Where Do the Ads Come From in the PAID Program?

With PAID (Programmatic Ads Inserted Dynamically), podcasters can now earn money automatically through ads placed at the beginning, middle, or end of their episodes, without needing to secure sponsors manually.

How Programmatic Ads Work

Programmatic ads are served through a real-time ad exchange. When a listener downloads your podcast, the system evaluates various criteria (such as their location, device, and content category) and serves a relevant ad from a pool of available advertisers. This process happens instantly and automatically for every listener, and we at RSS.com do not control which specific ads are inserted.

This approach ensures a seamless, hands-off way to monetize your show, but it also means:

• Ads are dynamically selected based on the listener, not the creator.
• There’s no manual approval or preview of the ads you'll hear.
• The ad inventory and targeting are handled by our trusted ad partners via the exchange.

What About Regional or Local Ads?

If you’re podcasting in a specific region, or have listeners in a particular country, ads may or may not be regional or local, depending entirely on the inventory available for that listener’s area at the time of download.

The same episode could play a different ad for someone in Madrid vs someone in Manchester. Ad targeting is done automatically by the system and is influenced by:

• Geographic location
• Device/platform
• Listener demographics (when available)
• Content category

This makes the experience more relevant for each listener, but it also means you can’t directly control the language, brand, or style of the ads.

Can I Influence What Ads Are Played?

You can manage which types of ads are eligible to play in your podcast by excluding specific ad categories. This gives you control over the kinds of industries or topics you prefer not to include in your monetization.

While you can't choose the exact ads that get inserted, setting category exclusions allows you to steer ad selection in a direction that better suits your preferences.

If you’re ready to try it, you can activate PAID from your RSS.com dashboard under the Monetization tab. Once it’s on, the system takes care of the rest.