I don’t know when this started but I noticed it for the first time a few months ago. Some podcasts will have preroll ads that are obviously tailored to me since they are not in the same language as the podcast, instead they are in my native language and if I connect to a VPN in another country the ad will change to one from that country. They also seem to appear regardless of podcast app. I have used both AntennaPod and Spotify. AntennaPod is free so I guess they source their podcasts from some third party website that could be adding in the ads. But since I am paying for Spotify I am expecting not to have to listen to any ads. So who is adding in these ads? Can I get rid of them or am I just stuck with them?
Thanks, that’s good to know! Although this seems to be more related to sponsors. Like the podcast host doing an ad-read. I don’t mind them as much because then at least the creators of the podcast are getting all the money and the ad is not tracking me to figure out what ad to serve me. What I am referring to is more like a regular ad that you would hear on the radio that has been stitched on to the beginning of the episode.
I thought it’s applied to both