All Acast creators are now able to have four ad markers instead of the previous three. This means more potential for ad revenue, while still safeguarding the experience for your valuable listeners.
Remember, you are in control of whether the extra midroll gets added to an episode - the next time you go to upload a new episode, you will see the possibility of activating two midrolls.
Part of the Creator Network?
As part of the Creator Network, the new ad marker will also be visible in the episode settings of your show as part of the wider rollout. However, rest assured that no updates have been made to your commercial terms or ad settings.
If you are interested in enabling the extra midroll on your show’s ad settings, reach out to your dedicated Creator Network partner manager to start the process of getting set up.
How the extra midroll works
A few important things to mention:
The new extra midroll behaves just like the current midroll - it needs to be activated by you in order for it to appear on the episode.
The extra midroll is only available on episodes longer than 20 minutes, so any shorter episodes will still only have one midroll available
There is also the option to have our support team automatically enable the extra midroll on old episodes in the back catalogue
If you have any specific questions about how the extra midroll will work on your show, reach out to support via the chat bubble.
A summary of how the all the markers now work together:
Preroll markers are placed at the beginning by default, and can be moved up to 25% from the start of the episode.
First midroll markers need to be activated in episode settings, and can be placed in episodes 10 minutes or longer. The midroll can go anywhere between pre and postroll.
Extra midroll markers also need to be activated, and can be placed in episodes 20 minutes or longer. It can go anywhere between pre and postroll, and it can go before or after the existing midroll in the episode.
Acast’s systems will take care of assigning first or second midroll. So, a sponsorship or ad targeting ‘first midroll’ will automatically play in the earliest midroll in the episode.
Postroll markers are placed at the end by default, and can be moved up to 50% from the end of your episode.
Episode threshold
The extra midroll can be placed in episodes that are 20 minutes or longer. If the episode is shorter than 20 minutes, only one midroll will be available - this is to protect the listener experience and manage the ad load of your episode.
Updating your show's back catalogue
You also have the option to have our support team automatically enable the extra midroll on old episodes in the back catalogue.
We strongly recommend doing so - this is an important step to maximize the revenue potential of your show and make your show more attractive for sponsorship opportunities.
The automatic enablement process will select a suitable silent position in the episode, at an adequate distance from the existing midroll marker.
If you are making manual adjustments to a second midroll marker in the back catalogue, please remember to save your changes to ensure they are properly reflected in the published episode.
Please ensure that any second midrolls are moved away from existing branded content segments within your episode content.
Reach out to our support team via Chat to automatically enable the extra midroll on old episodes in the back catalogue.