“If your audio ad plays in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”. That might not sound quite the same as the philosophical adage you’ve likely heard before, but humor us for a moment. Audio ads have been around since the advent of the radio but so too have long-standing issues, especially with audibility. 

For all the clever and innovative ways that audio ads have been used over the decades, what does it all really matter when you can't know for sure that anyone is even listening? How can you truly know the effectiveness of your audio ad campaign if you can't measure it?

Audiomob’s patented audibility technology was created as a permanent solution to this issue. It’s a simple yet effective way for us to guarantee that audio ads are heard in-game. It gives advertisers confidence in the authenticity of their ad impressions and Listen-through rate (LTR). Better visibility during ad campaigns is needed now more than before as ad spend in the UK is projected to increase by 3.9% by 2024, totaling over £36.3 billion.

The Dangers of Audio Ad Fraud 

If there's one thing that you can rely on in the world of digital is that eventually someone is going to find a way to game it. Digital ad fraud is on the rise, and digital audio is no exception. Earlier this year a large-scale scheme was uncovered by Double Verify, a leading digital media safety firm. The scheme, known as ‘BeatSting’ involved faking audio ad requests for ad inventory, costing ‘unprotected advertisers’ up to $1 million a month.

The digital audio ad industry is still young, but already security concerns are emerging. Our audibility tech, as a feature that only we provide, serves as a means for giving advertisers more confidence and the audio ad industry, as a whole, more authenticity. Having real humans listen to your audio ad shouldn't feel like a gamble. Audio ads, when in reputable hands, are effective tools for creating powerful and engaging connections with audiences.

So just how does our audibility technology work?

What is Volume Detection?

Our patented volume detection technology monitors the audio level of your device while an in-game ad is playing. If the volume drops below 30% the ad is paused and you’ll receive an ‘unmute prompt’. Pressing the prompt will automatically increase the volume of the device above the 30% threshold, alternatively, the volume can be increased manually. 

Why 30%, you're wondering? Well, we’ve run the data and we’ve found that 45% of mobile phone users play mobile games with their volume below 30%. In short, without volume detection integration, 45% of your ad campaign's budget will go to waste!

What is Audio Passback?

Our patented audio passback technology works in tandem with volume detection. Passback detects sound from apps playing in the background (e.g., Spotify, Apple Music, and Radio). The audio from the background app is temporarily lowered or paused for the duration of the ad. 

Volume detection and audio Passback technology works across both IOS and Android devices. We’ve also integrated it into our Rewarded and Skippable ad formats.

Why volume detection matters

Our patented audibility tech is the only tool on the market that mitigates risks for advertisers. So if you're an advertiser or you work within the audio ad industry it might be time to check a few things. Are your ad campaigns secure? Are you getting the most value out of your ad campaigns? Are your ads being heard?

Our audibility tech is the first step in our journey to create a more efficient and secure ecosystem for advertisers, game developers, and gamers in the mobile gaming space. As the industry grows, volume detection and audio passback will continue to guarantee that your audio ad campaign reaches as wide an audience as possible.