DAX makes 'most significant' digital audio update in cross-device measurement tool

It is jostling to benefit from the lack of adblocking in digital audio, plus voice tech increasingly removing friction from listening. DAX said its cross device-tracking solution will help advertisers understand user’s listening habits, better measure ad performance and chart customer journeys.

It addresses one of the criticisms of digital media advertising that the campaign reporting just isn’t on par with other formats yet. DAX said it was “the most significant update to the platform since the launch of audio measurement tool in 2016”.

Also included was a new podcast measurement solution. Speaking at its Upfronts presentation on Wednesday 27 November, Eleanor Marshall, head of data at DAX, said: “The need for cross-device measurement is nowhere more acute than in the podcast space. Not only is it the fastest growing form of audio content but it is also the hardest to track. The majority of podcast inventory is delivered on app, while the vast majority of calls to action are browser based, meaning that post-listen behaviour tends to fall down a data black hole.”

She credited the fact the tool is not “survey or sample based” like many solutions in audio measurement. Its set to benefit from the fact 75% of advertisers said they would up podcast ad spend this year, just back in July.

New Partners

At the event the group also revealed a new slew of partners. On the table was the opportunity to sponsor 18 of Telegraph Media Group's podcasts, across a breadth of food, fashion, football, finance, news and politics.

Additionally, a partnership with music brand NME has onboarded its online radio channels NME Radio 1 and NME Radio 2. A third announcement saw the entire Now Music catalogue made available on the platform.

DAX now includes The Telegraph, ITV, SoundCloud, Sky, TuneIn, Global’s Capital and Radio X

Back in August, UK rival Bauer Media moved its inventory to a relaunched Instream, reducing the biddable inventory in DAX. At the time, there were 224 publisher brands across the UK, USA and Canada, including 26 from the UK. This figure now sides at 238m publisher brands. It claims that there is a UK audience of 27m people, 100m in the US and 6m in Canada.

Global, now a major stakeholder in the out of home advertising industry, is also set to benefit from the fact digital audio can complement other channels. More than 40% of their advertising campaigns in the past 12 months had included digital audio – up from 33% in the 2018 study

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