Pandora becomes first audio publisher to adopt Unified ID 2.0
AdsWizz, the platform powering SiriusXM Media, brings new identity solution to programmatic digital audio
June 17, 2024 - Today, SiriusXM Media, the advertising arm of SiriusXM, announced Pandora Media LLC as the first audio publisher to adopt Unified ID 2.0 (UID2), offering advertisers an identity solution with precision targeting, frequency management and measurement. An agreement between AdsWizz Inc., the technology engine powering the monetization of audio content around the world, and The Trade Desk will allow AdsWizz to enable UID2 across Pandora.
With the industry-wide decline of identifiers, the programmatic space has seen a data gap. By adopting this alternative identity solution, SiriusXM Media is committed to innovate without reliance on cookies and prepare for future industry headwinds.
With UID2, SiriusXM Media can programmatically deliver on a quality environment and highly addressable platform for the next generation of identity. UID2 can deliver accurate holistic targeting and measurement capabilities without reliance on third-party cookies to improve advertiser addressability and measurement.
“We’re thrilled to be the first audio publisher to enable UID2 as a part of our ever-evolving work to innovate across the identity landscape, in a time when advertisers are looking for stable and scalable platforms to deliver,” said Brian Gilbert, VP of Programmatic Operations at SiriusXM. “With audio making up 31% of time spent but only 9% of ad spend[1], this is just one opportunity to help close that gap and make it more effortless for advertisers to buy, target, and measure digital audio, especially programmatically, in an open audio ecosystem. We’re so excited to be working with The Trade Desk and their open internet approach, as the way our industry identifies audiences continues to change.”
“Audio is such an important channel not only for advertisers but also consumers, as it drives so much of the content we love in either music or podcasts,” said Verna De Jesus, Vice President of Inventory Development, The Trade Desk. “Pandora’s adoption of UID2 via AdsWizz represents a growing adoption of an identity strategy rooted in authentication and supportive of a premium, open Internet.”
UID2 marks the latest step in SiriusXM Media’s efforts to help advertisers plan, target, and measure on their terms in privacy-friendly ways, along with its contextual targeting capabilities, cookie-less Predictive Audiences solution, and more. By adopting this alternative ID, SiriusXM Media now offers advertisers more addressable scale and ease of transacting, including programmatic top of stack and open and flexible buying across many deal types, open measurement, and multiple identity solutions including UID2, all while supporting an open ecosystem.
About Sirius XM Holdings Inc.
SiriusXM is the leading audio entertainment company in North America with a portfolio of audio businesses including its flagship subscription entertainment service SiriusXM; the ad-supported and premium music streaming services of Pandora; an expansive podcast network; and a suite of business and advertising solutions. Reaching a combined monthly audience of approximately 150 million listeners, SiriusXM offers a broad range of content for listeners everywhere they tune in with a diverse mix of live, on-demand, and curated programming across music, talk, news, and sports. For more about SiriusXM, please go to: www.siriusxm.com.
About AdsWizz
AdsWizz Inc., a subsidiary of SiriusXM, is the technology engine powering the monetization of audio content worldwide. A pioneer in the space, AdsWizz provides publishers and independent content creators with the tools they need to scale their audio business, while offering marketers innovation at scale, allowing them to connect with audiences globally. From radio, streaming, and podcasts to dynamic ad insertion, advanced programmatic, contextual targeting, and first-to-market audio ad formats, only AdsWizz seamlessly connects an entire ecosystem of audio buyers and sellers with the click of a button. To learn more about AdsWizz, visit adswizz.com.
About The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk™ is a technology company that empowers buyers of advertising. Through its self-service, cloud-based platform, ad buyers can create, manage, and optimize digital advertising campaigns across ad formats and devices. Integrations with major data, inventory, and publisher partners ensure maximum reach and decisioning capabilities, and enterprise APIs enable custom development on top of the platform. Headquartered in Ventura, CA, The Trade Desk has offices across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. To learn more, visit thetradedesk.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
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The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and the timing of events to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements: Risks Relating to our Business and Operations: We face substantial competition and that competition is likely to increase over time; if our efforts to attract and retain subscribers and listeners, or convert listeners into subscribers, are not successful, our business will be adversely affected; we engage in extensive marketing efforts and the continued effectiveness of those efforts is an important part of our business; we rely on third parties for the operation of our business, and the failure of third parties to perform could adversely affect our business; we are migrating our billing system and payment processing function to a new service provider; failure to successfully monetize and generate revenues from podcasts and other non-music content could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition; we may not realize the benefits of acquisitions or other strategic investments and initiatives; the impact of economic conditions may adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition; and we may be adversely affected by the war in Ukraine. 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Risks Relating to our Pandora and Off-platform Business: Our Pandora ad-supported business has suffered a substantial and consistent loss of monthly active users, which may adversely affect our Pandora and Off-platform business; our Pandora and Off-platform business generates a significant portion of its revenues from advertising, and reduced spending by advertisers could harm our business; our failure to convince advertisers of the benefits of our Pandora ad-supported service could harm our business; if we are unable to maintain revenue growth from our advertising products our results of operations will be adversely affected; changes to mobile operating systems and browsers may hinder our ability to sell advertising and market our services; and if we fail to accurately predict and play music, comedy or other content that our Pandora listeners enjoy, we may fail to retain existing and attract new listeners. 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Risks Associated with Data and Cybersecurity and the Protection of Consumer Information: If we fail to protect the security of personal information about our customers, we could be subject to costly government enforcement actions and private litigation and our reputation could suffer; we use artificial intelligence in our business, and challenges with properly managing its use could result in reputational harm, competitive harm, and legal liability and adversely affect our results of operations; and interruption or failure of our information technology and communications systems could impair the delivery of our service and harm our business. Risks Associated with Certain Intellectual Property Rights: The market for music rights is changing and is subject to significant uncertainties; our Pandora services depend upon maintaining complex licenses with copyright owners, and these licenses contain onerous terms; failure to protect our intellectual property or actions by third parties to enforce their intellectual property rights could substantially harm our business and operating results; some of our services and technologies may use “open source” software, which may restrict how we use or distribute our services or require that we release the source code subject to those licenses; and rapid technological and industry changes and new entrants could adversely impact our services. 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Other Operational Risks: If we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel, our business could be harmed; our facilities could be damaged by natural catastrophes or terrorist activities; the unfavorable outcome of pending or future litigation could have an adverse impact on our operations and financial condition; we may be exposed to liabilities that other entertainment service providers would not customarily be subject to; and our business and prospects depend on the strength of our brands. Additional factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, which is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.
Source: SiriusXM
Media Contacts:
Victoria Chow, SiriusXM
Victoria.Chow@siriusxm.com
Patrick Wentling, The Trade Desk
Patrick.Wentling@thetradedesk.com
[1] WARC
Released June 17, 2024