Lately, my favorite podcasts are increasingly utilizing commercials to subsidize their expenses and maybe earn a bit of cash. While I’m 100% behind this, I’ve been increasingly frustrated with podcasters lack of audience understanding.

Podcast listeners are different from radio listeners in the following ways:

1. We listen on our own time, when it is convenient for us.
2. We are usually listening on our iPod, with headphones on.
3. We have the ability to fast forward commercials.

On of my favorite podcasts is the Daily Search Cast, and they are a great example of how not to implement podcast advertising.

1. The opening 1:45 of the show is loud, car dealership-ish commercials. Topically, I might listen to them if only the audio levels didn’t blast out my eardrums.
2. There is no interim commercials to interject a brief 10-15 second commercial.
3. The end of the show is followed by more commercials. Once the show is over, why should I continue to listen.

Now, let’s look at This Week in Tech (TWiT). TWiT does the best job at inserting advertising into the podcast.

1. In the opener they casually mention the advertiser.
2. During the show they mention the advertiser(s) again.
3. They end the show with a brief commercial which I may listen to.

The bottom line, commercials shouldn’t be more then 10-15 seconds. Be sensitive to audio levels, we are wearing headphones or earbuds. Randomly place the commercials throughout the podcast, mix it up a bit.

Hopefully podcasters begin integrating commercials in a more listener-friendly way.