A recent article by Pete Barlas of Investor’s Business Daily (06/20/08) forecasts a positive future for podcast advertising. To summarize:

Podcast audiences have branched out far beyond just geeks. And advertisers are starting to like them, too.

After having placed ads with Web sites and search engines, more advertisers are starting to spread their ad dollars to audio and video podcasts in an attempt to reach certain consumers.

In the last few years, amateur broadcasters known as podcasters have flooded the Internet with self-produced audio and video programs that discuss topics ranging from politics to sports…..

“Millions of people religiously download podcasts daily or weekly, in numbers too great for advertisers to ignore”, quotes one source. “We’re getting contacted every week by companies that say ‘I just found out about this online media stuff and we are thinking about putting some money in it.”

Podcast ad revenue represents a sliver of the multibillion-dollar online ad market. But U.S. ad dollars spent on audio and video podcasts are expected to jump to $435 million by 2012 from $165 million last year, says eMarketer.

“There is a pretty substantial growth curve ahead, and it’s been building slowly,” said eMarketer analyst Paul Verna.

Most podcasts are audio programs, though the number of video podcasts is rising.

Podcasts differ from other Web-based programs. People, for example, can watch a video on YouTube.com, but they can’t download it to play it on another computer or portable device without purchasing a specific software program, Verna says.

“The unique thing about podcasting is that people can take it and go and listen to it in their car during a 45-minute commute,” he said. “And as long as there is a captive audience, there is always going to be an ad market around it.”

Cheers to all of our podcast brethren for helping to establish podcast advertising with us: Podango, Wizzard Media, Podshow, Mevio, Podcast Pickle.