All content hosted on Timbre is "ready-to-monetise" insofar that programmatic ads can be inserted into the end listeners download in pre-roll, mid-roll (via ad markers passed via the episode asset's metadata) and post-roll zones.

To monetise your podcast you will need to have a monetisation agreement in place with an ad partner as well as SharpStream. To ensure your agreement will be compatible with the Timbre service and your plan, feel free to contact our support team.

Once your agreement is in place, your monetisation partner will ask for a Podcast Collection ID to ensure the agreed zones are established on the episodes in your podcast.  This ID is the same as your Podcast's UUID.

If you need help locating the Collection ID for your Podcast, view this help guide: How to Locate your Podcast Collection ID for Programmatic Ad insertion

Your monetisation partner will request your preferences for Pre-Roll, Post-Roll and Mid-Roll programmatic breaks. You can activate any combination of these zones on your Podcast. 

If your monetisation agreement has been arranged via either our 'SharpStream Partner' or 'Long Tail Monetisation' agreements. You will provide these preferences to your SharpStream account manager to set up on your behalf.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Pre-Roll/Post-Roll
• Mid-Roll

Pre-Roll/Post-Roll

Pre-roll programmatic ads play when a user downloads or streams your podcast episode. Post-rolls, as the name suggests, play out at the end of the podcast content.

Pre-roll and post-roll zone parameters are set up in the podcast ad configuration. You can specify your ideal pre-roll and post-roll duration with your monetisation partner. They will configure this setting as such. These settings will apply to all episodes contained under the configured podcast.

Mid-Roll

Mid-roll programmatic ads play out at any specified point during an episode. You can specify your ideal mid-roll ad duration with your monetisation partner. They will configure this setting as such. This configuration will apply to all episodes contained under the configured podcast but the triggers to enable mid-roll ads must be configured on an episode-by-episode basis within Timbre.

Mid-roll programmatic ads are enabled by timed mid-roll triggers contained within the metadata of the episode's audio file hosted on Timbre. Attaching these triggers is made simple in Timbre using the "Chapter Markers" function within any episode's 'edit' Page.

For full information on how to use Timbre's "Chapter markers" feature, view our help guide: Episode Chapters

Adding Ad-Markers

To add an ad marker, add chapter markers as normal at the points you would like the programmatic ad to be inserted. Next, locate the marker in the chapter markers list and select the checkbox labelled "Is Ad?". Doing so will remove the title and description fields from the chapter marker (as these are not required for ad markers) and add the metadata trigger with the appropriate timestamp to the audio file.

Mid-roll ad triggers are added to the asset metadata with the following naming convention for each of the respective markers: 

ADWTAG_(\d+), ADWTAG_2_(\d+), ADWTAG_3_(\d+)

"(\d+)" is the timestamp of the trigger in milliseconds)

Ensure your monetisation partner is aware of this so they can configure the mid-roll tag regex accordingly.

Programmatic ads in an episode's mid-roll zone use insertion behaviour as opposed to replacement. This means there is no need to add filler content in your ad breaks. Your episode content will resume at the point it left off once the programmatic ad has elapsed.

Not sure where to place your ads? Try to find natural breaks, perhaps during a quiet section or before an audio sting where there is a change in topic during the podcast episode. Consider creating convenient places for your ads when editing your episodes prior to upload. Good ad placements will improve audience retention, which is key to monetisation success.