Hacker News Reader

Comment by DataGata | Hacker News Reader

Podcasts and podcast advertisers know we can skip them, they accept this. If they see a lot of users skip ALL of them, it isn't okay.

View on HN

Exactly. Because the podcaster is saying the script (normally), we may actually listen (pay attention) to it. That's what they hope for. If there isn't even a chance in hell that we would even START to hear it, then there's no more ad spending. Which means there's less content because not everyone can do the stuff for free at high quality.

Even if you skips 90% of a 90 second ad, the advertiser still has 9 seconds to get a pitch in. Sometimes in advertising, just reminding the users you exist is enough. If you hear "Dave's Pizza" twelve times before going to the grocery store, then you're much more likely to subconsciously grab one if you see them one in the freezer.

Podcast advertisers often fall into a category of product where name recognition is important. They are okay knowing that most of us skip the ads because they know the audience will hear the name before they have a chance to skip the ad.

I will say I do agree for the most part. I did try out square space for 2 months when I had a business idea. The idea was flawed to begin with... mainly because I came up with it when really drunk... but hey, I wasn't displeased with them (their ads are pretty honest) and I never would have tried them out if they didn't slap checks in a bunch of youtuber faces.

Actually... now that I think about it... I think I do respond better to podcast ads. There's 5 or 6 instances, this past year, that I checked out companies because of them. I've only done that once for a tv commercial in my lifetime and... I don't think I ever clicked on a banner ad before... on purpose. Never on purpose. Accident, yes.

I think it's because they're not, "OH MY SHIT LOOK AT ME! PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" types of ads.

Take this a step farther.

Advertisers care about conversions -- this is why promo codes exist. If podcast advertisers don't see a steady tick of users spending money via the promo codes they distribute, they'll stop advertising. The impressions are way less valuable than conversions are.

So is it unethical (or "un-strategic" if you prefer) to not buy from brands that are mentioned by your favorite podcaster? If people en-mass start making educated purchasing decisions and ignoring openly silly ads from WeWork or matress companies, is that harmful to the industry?

Advertising itself in its current state is harmful. People treat it like, "you listen for ads and you get the content for free." But no -- the ads manipulate you. If on average most people are not being manipulated, then the system doesn't work. The manipulation is the part that advertisers care about. It's not free. Objectively, if advertising was not manipulating your purchasing decisions in a non-optimal way, it would not be worth doing.

From that perspective, I'm more than happy to burn advertising to the ground, even if it means taking out a few podcasters.

You can also take the perspective that advertising is a zero-sum game where nobody wins and consumers aren't affected, but every business has to spend just to keep up with each other. In which case, I'm also happy to burn the industry to the ground to reduce pointless corporate waste and reduce the cost of entry for new businesses.

Some people would prefer not to listen to podcasts at all, if they had to listen to ads.

Then they can do that. It's pretty simple to do.

You just decide the transaction isn't worth it, and then not execute the transaction. I do it whenever I decide not to buy a Tesla.

Edit: meant to say I regularly don't buy a Tesla, not regularly do. College student, definitely couldn't afford one

Transaction? I asked for an MP3 and you sent it. Transaction over.

Exactly. And if you don't like what's in the MP3, you have the option of not listening to it.

... or just parts of it.

Your loss - I have found tons of interesting things that I would not have Mike Duncan's revolutions is just one.

No loss here. I listen to several podcast, but I usually skip the ads. If that was not possible, I would not listen to podcasts. Podcasts can be nice, but there is an abundance of people that want their voices heard.

How are they seeing that ads have been skipped? That seems like it would only happen if your player is spying on you.

The coupon codes or referral links being advertised will see a drop in traffic.

That seems like it would only happen if your player is spying on you.

No. It works the same way any newspaper, radio, and TV advertising work.

If advertisers sponsor a podcast and get zero return, then the advertisers stops sponsoring the podcast and the podcast dies.

A world where all podcasts have lo-fi production values and only weirdos with too much time and a LOT of interest in the topic at hand make them would be wonderful. The audio version of the early web. They can have podcast web rings instead of ads!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com