Advertising and Podcasting

When we talk to businesspeople about podcasting, videocasting and other new ways to communicate, new media people often confront the question: how are you going to make money at it? Reactions range from a forceful, confident response to one of just changing the subject - very often it is the verbal equivalent of blushing and stammering.

The truth is, there isn't a single good answer to that question yet. And, let's face it, when you mention "advertising" and "podcasting" in the same breath, a lot of potential audience members start getting outraged and begin looking for ways to separate the advertising from the content.

But MediaPost is reporting today that there's finally a new trade association that at least is making a start towards answering the question by looking for ways to set standards and establish "best practices" for advertising and for measuring audiences when it comes to podcasts, vlogs, videocasts and the like. It's called the Association for Downloadable Media, and their mission statement reads:

To provide leadership in and organization of advertising and audience measurement standards, research, education and advocacy to all those involved in portable media (Podcasts/ATOM/RSS media enclosures) across the Internet, iPods, MP3 players, mobile devices, P2P and other upcoming platforms.

It's an interesting mix of corporations and individuals. The list of founders include people from Apple, Nielsen/NetRatings and Porter Novelli as well as newer organizations such as BlogTalkRadio, Feedburner and PodShow. They're also opening up membership at the individual level.

I think it's a good idea - something that's a very necessary step along the road towards letting new media become the major marketing player it must be in order to survive. Check it out.