Cost, measurement, vetting and disclosure, with the source linked wherever an answer uses a figure.
Podcast sponsorships are priced per thousand downloads (CPM). Published host-read rates: Libsyn Ads lists $18 to $22 (30 seconds) and $24 to $26 (60 seconds) (Libsyn Ads, 2026); Acast lists $25 to $40, rising to $40 and above on business and finance shows (Acast, retrieved 2026-10-05). Real prices depend on the show, the audience and the terms, so we benchmark every quote against published cards and the show’s own download history.
As a flat fee, a CPM on views, or a flat fee with a minimum view guarantee (ThoughtLeaders, 2026-04-14). We put a guarantee or a CPM on every flat fee so that the risk of a slow video sits with the seller. No neutral body publishes integration prices, so we compare each quote with the channel’s own view history and with the guarantee on offer.
Enough to buy a flight you can read. For podcasts that usually means about three episodes on each show, since Right Side Up finds a first flight needs that long to reach full performance (Right Side Up, updated 2024-02-15). We size the test from your customer economics and from the volume a holdout needs, and tell you what the smallest readable test costs before you commit.
We quote a fee for each engagement once we have seen the brief. It is paid by the brand and shown as its own line in every plan and readout, apart from the media cost, as set out under How we are paid.
We will book one on request. Its effect is rarely distinguishable from ordinary week-to-week variation, however, so the recommended minimum is a small flight across several placements, with a baseline and a control.
Several methods run together, and a holdout decides between them. Codes and vanity URLs catch roughly 20% to 30% of podcast-driven conversions, per Right Side Up (Right Side Up, updated 2024-02-15); a post-purchase survey shows the share codes miss; pixel attribution adds household-level visits where the publisher supports it. A matched-region or household holdout then shows what the ads added.
Most listeners skip the vanity URL or code and look the brand up in a search engine (Fairing, 2024-08-15). The visit is then credited to search or direct traffic. We track branded search and direct visits against the baseline and use a holdout to measure the lift.
After several weeks. In Magellan AI’s data a day-7 reading showed under half of the final podcast ad response (Magellan AI, 2026-09), and Agentio counted close to 40% of YouTube integration views arriving after day 30 (Agentio, 2026-01-14). We read podcasts at least 30 days after the last episode and YouTube integrations at 90 days.
A controlled comparison: conversions among the exposed group minus conversions in an unexposed control equals what the ads added. For podcasts and YouTube the usual designs are matched regions or exposed and unexposed households from a pixel vendor that offers lift testing.
We report it as flat, show the interval, and recommend moving the budget. A flat result stops spend on something that is not adding customers and frees the budget for something that is.
We show them, on a separate line, and never add them to other results. In the IAB’s 2025 survey, 55% of buyers measured creator marketing with the ad platforms’ own reporting (IAB, 2025-11). We treat that reporting as one input and use a control group for the number that goes to finance.
We review the back catalog against your written suitability floor, check the audience in the creator’s own analytics, look for bought engagement, read how past sponsors were disclosed and list recent sponsors for conflicts. Each review ends in a memo with one of three outcomes: pass, conditional pass or decline.
They cover where your paid ads appear. Google Ads inventory settings (Expanded, Standard and Limited) govern paid placements on YouTube (Google Ads Help, retrieved 2026-10-05), and they do not review a creator’s channel before a sponsored integration. That review is done before the booking.
Not when the host’s read is plainly a commercial: the FTC Endorsement Guides then require no added statement of payment (16 CFR § 255.5, retrieved 2026-10-05, Example 12). A segment written to resemble editorial does need one. Any social post the host makes about the product is judged separately. We write the disclosure for each format into the brief.
It is necessary but not sufficient. YouTube states that legal duties stay with the creator and the brand (YouTube Help, retrieved 2026-10-05), and the FTC warns that relying on a platform’s tool does not make a disclosure effective (FTC, retrieved 2026-10-05). Our briefs add a disclosure that is both spoken and shown on screen as the segment opens.
Liability can be shared. The 2023 revision of the Endorsement Guides made clear that advertiser, endorser and intermediary can each be liable (FTC, 2023-06-29). Brands should require disclosure in writing, check it on every placement and act on failures. We do all three and keep the record.
No. We are not a law firm. We apply your legal team’s rules and the published FTC guidance to every brief and placement, flag anything that needs a lawyer’s view, and keep the evidence your team needs.
The host or creator, in their own words, from our brief and talking points. Approved claims and disclosure wording are fixed. The rest is left to the host, since the host’s own voice is what the placement is bought for.
Both. Terms are agreed with whichever party controls the placement: the creator, a manager, a network, or YouTube Creator Partnerships (formerly BrandConnect, renamed on 2026-03-23 and now part of Google Ads and Display & Video 360) (YouTube, 2026-03-23). Our terms and checks are the same either way.
Mainly the booking lead time of the shows and channels chosen. Vetting, the plan and the measurement setup come first, and the proposal gives a date for each step and for the first placement.
Yes. Sentry handles creator and podcast planning and buying as a specialist beside your agency, and the readout follows the reporting format already in use.
Any brand that can count its customers and wants to know what its creator and podcast spend adds. Fintech, insurance and health brands get the most from the compliance process, because claims and disclosure carry more weight there.
Include the questions your finance or legal team will raise. Each one gets a written answer before any booking is made.
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