Finally real iTunes metrics, free via Google Analytics

I founded VoloMedia in 2005 to bring Analytics and Advertising technology to episodic media delivery, “Podcasting”.  As the years have rolled by,  Podcasting has grown from user generated audio to professionally produced video, from mainly an audio iPod  media, to consumption on a variety of screens – increasingly the iPhone. VoloMedia has had tremendous success signing up many of the major TV shows as customers – ABC, NBC, G4TV, How Stuff Works, etc. Today we manage over 45 million monthly media requests, 75% of which is video and the volumes are growing, we had nearly 2 million media requests yesterday. With all of these downloads over all of these years, one fact has remained stubborn -a vast majority of the traffic originates from Apple’s iTunes Media player. This should not be very surprising given that the iTunes store hosts 140,000 podcast feeds – and this is where most consumers are discovering podcast shows.

I helped ADM standardize the measurement specs around downloads, and the process was contentious around the metrics question, “download requests” or “completed downloads”?  The most final of all metrics , “plays”, was not considered because it simply was not feasible. During the current economic downturn, the need for the best metrics has become even more important for publishers and advertisers.

Over a year ago our engineers decided to resolve this issue in the most practical way we could – connecting iTunes to Google Analytics. We are announcing this product today. Before I go into the specifics, I would like to emphasize one important point – this free service does not require any relationship, contractual or otherwise, with VoloMedia.

VoloMedia’s Bridge-to-Google Analytics is a plug-in to the iTunes Media player, now installed with over 100 thousand iTunes consumers in the US – precisely 94,296 iTunes plug-ins were active over the last 5 days. Publishers are free to use this free service if it meets their needs, i.e. collect annonymous usage statistics regarding usage of their content on iTunes and to analyze them using Google Analyics: a free and robust industry-standard platform. If you have ever used Google Analytics, then you are familiar with “GA_ID – Google Analytics ID”. With a simple modification of the RSS feed to incorporate the GA-ID the publisher can start flowing aggregated play and download data to their Google Analytics account.  More information is on our website: http://www.volomedia.com

eMarketer Headline Needs a “Yet”

On Wednesday of this week eMarketer released data indicating, as they trumpeted, “Podcasting Not Too Profitable.” A headline that got my attention, as it would anyone who is dedicated to monetizing any kind of downloadable media. The last thing we want to hear is that money isn’t being made by people generating incredible content. I mean, really, who wants to go after a piece of pie that represents “less than 0.2% of Zenith’s projection for the total online advertising space.”?

However, once you look past the “glass half empty” headline you’ll see real opportunity. Opportunity to do so much better. Opportunity that was really the reason a group of forward thinking people decided to form the Association for Downloadable Media.  How about, “Podcasting Not Too Profitable…Yet!”

First, let’s look at some of the facts about podcasting consumption. After all, you can’t make money on a product or service unless there are people using it, right? Well podcasting is being used…alot. This fact will be reinforced by data to be presented during our May 21st webcast with Edison Research’s Tom Webster and that same fact was noted in data the aforementioned eMarketer have themselves touted as recently as March 9th of this year. “As a percentage of Internet users, podcast downloaders will grow from 9% in 2008 to 17% in 2013.”

To be clear, when eMarketer states that “The appetite for podcasts is fairly light” they are referencing the appetite of media buyers, not podcast users. So, it’s not a matter of finding audience, it’s a matter of increasing the appetite of advertisers for, or even making them aware of the existence of, that audience.

We must seize the opportunity. Or as Tom Webster says in his Infinite Dial post, “Projections generally describe a possible future–perhaps even a probable future–but not the only future. The key is, what are podcasters going to do to change it?” Downloadable media producers (in this case podcasters, must work harder, whether it’s  an organized manner through the ADM, or by individually approaching advertisers to sing the praises of reaching consumers through this new and highly personal medium.

What RAJAR’s Recent Podcasting Data Means for Podcasters

The UK’s radio ratings service, RAJAR, recently released the findings of its latest study of Internet-delivered audio services, including a healthy section on podcast consumption. Here are some of the principal findings, and a few thoughts on what they mean for podcast content producers:

1. The overall podcast audience continues to show significant growth: the overall UK figures rose from 6 million persons indicating they had ever downloaded a podcast in May 2008, to 7.2 million today. Also in that same period, the number of persons indicating that they listen to a podcast each week rose from 3.7 million to 4.1 million.

Two things strike me about these numbers–first, of course, podcast consumption continues to grow at a very healthy rate. More significant to me is the fact that 57% of the total podcast audience listens to a podcast each week. That, combined with the fact that the number of podcasts subscribed to increased from 3.6 to 4.4 is clear evidence that listening to podcasts is becoming more of a habit, and less of a novelty, for the majority of this ever-growing body.

If you are monetizing podcast content, habit is most definitely what you need. It is vital for content producers to encourage, promote and even reward regular, timely listening–again, the fact that podcasts can be consumed any old time is a benefit to the listener, but means that ‘campaigns’ can stretch for weeks–even months–and occur asynchronously. The more podcast producers can create and reinforce the habit of listening to a podcast, the more they can control variables and show demonstrable results for advertisers within a finite window of time. So listen whenever you want–but listen this week–and be creative about how you encourage your listeners to make the habit.

2. 33% of podcast listeners responded positively to the idea of podcasts without advertising that would have to be paid for. However, the same study showed that the number of podcast listeners who had actually paid for a podcast remained unchanged–3%.

Why The Apple TV Will Revolutionize Content Consumption

Downloading today’s available update to the Apple TV (aptly named “Take 2″), I can now experience within my living room, the promise that was buzzing about at last month’s MacWorld conference.  That is, the Apple TV may very well revolutionize the way we consume (and track!!) downloadable RSS media.

These are tall words.  You’ve probably heard this story before (the Roomba will revolutionize home cleaning? Pet owners might disagree);  but let me explain the two reasons why:

1. Watching and listening to podcasts is straightforward and simple.   Quick navigation leads to consumption without the prior subscription hassles.  Devices need not sync.  Desktop media management disappears, just sit back, and watch or listen.  The navigation of popular and featured content is a snap.  When (if?) Apple comes out with a qwerty entry device instead of the painful text entry process via the super-simple remote, we might soon easily explore the over 125,000 available subscription points within the podcast directory.

2. A download (finally!!) is a watch.  The untethered nature of prior RSS media consumption has many great benefits, but it also stymies attempts to answer the question:  how can you prove that a download is an actual watch/listen.  In a sense, Apple TV re-tethers RSS.  Developers will investigate whether Apple TV watches are distinguishable in server log so as to aggregate usage in a way that is meaningful to publishers, advertisers and other interested parties.

Is this a fraction of the pie of all RSS media usage?  Today it is a very very small sliver, and likely to grow, but unlikely to amount to the biggest portion of the pie any time soon;  the larger slices will comprise desktop and portable media usage for the foreseeable future.  But the usage data will open up a new revolutionary window into how many people are starting to watch and listen to downloadable media, on the couch.

Lessons from Cable TV re: Advertising

I’ve been reading the intensive debate this last week in the Yahoo ADM group, and now it’s my turn to chime in.

Some 25 years ago, I was part of the birth of another new media industry — cable TV. I helped start two cable TV companies and then consulted to many of the giants here in Denver. I have applied alot of the lessons-learned to starting my own podcast business; it’s almost identical.

When cable started, consumers subscribed to cable not because of new
content but because of improved reception to local and network TV. Cable was the iPod of that generation — creating convenience for accessing their favorite progamming. The first cable-only networks to
launch were super-stations like WTBS and WGN and then later CNN and
ESPN that were “ad-supported.” To pay the freight of carriage, the
industry struggled to define standards so traditional TV advertisers
would be able to understand and buy niche cable channels more easily.
The NCTA and CTAM were born to help set technical (for insertions)
advertising standards and make it easier for agencies and marketers to
buy cable. Sound familiar?

Shortly thereafter, the concept of ad-free “premium” channels was born
with HBO. It was hated. Remember the consumer boycots against “pay
TV”?

It’s important to remember that: