A report by Warc Media stated that ad spend on podcasts globally will exceed USD 5 billion in 2025 and reach USD 5.5 billion in 2026, growing at 7.9% and 6.5% respectively.

While the category continues to grow, the rate of growth in 2025 is considerably slower than 2024, during which it grew by 13.2%.

Other emerging channels, including retail media (+14.8%), CTV (+15.4%) and DOOH (+14.9%) are touted to grow at a faster rate during the year.

However, according to WARC’s annual Marketer’s Toolkit survey, more than half of global marketers (55%) plan to increase their podcast ad investment this year. Podcasts ranked fifth highest in intention to invest – behind online video, influencer/creator marketing, and social media.

The total global audience reach of podcasts has increased from 60.6% in 2020 to 66% in 2025. On average, younger consumers are tuning into podcasts each day than older groups. As of Q2 2024, podcasts’ reach among Gen Z audiences worldwide (68%) exceeds radio by 10%.

Difficulties in scaling podcast ad buys is one oft-repeated complaint among brands. Another is a perceived deficiency in podcast measurement tools.

The study added that video podcast consumption is growing, and YouTube has emerged as the most popular platform. Viewers watched over 400 million hours of podcasts per month on YouTube’s TV app in 2024.

On Spotify, more than 250 million users have streamed a video podcast. In the first five months of 2024, the younger cohort watched 2.9 billion minutes of video podcast content, up 58% year-on-year. Spotify found a +55% lift in intent for campaigns with an audio and video takeover versus audio-only campaigns.

According to the report, episodic buys – that is, ads placed in a single podcast episode on a specific show – tend to outperform ads dynamically inserted throughout shows across a podcast network.

Alex Brownsell, head - content, Warc Media, says: “Podcasts are having a moment. Fresh from seemingly helping Donald Trump to win last year’s ‘podcast election’ in the US, brands are reappraising the medium through fresh eyes. However, ad investment growth remains sluggish, with podcasters trapped in a contest for a slow-growing pool of global audio ad budgets. Publishers and platforms are now eyeing expansion into video, in the hope of further boosting consumption, as well as winning a share of a fast-growing slice of the ad market.”