New YouTube top podcast lineups for advertisers

As the #1 destination for podcast listeners in the U.S., YouTube Podcasts are an ideal way for brands to reach over 1 billion monthly active users who are now viewing over 100 million hours of podcasts every day.

To further serve advertisers looking to tap into the podcast momentum on YouTube, today we’re introducing our US Top Podcasts lineup across key verticals - Sports, News, Comedy, True Crime and Society & Culture - enabling brands to tailor their approach to key podcast verticals.

Video podcast ads on YouTube are more effective than audio campaigns. According to recent research from Kantar in the US, on average, ads on YouTube video podcasts increased:

• 6.9 percentage points in aided brand awareness, outperforming audio ads by 7.3x.
• 10.2 percentage points in ad recall, outperforming audio ads by 5.8x.
• 6.9 percentage points in brand favorability, outperforming audio ads by 3.5x.
• 6.8 percentage points in consideration intent, outperforming audio ads by 5.6x.
• 5.4 percentage points in purchase intent, outperforming audio ads by 4.5x.
• 8 percentage points in long-term brand equity, outperforming audio ads by 5.6x.

YouTube is the home of video podcasts, and we're working to make it an even better place for podcasters to create content, grow their audiences and build their businesses.

_{1. According to an Edison report, among weekly podcast listeners surveyed in the US, YouTube, including YouTube Music, is the most frequently used service for listening to podcasts (YouTube 41.2%, Spotify 20.4%, Apple Podcasts 11.3%) (US, Q4 2025)}

_{2. YouTube Internal Data, Global, January 2025}

_{3. Our users consume over 100M hours of podcasts every day}

_{4. Source: Kantar US Context Lab meta analysis commissioned by Google in 2026 on YouTube Podcast ads; Research spanned 22 brand campaigns across 9 major verticals (Automotive, Financial Services, Food/Beverages/Restaurants, Media & Entertainment, Pharma, Retail (Big Box, Luxury Goods, Marketplaces, Pureplay, Specialty), Technology, Telecom, and Travel) on mobile and desktop devices for A18-34; Sample size n=4,686 (2,383 control, 2,303 exposed) at a 95% confidence level;}

_{5. 7.3x based on Kantar campaign benchmarks for YouTube Audio creatives on aided brand awareness}

_{6. 5.8x based on Kantar campaign benchmarks for YouTube Audio creatives on ad recall}

_{7. 3.5x based on Kantar campaign benchmarks for YouTube Audio creatives on brand favorability}

_{8. 5.6x based on Kantar campaign benchmarks for YouTube Audio creatives on consideration intent}

_{9. 4.5x based on Kantar campaign benchmarks for YouTube Audio creatives on purchase intent}

_{10. 5.6x based on Kantar campaign benchmarks for YouTube Audio creatives on long-term brand equity; Long-term brand equity defined by Kantar's MDS framework, averaging lift in "meaningfulness" (the extent to which a brand builds a clear and consistent emotional connection and delivers against consumer needs) and "difference" (the extent to which a brand offers something unique compared to competitors and leads the way)}