Overview
Serving ads through Podscribe gives you precise control over who hears your ads, which creative they hear, and how often they hear it. You set the rules once, then deliver and measure from one place. More on why to use SmartServe.
Podscribe’s SmartServe uses VAST tags to let advertisers control targeting and creative delivery from their dashboard, even for direct publisher host-read buys.
A VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) tag is a standardized ad-serving link that delivers your audio creative to your target audience and tracks it at the same time. Each VAST campaign is associated with a specific advertiser and creative set, ensuring accurate ad delivery, targeting, and frequency control.
How to get started with a SmartServe campaign?
For Advertisers
- Go to By Campaign > Hover/select your campaign > Impression Pixel.
- Click “Set Up” on the <VAST> banner at the bottom.
- Upload your creative file and select your Serve Mode.
- Click on Manage Targeting Profile
- Create a new profile or select an existing one
- Set targeting rules to include or exclude audience segments
- Set frequency to limit how often a listener hears the ad
- Set criteria for matching listeners by shows, geos, device types etc.
- Toggle the campaign status to Active.
- Copy the generated VAST tag URL.
- Send that URL to your publisher for trafficking.
That’s it! Once implemented, the ad will serve via Podscribe with full measurement and targeting functionality enabled.
You do not need to send an impression pixel for the campaign as well, because the VAST tag will automatically return the impression pixel with the creative.
If you change a campaign’s name (ie on your Google Sheet), it will cause the campaign’s VAST URL to change. We recommend avoid changing campaign name’s then, if possible. If you have to or did by accident, please email adops@podscribe.com to fix!
For Publishers
- Receive the advertiser’s Podscribe VAST URL.
- Traffic it in your ad server or hosting platform like any third-party VAST creative.
- Deliver as usual. Podscribe enforces the Targeting Profile in-tag. You keep your normal reporting and controls.
When an advertiser asks for a Podscribe VAST tag, we can help you set up fast! Reach out to partnerships@podscribe.com.
Customizing Targeting
Targeting is controlled through a Targeting Profile that defines the rules, criteria and frequency of serving an ad. Profiles can be shared across multiple campaigns, letting you easily change targeting of many campaigns at once. Here’s how:
You can also edit targeting directly from your Overview tags (e.g., Genre, Show, Audience, Geo, App, Device, etc.), you can now:
- Identify your best-performing segments.
- Click to target those specific segments. This automatically creates a targeting profile.
In other words, you can target only the best-performing segments, or activate the top audiences directly from within the Podscribe interface.
Targeting Options - Read more here
- Target / Exclude (anti-target)
- By Segment:
- Those who took an action already
- Those exposed to an ad already
- By Media Type, By Publisher, By Campaign
- By Event: Install, Lead, Purchase, Signup, Visit
- By timeframe: From 1 day and up to 12 months.
Creative Serving Options
- Sequential per Listener: Serves creatives in a set order for each listener (e.g., first visit = Ad 1, second = Ad 2, then loops). Can be configured for just delivery within this campaign, or across all an advertiser’s campaigns.
- A/B Test Mode – Splits delivery across creatives for testing, either evenly or by custom percentage (e.g., 10%, 50%, 40%).
- On Schedule – Schedule when creatives should update.
Serving ads through Podscribe’s SmartServe delivers DSP-level precision with more transparency and control. It’s live in your Podscribe dashboard right now. Try it out!
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