with podcast ad delivery. When this happens you can find yourself with questions like:
“I have scheduled a preroll/midroll/postroll in TAP but I’m not hearing it every time I play my podcast episode.”
“This flight/campaign/order is not delivering to a podcast.”
“I updated my flight but I’m not hearing the changes when I play a podcast episode.”
“I see impressions in TAP Explore but I’m not hearing the ad when I play an episode.”
Before you contact support, please verify the settings and run the reports described below. You might find the solution yourself!
Verify program monetization settings and episode ad markers (Omny)
An ad will only be inserted in an episode if there is a corresponding ad marker in the episode. Please make sure your monetization settings and ad markers are properly set up in Omny.
See Ad Markers for more information.
Run an impression report (TAP Explore)
Use TAP Explore to run a report on your flight. If you see impressions, then there is most likely nothing wrong with the system and we are delivering the flight to listeners according to the flight’s parameters.
Run a forecasting report (Forecasting)
Use the Forecasting tool to run a report with your flight’s criteria against the podcast you want it to deliver. You may find that:
You are oversold, which would explain a flight pacing slower than expected as the system is trying to spread delivery against too many flights for the available inventory. A negative number in the Available Inventory means that the system does not have enough inventory to fill all the orders you have placed in TAP.
You are undersold, which would explain why the system sometimes elects not to insert an ad upon download. The higher the number in the Available Inventory column, the more unlikely the system is to insert an ad.
Using Forecasting properly is very important. Running reports with the proper criteria is key to getting the right information for your use case. Please make sure to read the documentation carefully.
Check the flight’s settings (targeting, goal, pacing, frequency cap, etc.) in TAP
Make sure the flight is set up to deliver according to your expectations. A flight with a goal spread over a long period of time will most likely not deliver on every download (such as a sponsorship would).
Please verify:
The flight has at least one creative
Start and end dates are correct
Targeting is as expected
Goal is correct
Pacing is correct
Frequency caps are as you want them
Also, make sure the flight’s settings target the right delivery method (failing to select Podcast is a common mistake).
Finally, check your ad separation to make sure there are no conflicting or overriding rules. This involves checking your publisher-wide ad separation (in Triton Settings; Organization Administrator role required), and checking your advertiser profile settings, where you have the option to override the ad separation settings. For example, you might find that your flight is being overruled by a high priority sponsorship ad from the same advertiser or an advertiser using the same IAB category.
Your podcast may have low download numbers
Inserting ads into podcasts is not instantaneous. The process of ad selection from TAP and the programmatic market as well as preparing the ads and then stitching them into a download takes time. To optimize the overall process, Triton’s platform employs a complex caching process which reduces time-to-download as much as possible. However, this process means that the first few requests for an episode will be served without ads as the cache is built. This cache also expires with time.
Consequently, if a podcast has very few downloads, it is possible that in some cases ads will feel like they are not being delivered to the episodes. If you test an episode and are not getting ads, we recommend waiting 5-10 minutes and trying the download again.
Podcast episode may be cached on the device
If you have verified or fixed some of the above and you are still not hearing the ad you expect, the issue might lie in the way that podcast apps often cache episodes on the devices that they are played on.
It's important to remember that ads are inserted into podcasts upon download and not upon playing the podcast on the device. The vast majority of podcasting apps cache the episodes and every time you play them they are played from the cache rather than downloading the episode again. Certain apps even go so far as to keep podcast episodes in cache for a time after the user deleted them.
By the very nature of how podcasting works, there is no way for Triton (or anyone) to force a re-download for listeners.
Still Need Help?
If you still have questions or issues after trying all of the above, please open a ticket with our support team. Be sure to include any reports and findings from the above troubleshooting steps (screenshots, error messages, spreadsheet reports, etc. help us an enormously). We will be happy to help you figure out the issue.