Well, and the people trying to make a living producing content.

The average content producer (like every one who isn't already popular) doesn't get to flick a switch between "general ads" and "personalized ads".

They get to choose between no ads (because they are too small to attract private ads) and the ability to make money. Look at Adsense or Youtube.

Non-personalized direct response ads seem to do pretty well.

Can you be more specific? Which platform, how well, and for who?

Leo Laporte talks about how well ads do on his network occasionally on his This Week in Tech show. I don't remember the exact numbers, but his revenues are millions of dollars annually.

Sure, but what works for large channels doesn't work for everyone and that was a component of my original comment.

For example, 90%+ of Youtube creators couldn't negotiate an ad deal like Leo Laporte because they are too small. Generalized ad services like Adsense/Youtube create income for the 90%, and personalization boosts that income allowing more people to produce more content.

Realistically, it doesn't work like that. Sure, a few early adopters will see a temporary boost, but once it generalizes, the prices will drop to where the non-personalized ads stand today, whereas those will fall to the floor. Advertisers will still pay more, but the new margin will go to the platforms that do the personalization, not to the masses of undifferentiated podcasters, who have no market power.

Has that been the case for your content, and would you say it's at all worth it for someone looking to start out?

The Talk Show and Accidental Tech Podcast are both independent and they charge around $6000 per spot for three ad reads.