Why don’t I always hear ads in my podcast, even with PAID activated?

If you’ve activated PAID but don’t hear ads every time you listen to your own podcast, don’t worry, this is completely normal. Here’s why:

How PAID works

PAID gives you access to one of the largest programmatic ad marketplaces in podcasting. Ads are dynamically inserted into your content through real-time bidding systems used by major platforms in the industry. This means that ads are served based on real-time demand and listener-specific conditions.

Why There’s No Ad Playing

Even when ad slots are available in your episode, several factors determine whether an ad actually plays:

• Location of the listener
• Device type (mobile vs. desktop, app vs. web)
• Language and topic of your podcast
• Ad targeting criteria from buyers
• Seasonality (some periods have fewer active ad campaigns)
• Ad inventory demand in your region or category

Because of these variables, fill rates are rarely 100%. For instance, if an episode has 3 mid roll slots, only 1 or 2 may be filled, or sometimes none at all, depending on demand.

What if I’m testing by listening myself?

If you're listening to your own show and don’t hear any ads, that’s also expected. To prevent fraud or artificially inflated impressions, our system detects repeat plays from the same device or user and may deliberately limit or skip ad delivery after a few plays.

In many cases, you might hear 1 or 2 ads initially, and then none on repeated listens. That doesn’t mean your audience isn’t hearing ads, it’s just part of how modern programmatic ad platforms optimize campaign fairness and delivery.