Substack Brings Dynamic Ad Insertion to Podcasts

Substack is adding dynamic ad insertion to the podcasts it hosts—so that ads are placed when the listener downloads or streams, rather than recorded in the audio file—marking the latest step in a sponsorship push the company has been building since June. Beginning Wednesday, podcasters will be able to request early access to tools that let them run campaigns with sponsors they have sourced themselves, serve different ads to different listeners, and update ads across their back catalogs without re-editing episodes, according to Substack head of sponsorship Dan Robbins. Previously, podcasters on Substack had to record ads directly into their episodes. Podcasters who do not want to sell their own sponsorships will also be able to fill ad breaks through programmatic marketplaces and demand-side platforms. Participation is optional, and publishers set the guardrails. Substack is building some of the technology itself and partnering on the rest, according to Robbins, though he declined to name its partners. Its decisions around what to build versus buy could prove critical, as dynamic ad insertion has given even some of the largest companies in podcasting significant trouble, according to Bryan Barletta, a partner at podcast firm Sounds Profitable and president of Podcast Movement. The new offerings, which also include an IAB Tech Lab certification for podcast download measurement, are meant to position the platform for a particular kind of creator. “We want to be the home for the most ambitious media entrepreneurs,” Robbins said, “so we are building out the toolset for them to have the best ads and sponsorship capabilities.” Early access is request-based and limited to publishers with paid subscriptions turned on, according to Robbins. There is no minimum subscriber count, and episodes can still be free and ad-supported. Substack, which long eschewed advertising, has gradually reversed course, rolling out new sponsorship options during Advertising Week. The company still prioritizes subscriptions, according to Robbins, but increasingly positions itself as a creator monetization platform. That puts it in competition with Beehiiv, which already offers many of the same podcast capabilities, according to Barletta, and more broadly with YouTube and Instagram. To remain an attractive home base for its creators, the company has begun offering official means for brands to connect with its top talent, which had been happening unofficially for years. Choice and control The two paths, self-sold deals and marketplace fill, are meant to complement each other, according to Robbins. “It’s a ‘both and,’” he said, “We want to give choice and control to podcasters. Some podcasters might want to focus on their own deals; others might want to tap into those opportunities.” That approach extends to brand safety, which for now rests on publishers and brands choosing whom they work with, according to Robbins. That gives advertisers more control than a social feed offers, but less security than more mature podcast ad systems provide. For programmatic fill, publishers can set category allow lists, and cautious brands can opt for narrow ones. Substack does not yet integrate with third-party brand-safety vendors. Formats will include host-reads and produced spots in pre-, mid-, and post-roll positions. Advertisers will get delivery metrics such as reach, frequency, impressions, and engagement, plus audience demographics, according to Robbins. Brands can measure conversion with their own affiliate tools, while larger campaigns can run brand-lift studies through a Kantar partnership Substack struck earlier this month. Buyers will likely want more detail, according to Barletta. Substack has not said which attribution partners, DSPs, or marketplaces it will work with, whether it will offer prefix-based analytics, or whether it will support HLS video. Those are often among the first questions buyers ask. “It doesn’t mean Substack isn’t or hasn’t already solved for this,” Barletta said. “But as an industry, we’re just currently left with some question marks.” The commercial model, including Substack’s revenue share, is still being developed. Monetization will begin in earnest in 2027, according to Robbins, who declined to share a revenue projection. Much of the announcement reflects capabilities long standard in podcasting, according to Barletta. The bigger opportunity, he said, is bringing Substack’s new newsletter sponsorship formats to audio. One of those formats, the unlock, lets a brand sponsor a paywalled post so anyone can read it. Podcasters can approximate this by moving a sponsored episode to their public feed, but Substack could automate that. Substack has said it wants to go beyond standard ad formats, and its subscription business gives it something most podcast platforms lack. “Substack already has the underlying relationship between creators, paying subscribers, and free audiences,” Barletta said. “Building sponsorship products that take advantage of those relationships could offer something meaningfully different from traditional podcast advertising.”

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Substack Brings Dynamic Ad Insertion to Podcasts

The platform still prioritizes subscriptions, but wants to position itself as a creator monetization platform

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