Everyone loves to have intrusive audio ads break up their playlists, which is why you're going to be thrilled with what Pandora's got up its record sleeve. The music streaming service is testing out a new interactive ad format. Instead of playing randomly without knowing if the user is paying attention or not, ads would prompt listeners to respond with simple "yes" or "no" voice commands.
The new interactive ad format relies on the same voice control engine that debuted alongside a partnership with SoundHound earlier this year. There are a number of brands already signed up to test this new structure, including Ashley HomeStores, Comcast, Doritos, Nestle, Turner Broadcasting, Unilever, and Wendy’s. To help introduce users to the new format, each ad will begin by explaining how the concept works, followed by the ad itself.
The good news is that listeners don't have to engage in audio ads if they don't want to. If no response is registered several seconds after the user is prompted, music playback will resume automatically. Pandora is testing interactive audio ads with only a small group of listeners starting this week with a wider rollout likely on tap for next year if this trial run is deemed a success.
Source: TechCrunch