Nothing about downloading an MP3 that says they can't put a targeted ad in it; there's podcasts that do that based on your IP. I assume the reason most don't is just how much more trustworthy it sounds when the host reads an ad script live in the episode.
(I swear there was an episode of The Weeds where they read an ad for a therapy service for dogs.)
> Nothing about downloading an MP3 that says they can't put a targeted ad in it; there's podcasts that do that based on your IP. I assume the reason most don't is just how much more trustworthy it sounds when the host reads an ad script live in the episode.
I'm in the UK and noticed both kind of happening: an ad for LinkedIn (I think) was localised to use a UK example in several episodes of This American Life during the last year. It was spliced into the programs seamlessly and sounded just like any of their usual sponsorship segments.
I'm presuming they just edited a handful of versions of the program for their largest listener regions and there was no need to do anything on the fly except pick which to serve. Of course I paid little attention to the ad as I was distracted more by it being the first time I'd noticed that kind of localisation.
They'll do everything they can to push people into using their cloud services. It erodes the concept of ownership when you have to ask for permission from another party to access your own stuff. The more dependent they can make you on them the better. Plus when I listen to an MP3 stored on my phone, there's no opportunity for 3rd parties to track what I'm listening to and how often or to push ads at me.