Acast has unveiled its free, on-demand Acast Ads Academy, designed to establish industry standards for podcast advertising education and certification.

The self-paced learning platform offers two distinct courses: “Podcast Advertising 101” for newcomers and “Podcast Advertising 201” for experienced marketers seeking advanced strategies. Upon completion, participants receive industry-recognized certification.

“Podcast advertising is a powerful and trusted medium, yet many marketers still see it as unfamiliar or complex,” said Joe Copeman, Global SVP Advertising at Acast, in a blog post. “As the industry leader, we built Acast Ads Academy to set the standard.”

Acast’s initiative comes amid growing evidence of podcast advertising’s effectiveness. According to a September 2024 global study by Acast, more than half of daily podcast listeners worldwide have made purchases after hearing podcast advertisements. The research, surveying 2,600 weekly podcast listeners across 13 countries, found podcast ads outperform other audio formats, with consumers 10% more likely to listen to podcast ads than radio ads.

Trust and Attention

Additional industry research from June 2025 shows podcast advertising achieves higher trust and attention metrics than social platforms. While podcasts reach 31% of Americans monthly compared to Facebook’s 74%, podcasting achieves an “effective reach” of 27% versus Facebook’s 50%, indicating disproportionately higher attention to advertising content.

Acast’s October 2024 report with Edison Research highlighted that niche podcasts with smaller audiences generate higher engagement and stronger advertising performance. Shows with fewer than 50,000 weekly listeners demonstrated a 35% increase in median visit rates and a 14% increase in median purchase rates compared to larger podcasts.

Acast currently hosts 125,000 shows worldwide with approximately 400 million monthly listens and maintains sales teams in 15 countries.

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