As the podcast industry debates the definition of podcasting and wades into unclear tools for measuring advertising, a secret industry-wide task force has convened to combat the issue.
Since July 2025, a group of 12 podcast leaders, including representatives from Spotify, SiriusXM and YouTube, have been discussing a potential common definition of podcasting and sharing information about ad measurement, which varies by platform and medium. The group is organized by podcast advertising agency Oxford Road, which is on the team alongside agents UTA, streaming platform Libsyn, metrics platform Podscribe, podcast growth platform FlightStory, and top podcast advertisers DraftKings and BetterHelp.
The definition of podcasting has been called into question by the rise of video podcasts, which increasingly appear and compete alongside television shows. The problem with not having a uniform definition is the fact that it causes friction in the ad buying process, as departments debate whether they fall under video, audio, creatives, or something else.
“What ends up happening is when advertisers decide whose budget to take out, there’s often a tug-of-war, or it becomes an orphan, because no one knows,” Oxford Road chief executive Dan Granger said.
On the ad measurement front, advertisers could previously use pixels, or the URL embedded in a podcast’s RSS feed, to identify listeners and see if they’ve made a purchase. But as YouTube became a dominant platform in audio streaming, and as some platforms moved away from pixels, advertisers found they couldn’t standardize how they measured ads across major streaming platforms like Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
According to a previous survey from Oxford Road, 76 percent of brands said they would increase their podcast spending if YouTube attribution was unified with audio, which could lead to an additional $1 billion in ad spend.
The task force’s goal is to standardize exposure metrics, develop cross-platform performance measurement, and agree on a universal definition of podcasting.
The plan is to share these proposals along with the implementation guide at the Advertising Summit to be held in July in Oxford Road. Granger said the group is “in the process of finding solutions for the landing.” The definition and metrics chosen are determined by a vote of members, who have met at least monthly since the group’s inception. But because there are competing interests within the task force, as well as proprietary information and benefits that companies may want to retain, Granger noted that members who disagree are also allowed to attach dissent.
Proposing uniform metrics and definition also doesn’t mean it will automatically be adopted across the industry or even by every company on the task force, but Granger said she sees it as a first step. The plan also aims to involve industry-level agencies such as the IAB, which has also studied the issue, and others moving forward.
“Our hope is that through our advocacy and the conversations that we’ve had, and the conversations that we’ll continue to have, that we’ll see things somewhat codified, but I think the reality is that no one is legislating this on a large scale right now, anyway, and the best thing we can do is explain to people that there’s a business interest they all have in trying to align as much as possible,” Granger said.
Some members of the mission also noted that they too have been aware of this issue for a long time and take it seriously.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into working with customers, measurement partners, DSPs and teams like AMP and IAB to ensure marketers can more accurately measure audio across the full conversion funnel and demonstrate its true value. As long-time champions of an open podcast ecosystem, we’re excited to help move the industry forward with the partners and platforms on which our creators, advertisers and listeners appear,” said Kerry DeGroot, Senior Vice President of Research and Campaign Effectiveness, SiriusXM Media.
