Spotify boosts its programmatic offer with new advertising technology deals

Spotify is making its audio ad inventory available to programmatic buyers in its latest effort to capture new ad revenue and make it easier for advertisers to target users listening to music on the go.The streaming music giant already closed deals with Rubicon, The Trade Desk and AppNexus to offer its mobile audio inventory for purchase in near-real time to private markets. That means an ad buyer can choose its consumers based on the music they listen to, by checking Spotify data and understanding their listening habits to insert their ad in the most appropriate moment.The transaction is entirely automated and buyers and traders can bid on Spotify’s audio inventory, alongside display and video inventory. Previously, the company sold audio ads through audio-only ad exchanges at a fixed price, and completed transactions through a manual process.”We didn’t have the real-time optimization last year” said Jana Jakovljevic, Head of Programmatic at Spotify. “We were waiting for a programmatic standard for audio, that came out in January when the IAB released its Programmatic and Open-RTB Protocol 2.4. Now buyers have more control in terms of optimization”.