Ausha’s analytics now officially comply with IAB 2.2 Standards

IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit consortium that develops technical standards and solutions to drive effective and sustainable growth of the global media ecosystem and benefit consumers 🔥

Ausha IAB Guidelines for Podcast

So inevitably, this association quickly became interested in the podcast world.

Developed by IAB Tech Lab, the Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines were created to establish a set of unified principles for measuring podcast audiences. Just to get everyone on the same page 😉

The most recent and rigorous standard is now the Tech Lab 2.2 Guidelines. Companies that meet all the technical specifications of this standard are awarded an official certification.

And guess what… drumroll please…

🥳 Ausha’s analytics now officially comply with the IAB Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines 2.2—the most rigorous standard in podcast audience measurement! 💪

Great News for Ausha Podcasters

While we’re incredibly proud to reach this milestone, the real winners are you—our podcasters! 🔥 Here’s how you benefit from this upgrade:

You get ultra-reliable analytics built on the most trusted standard in the industry 🕵️
Your stats are automatically aligned with global advertising requirements, including Google Ads 🌍
You gain extra credibility when talking to sponsors and professional partners 💼

In short: your podcast data is now not just accurate: it’s compliant, transparent, and ready for international growth. 🚀

The Nitty Gritty – How a “Download” is Counted (Still!)

Ok, woohoo to being IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement 2.2 compliant… but what does that actually mean in your daily podcast life? 👀

Let’s start with the basics. What exactly counts as a ‘download’? That’s what advertisers (and your future sponsors) care about— are their messages actually reaching ears? 👂

Here’s how it works under 2.2 (and yes, it’s consistent with 2.1):

#1 The Minimum Listening Time

👉 Just like in IAB 2.1, a ‘listen’ is only counted after 60 seconds of playback. Not 1 second. Not autoplay. Not a ghost download.

For example, some platforms might count a play after just one second. Others might count automatic downloads from subscriptions, even if the user never listens 😬

With IAB 2.2, none of that applies. The listener has to actually hit play and stick around for at least one full minute. ⏱️

That’s how you know your audience data reflects real, human listeners 💪

#2 The 24-Hour Window

👉 One listener = one listen per episode, every 24 hours.

So if someone pauses your episode to take a call from their mom and resumes it an hour later, it still counts as one listen ✅

But if they come back to that episode tomorrow, that’s another legit listen. This helps weed out looped plays or inflated stats. No cheating the system 😉

#3 Filters: “User Agents” and “IP Addresses”

👉 The IAB 2.2 standard continues to rely on two powerful filters to detect bot traffic and prevent duplicates:

User agents: These identify the software used to access your episode (like Spotify, Chrome, Apple Podcasts…). They help screen out non-human traffic 🤖
IP addresses: These track the device origin. If the same IP downloads your episode ten times in an hour… that’s probably a bot, not a superfan.

Together, these filters ensure your analytics reflect real listeners, not inflated numbers 👌

Example: If your episode is downloaded 10 times, but only 6 come from unique user agents and IP addresses—then you get 6 certified listens. Not 10. Not 1. But 6 🎯

What’s New in IAB 2.2?

So if nothing has changed in how downloads are counted, why the new version?

Because IAB 2.2 raises the bar on transparency and trust. Let’s look at what’s been added:

🔍 DOM: Description of Methodology

This is the big one. IAB 2.2 now requires platforms to publicly share a DOM, or Description of Methodology.

This document clearly explains how listener data is collected, processed, filtered, and secured.

At Ausha, this means you, and your sponsors, can fully understand what’s going on behind the scenes. It’s a whole new level of transparency 🔐

🛡️ Validated Downloads

IAB 2.2 strengthens requirements for what counts as a valid, ad-compliant download:

Updates on how invalid traffic is managed
Clarified handling of prefixes and third-party tracking
Reinforced that ads must be served to real people, not filtered traffic

Just clean, compliant, high-quality podcast data you can trust 💼

🎨 Bonus: A Visual Guide to How Downloads Are Counted

We’ve also released a clear, visual infographic to help you understand how a download is validated step by step. Perfect for pitching sponsors or explaining analytics to your team.