Our standards

The checks we run before we book a channel, the steps we take after every placement runs, the rules our measurement follows, and what we report and when. They apply to every flight we manage.

Version 1.0, revised 2026-10-06

Vetting checklist

Every channel or show is reviewed against these thirteen checks before it can be booked. The review ends in a written memo with one of three outcomes.

Catalog

V1
The six most recent episodes or videos, watched or heard in full.

Fails when Content below the floor in the past six months that the creator has not corrected or removed.
V2
The five most-viewed videos or most-downloaded episodes of the past twelve months, in full.

Fails when Content below the floor in the videos or episodes most of the audience has seen.
V3
Transcripts for the rest of the past twelve months, scored against the floor and thresholds.

Fails when A pattern of content above a threshold that the brand has not accepted.

Audience

V4
Platform analytics shared by the creator: age, country, device and returning viewers for the past 90 days.

Fails when A refusal to share, or an audience mostly outside the markets the brand sells to.
V5
Views per video against subscriber growth over twelve months.

Fails when Jumps in views or subscribers that the content and its timing do not explain.

Integrity

V6
No sign of purchased followers, views or comments, each prohibited by 16 CFR Part 465, the FTC rule covering reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465, 89 FR 68077, 2024-08-22).

Fails when Any evidence of purchased engagement. This is a decline, with no conditional pass.
V7
A sample of comments on recent videos, read for repeated wording and accounts that only post links.

Fails when Comment sections that look automated across several videos.

Disclosure

V8
Earlier sponsorships disclosed within the video or read itself, early, in plain language, and with the platform setting enabled.

Fails when Two or more recent sponsorships disclosed only in a description or not at all.
V9
Written agreement to follow our disclosure specification for each format.

Fails when A refusal to put the disclosure in writing.

Suitability and category

V10
A floor and thresholds written by the brand before the review starts, scored by a named method or vendor.

Fails when Content below the floor. Content above a threshold becomes a condition.
V11
For regulated categories, past reads checked against the category rules your legal team sets, such as claims about returns, rates, cover or treatment.

Fails when A host who has made a prohibited claim for a past sponsor and repeated it.

Commercial

V12
Sponsors over the past twelve months listed against the brand’s competitors.

Fails when A conflict the brand will not accept, or exclusivity the seller will not price.
V13
Rates requested, along with the rates the channel has charged recently, and benchmarked against published rate cards.

Fails when A price we cannot reconcile with the audience and the guarantee on offer.

Pass: The channel can be booked on the standard brief and disclosure specification.
Conditional pass: The channel can be booked only with the stated condition, such as a legal review of every script or an excluded episode type.
Decline: The channel is not booked for this brand. The memo records the reason, and the decision stands for the flight.

Verification steps

Every placement is verified after it runs, in this order. The results go into the verification log the client receives each week.

Podcast reads

Collect the aircheck within seven days of the episode’s release.
Check the read’s length against the booking, allowing 10% either way.
Check the position: pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll, as booked.
Check that every required talking point is present and no unapproved claim was added.
Check that the code and URL were read correctly.
Where a segment could be mistaken for editorial, check for a spoken disclosure at its start.
Track downloads to day 30 against the guarantee, counted to the current IAB Tech Lab guidelines (IAB Tech Lab, v2.3, 2026-09).
Log any failure the same day and claim the make-good in writing within five working days.

YouTube integrations

Confirm the video went live on the agreed date.
Log the integration’s start time, length and position in the video.
Check the disclosure: spoken and on screen at the start of the segment, with the paid promotion setting on (YouTube Help, retrieved 2026-10-05).
Check the link and code in the description, and the pinned comment if one was agreed.
Check talking points and claims against the approved brief.
Record views at day 30, 60 and 90 from the creator’s analytics export.
Claim the make-good if views are below the guarantee when the window closes.

Players return very little playback data, so podcast delivery is the server’s count of files delivered, because confirmed plays can rarely be obtained (IAB Tech Lab, 2024-05). YouTube integrations collect views for months; Agentio counted close to 40% after day 30 (Agentio, 2026-01-14). The windows above follow from both points.

Measurement rules

These rules decide what a readout may claim.

M1
Measurement plan in writing, signed off ahead of the first placement. It states the question, the design, the read window and the result that would change the budget.
M2
A baseline of at least 30 days before launch.
M3
Podcast results read no earlier than 30 days after the last episode; YouTube results at 90 days after publish.
M4
The word “incremental” is used only for results measured against a control. Anything else is labeled as attributed.
M5
Every figure in a readout shows its method, its sample and its interval.
M6
Conversions reported by a platform or a seller are shown separately and never added to results from other methods.
M7
A result we cannot separate from zero is reported as flat, with a recommendation on the budget.

Reporting cadence

What you receive, when, and who it is written for.

Reporting cadence
When	What you receive	Written for
Before booking	A vetting memo for each channel or show	Marketing, legal
Before launch	The media plan, the measurement plan and cleared briefs	Marketing, finance, legal
Weekly during a flight	The verification log	Marketing
30 days after a podcast flight	Delivery against guarantee and the first read	Marketing, finance
Days 30, 60 and 90 of a YouTube placement	Views against the guarantee, and any make-good	Marketing
When the read window closes	The readout, with a recommendation	Marketing, finance
Each quarter	A P&L review: media, fees, incremental customers, contribution and payback	Finance

Corrections

If a number we reported turns out to be wrong, we send a corrected version with the change marked and the reason stated, and we update every readout that relied on it.

Definitions

Each term is used with this meaning everywhere on this site and in everything we send.

Aircheck: The published audio of a podcast episode, kept as evidence that a sponsored read ran to the brief.
Baked-in ad: A spot recorded as part of the episode audio. Every download carries the same spot, and targeting options are few.
Blended CAC: All acquisition spend for a period, across every channel, divided by the new customers won in that period.
Clear and conspicuous: The FTC test for a disclosure: hard to overlook, easy for an ordinary consumer to understand, and made by the same means as the claim.
Conditional pass: A vetting result that approves a channel subject to a stated condition, for example legal review of each script.
Contribution per customer: Revenue from a customer less the variable cost of serving that customer, before any acquisition cost.
Cost per incremental customer: Media cost and fees, divided by the customers a holdout test credits to the ads; always stated with its interval.
CPM: Price per 1,000 delivered downloads or views.
Dedicated video: A creator video whose whole subject is one brand or product.
Delivery window: The span of time, fixed before purchase, in which downloads or views count toward a guarantee.
Dynamically inserted ad: A spot selected by an ad server and joined to the episode audio at the moment of download; two listeners may hear different spots.
Flight: A set of placements scheduled, bought and measured as one unit, typically a test ahead of a larger budget.
Holdout: A group withheld from the ads on purpose, to serve as the comparison for the exposed group.
Host-read ad: A spot the host delivers in their own words from talking points. Contrast with announcer-read and produced spots.
Incrementality: Conversions caused by the ads, measured as the gap between an exposed group and a control group.
Integration: A sponsored segment placed inside a creator’s video, ahead of, within or after the main content.
Make-good: Additional delivery, or a credit, owed by the seller when a placement falls short of the agreed terms.
Matched-region test: A holdout design: ads run in one set of regions, a second set with comparable sales history is withheld, and results are compared.
Material connection: Any tie between endorser and brand (payment, free product, employment and the like) that could alter the credibility an audience assigns to the endorsement.
Payback period: Time taken for contribution from incremental customers to recover the media cost and fees spent acquiring them.
Post-purchase survey: A question at checkout asking where the buyer heard of the brand; a cross-check on the other methods.
Read window: The interval allowed after the final placement before a test result is taken.
Suitability floor: Content the brand will never appear beside, set down in writing before vetting begins.
Suitability threshold: Content the brand accepts subject to a condition, for example strong language in a comedy show.
Vanity URL: A short address read out in an ad (brand.com/show, for instance) so visits can be traced to the placement.
View guarantee: The seller’s commitment that a flat-fee placement reaches a stated minimum of views inside an agreed window.

Apply it to your next flight

With a brief in hand, we set out how this standard applies to your category, your channels and the figures your finance team works from.

Submit a brief