The digital audio market is growing, innovating and broadening its strategic role according to IAB Australia’s Digital Audio State of the Nation Report, and the recently released IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report. However, the Digital Audio State of the Nation Report also found that the market’s future scale and investment will depend heavily on the industry’s ability to deliver improved measurement sophistication, provide clearer evidence of effectiveness, and responsibly adopt new technologies including AI.
Now in its 10th year, the Digital Audio State of the Nation Report tracks the evolution of Australia’s digital audio ecosystem, charting the diversification of ad formats and platforms, shifts in investment drivers, technological advancements, and insights into advertiser investment plans across streaming audio, podcast and video advertising environments and platforms.
The Digital Audio State of the Nation Report will be officially launched today at IAB Australia’s Audio Summit, where industry leaders will examine how digital audio integrates with broader digital advertising strategies, trading models and measurement approaches.
The report found that ad buyers are signalling further increases in digital audio investment, with 69 per cent of audio ad buyers planning to increase their spend in original content podcast advertising, while 56 per cent plan to increase investment in streaming music advertising. Video podcasts were also found to be emerging, with 25 per cent of respondents having already included the format in a campaign and a further 50 per cent having researched the opportunity.
Audience attention, brand building, brand integrations, custom executions, and access to talent and content creators were identified in the report as key drivers in audio advertising investment.
It also found that the industry is adopting a curious but cautious approach to integrating AI into audio planning, activation and ad production processes, with the greatest opportunity seen as performance tracking, reporting and campaign optimisation. However, 53 per cent of Australian ad buyers expressed concerns with the use of AI in audio content production for host reads or voice cloning, where concerns around authenticity remain high.
Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, commented: “There is clear positive sentiment around digital audio, with buyers signalling continued growth across podcasts and streaming. What’s equally clear is that investment confidence increasingly depends on outcomes-based measurement and consistent standards that allow audio to sit comfortably alongside the broader digital mix.
“At the same time, the expansion of the creator economy and the rise of video podcasts are reshaping how brands show up in audio environments. As an industry, we need to innovate around measurement, trading models and creative integration to ensure growth is matched with clarity and credibility.”
Steve Golding, Head of Audio Automation at NOVA and Chair of IAB Australia’s Audio Council, commented: “The future for digital audio advertisers is increasingly compelling. As the channel scales within the media mix, advances in targeting, dynamic creative, and experimentation with content creators will make audio campaigns even more relevant, accountable and effective, allowing them to deepen connections with audiences and build trust at scale.”
The Digital Audio State of the Nation Report comes just days after the release of the IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report, which found digital audio revenue grew 8.5 per cent year on year to reach $338.7m for CY25.
Additional Findings
Content Creators: This year, access to talent and content creators as a driver for digital audio advertising usage has seen a significant year-on-year jump (+10 percentage points), making this the second most important driver after audience attention and engagement capabilities.
The creator economy: 61 per cent of respondents have used podcast creators and talent as part of their creator marketing strategy, with a further 17 per cent considering the opportunity.
Shift to performance: Previous years have shown heavy reliance on digital audio for brand-building objectives. This year, 37 per cent of respondents plan to increase the share of spend on performance advertising compared to brand advertising, with 27 per cent of respondents expecting to increase the share of spend on brand advertising.
Buying formats: Audio programmatic buying remains stable on last year, with 72 per cent of respondents buying programmatically in 2025. Among those buying programmatically, 68 per cent intend to buy streaming audio guaranteed deals in 2026 (up from 51 per cent in 2025) and 62 per cent plan to buy podcast advertising guaranteed deals (up from 43 per cent in 2025). Capabilities in data and targeting have evolved over the last decade, and these continue to dominate the reasons for buying programmatic audio.
Business outcomes: Standardised data is required for integration into existing planning and Market Mix Modelling tools (MMM) to allow comparable evaluation of digital audio with other channels. MMM is now the leading tool for assessing sales impact and ROI of audio advertising, with 44 per cent of respondents using it to assess the effectiveness of digital audio investment. However, evidence of effectiveness and measurement continue to be key industry challenges, compounded by fragmented formats and a lack of standardisation in the audio space.
The report was supported by industry body Commercial Radio & Audio, as well as 19 different media and tech companies, including Acast, ARN, Blis, Eardrum, Foxtel, Google, Magnite, News Corp Australia, Nine Radio, NOVA, Publicis Groupe, Earmax, SCA, Spotify, The Trade Desk, Triton, Yahoo, WPP Media and Zenith.
Fieldwork was conducted in November and December 2025, with 128 survey responses collected from decision-makers or influencers on the allocation of marketing spend from the advertising buy-side, including from media, creative and digital advertising agencies, agency trading desks, and brands and companies that buy audio advertising. Ninety-five per cent of respondents were from ad agencies, including holding groups and smaller independent agencies, and 5 per cent of respondents were from brands or companies that buy advertising.
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