Ads on podcasts despite premium

[iridi]

I pay for premium. Recently I started a new podcast called "Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonald's" and it has ads before and after each episode.

I'm not talking about ads recorded into the audio--I'm very familiar with those as I listen to a ton of podcasts. I'm talking about ads seemingly generated by Spotify. It increases the total time when played due to an ad being added to the beginning and end--i.e. the most recent episode is 10:37, but it becomes 12:08 when played. I listened to a single episode on multiple devices and got 2 different ads at the beginning. The episode is available on other sites and it doesn't naturally have ads. 

Why are there ads, how are they being served, and how do I stop them? There are old topics about the same thing but they're locked due to age and the top answers for all of them are from a non-employee saying they're recorded/baked-in to the podcasts despite this not making any sense based on the posts. (Again, I'm not talking about ads where the hosts pause the show to insert a sponsor segment, they're freshly generated advertisements like what you hear if you do not have premium.)

This happens on all versions I can access--desktop app for Windows 10, mobile app for Android, and the browser version through Firefox.

[Jose_M]

Hey @iridi!

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with this. I'm sure we can figure out what's going on here. 

Can you let me know whether this happens on every device? Also, does this only happen in certain podcasts or do you also get ads while listening to music? On another note, I'd recommend making sure you're logged in with the right Premium account. You can learn how to find additional accounts here.

Keep me posted 🙂

[m-_gh6cvc632]

Hello

I am also on Spotify premium.

I have also started getting ads on some podcasts since August 2019.

The ads only appear on the Android app.

[iridi]

I completely forgot to reply to this. Sorry.

Yes, I am logged into my Spotify account which has premium. No, it does not happen with music. Yes, it happens on every device (app & website through Firefox & Chrome on Windows 10, app & website through Firefox on Ubuntu, and the Android app on a Samsung Galaxy S8 running Pie)

I checked, and the only podcast that serves ads (specifically that are not pre-recorded and instead get loaded when the episode is played) is "Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonald's?" I get the feeling they've managed to encode something into the files that calls ads regardless of where they're posted, which I didn't think was possible; I also noticed that, weirdly, it's the ONLY podcast that WILL NOT download for offline listening through Spotify no matter what I do. Strikes me as bizarre that the one podcast that is managing to display ads seemingly-independently from Spotify's own ad service is also the only one that won't work when not connected to the internet. I found that if I rip it from another site where it's also serving ads--despite the site having ads blocked and not playing on any other podcast--the ads are mysteriously gone from the file itself when replayed in VLC.

It's frustrating because I have no clue how this is happening or how to stop it, and I'm starting to think it's completely unrelated to Spotify and instead has to do with whatever the creator uploaded. I just. Don't. Understand. How. They. Did. It.

[iridi · Accepted solution]

Figured it out!

Ended up contacting the creator and he said that he uses Spreaker, a company that makes software & other services for podcast distribution, and it's what embeds the ads (i.e. the ads aren't through Spotify itself, but rather there is data encoded in the files that call Spreaker's ad servers so that no matter where someone is listening to it--Spotify, iTunes, iHeartRadio--it'll still make money). That's what I was starting to suspect but didn't know if that was possible to do with a big publisher like Spotify. Kind of genius though!

Here's an article about it if anyone is curious: https://blog.spreaker.com/spreakers-all-new-revenue-sharing-program/

Even though I personally have only listened to 1 podcast with these black magic ads ("dynamic ad insertion"), if anyone is ending up here with the same problem and has already run through normal troubleshooting tips, you may have found one too!

[Jose_M]

Hello @iridi!

I'm glad to hear everything's fine now. Also, thank you for sharing the answer on with us. Make sure to let me know if there's anything else I can help with. 

Have a nice day.

[Jose_M]

Hello @m-_gh6cvc632!

It sounds like you might be experiencing a different issue. If so, feel free to create another topic explaining your issue in more detail. That way, it will be easier for you to get help. You can also send me over the link to it.

Have a nice day 🙂

[m-_gh6cvc632]

Thanks for the reply. But I think my situation is also similar. The ads are on one specific podcast. I am getting the ads on Android as well as Windows apps.

[Jose_M]

Hello @m-_gh6cvc632!

Can you let me know what the name of that podcast is?

Keep me posted 🙂

[m-_gh6cvc632]

The name of the podcast is "WTF1 Podcast"

[Jose_M · Accepted solution]

Hey @m-_gh6cvc632!

Note that podcasts can include ads - some podcasts have advertising as part of their content, but Spotify doesn't include any extra ads. I'd recommend  checking out this article for more info.

Hope that helps!

[giuliapelleg]

Hi, same problem here today. 

I'm listening to a couple of podcast (italian podcast, episodes from summer 2018 and spring 2019) and at the beginning and at the end there are a couple of ads .. Even Black friday ads! No chance that the ads are inserted in the podcast. 

How is it possible?? 

Thanks, regards

[Redfenix]

What is Spotify doing to rectify this?

[Jose_M]

Hello there!

Sorry to hear you're having trouble with this. Can you let me know if you're able to use other Premium features?

Keep me posted 🙂

[Westabrook]

I HAVE A SOLUTION. First off, I 100% agree that premium users should not be forced to see ads. Second, I understand the position spotify is in is not great since taking out the ads could cause Podcasters to avoid promoting spotify or cause them to pull their content off spotify all together.  SOLUTION (for premium users only): Offline mode. That's it, just download a few dozen episodes and set it to offline mode. No ads, unless the podcast is old enough to use the old standard (non-dynamic) method of embedding the ads into the actual recording. The idea behind dynamic ads relies on a continuous connection to the internet, cut off the internet (which is a premium only feature) and the podcast has no way of communicating with its ad servers. I've tested this out on many shows, it's inconvenient but it works.

[Fufycaz]

This thing is unfortunately out of control, I'm about to leave Spotify after years and years of premiumship. It is sad. 

[Jeremy]

Hey there folks,

Thank you for your replies and feedback in this thread.

Keep in mind that Spotify allows Podcasters to enable their content for Streaming Ad Insertion. 

This isn't something Spotify can control - it's up to the individual podcast owners if they choose to have that type of ad in their content. You'll find more info about it here.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us, and will make sure to pass it on to the right folks.

If you have any questions we're always one reply away.

Take care and happy 2021!

[Naomi-99]

Um, what?

You say in one sentence that Spotify allows podcasts to insert streaming ads then on the next sentence that it's not something you can control.

It absolutely is in Spotify's control. It's Spotify's platform.

I pay for premium so that I don't get ads. What is point of premium if I'm going to get targeted advertisements with it?

[djralex]

This is no longer true.

As a premium subscriber, I have just experienced Spotify pausing my podcast (mid sentence) and added a 33 second advert via their software to promote another podcast on their platform. In other words, the advert was not recorded as part of the episode.

The podcast that I was listening to changed from being Joe Rogan to "Braydon &" which is the name of the podcast which was being promoted for the 33 second period. After the advert it switched back to Joe Rogan.

After this advert finished playing spotify player resumed playing Joe Rogan.

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2021/01/25/spotify-podcast-ads-premium-2/

[Ver]

Hey folks,

Thanks for posting here 🙂

We don't play ads that interrupt the music listening experience of Premium subscribers. However, some podcasts may have advertising or sponsorship messages within the episodes. 

You can head here for more information about ads and podcasts.

Hope this sheds some light on the matter.

Take care!