Industry surveyInteractive Advertising Bureau, Sep 2026

US podcast ad spend is projected to grow 8.7% in 2026, the fastest among audio channels

Channel validation

8.7%

projected increase in U.S. podcast ad spend for 2026 over 2025 (forecast issued September 2026)

Reader Note:: A projection rather than a count, and one built from what US buyers said they planned to spend rather than from spend anyone has placed. The fieldwork ran over two weeks in July 2026, so it predates most of the year it forecasts. Fastest here is within audio only — podcast against broadcast and streaming audio — and says nothing about how podcast compares with video or display.
Evidence:: Stated intention
Vendor interest:: Moderate — This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
Sample:: Email survey of 211 U.S. buy-side ad investment decision-makers, primarily at agencies (52%) and brands (44%); fielded July 17-31, 2026.

Good for

Reading the mood, and deciding what to test yourself.

Not for

Predicting what people will actually do. Intentions and behaviour come apart.
This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
This is an aggregated or average number that covers very different cases. Real results in a particular segment may differ.
The source says how much it looked at, but not how any of it was chosen.

4.4x

How much better an AI search visitor converts compared to an organic search visitor, on average

of Google searches that showed an AI summary ended with a click on a link inside that summary (US, March 2025)

20% of Gen Z and 17% of Millennials discover new brands through influencer endorsements, vs 12% of Gen X and 5% of Boomers

Share of each generation who discover new brands via influencer endorsements
Generation	Share who discover brands through influencers (%)
Gen Z	20%
Millennials	17%
Gen X	12%
Baby Boomers	5%

Go deeper on this topic

Our Substack turns the data behind these cards into full breakdowns: what changed, why, and what to do about it.

Fixing your influencer marketing campaign: How to get into the top 10% of advertisers

11.4%

of shopper sessions in the US involved an AI tool as of June 2026, up 2.3 percentage points from a year earlier

is the short-term ROI index for influencer campaigns in the UK, right on the market average with 4.5% of short-term sales (excluding campaigns that produced no result)

21–26%

of consumers in the US, UK, and Germany report using AI tools to research products online, per Statista's 2026 Global Survey (Jul 2025–Jun 2026).

US podcast ad spend is projected to grow 8.7% in 2026, the fastest among audio channels

Good for

Not for

Related cards

Go deeper on this topic