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 us, please verify the settings and run the reports described below. You might find the solution yourself!
Verify Program Monetization Settings and Episode Ad Markers
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 Studio. For more information, see Ad Markers.
Run an Impression Report
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. For more information, see TAP Explore.
Run a Forecasting Report
Use the Forecasting tool to run a report with your flight’s criteria on the podcast you want it to deliver to. You may find that:
You are oversold: Flight pacing is slower than expected as Triton is trying to spread delivery among too many flights for your available inventory. A negative number in the Available Inventory column means that you do not have enough inventory to fill all the flights you have placed in TAP.
You are undersold: Triton 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.
For more information, see Forecasting (Inventory Availability).
Check the Flight’s Settings
In TAP, make sure the flight’s targeting, goal, pacing, frequency cap, and so on, are set up to deliver according to your expectations. For example, a flight with a goal spread over a long period of time will most likely not deliver on every download.
Please verify:
The flight has creative with at least one ad
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 Content Type. For example, forgetting to Podcast is a common mistake.
Check ad separation to make sure there are no conflicting or overriding rules. This involves checking your publisher-wide ad separation. In Triton Settings, you need the Organization Administrator role).
Also, check 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.
For more information see TAP User Guide and Delivery Troubleshooting in TAP.
Your Podcast Might Have Low Download Numbers
Inserting ads into podcasts is not instantaneous. The process of ad selection from TAP and TAP Programmatic, as well as preparing the ads and then stitching them into a download takes time. To optimize the overall process, Triton’s platform uses 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 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 Might be Cached on the Listening Device
If you have verified or fixed 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.
Remember that ads are inserted into podcasts upon download and not upon playing the podcast on the device.
The majority of podcasting apps cache downloaded episodes. When you play an episode, the app uses the cache rather than downloading the episode again. Some apps even keep podcast episodes in cache for a time after the use has deleted them.
This means that there is 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 relevant information:
Reports and findings from the these troubleshooting steps
Take screenshots or copy and past error messages, spreadsheet reports, and so on
We will be happy to help you figure out the issue.