Flightpath Software is developing Automation Playbooks, a set of persistent instructions to manage live podcast advertising orders across dynamic ad-insertion platforms. The company says the software will help publishers enforce their own delivery terms when an ad platform lacks the required controls. It also aims to reduce the manual effort required to correct underperforming or misconfigured orders.
Podcast publishers negotiate ad frequency, targeting and priority with media buyers, but Flightpath says changes in the way some platforms prioritize and deliver dynamically inserted advertising have disrupted those commitments. The company points to problems including the same advertisement appearing more than once in a download, priority orders failing to deliver and campaigns exceeding agreed limits. Ad operations teams may then have to reconfigure individual orders manually, increasing the risk of missed obligations, audience frustration and make-goods.
Each Automation Playbook acts as a standing instruction attached to a live order. Publishers enroll selected orders, configure the values required by the playbook and allow Flightpath to manage those orders. The initial release includes Run to Cap, which stops a flight when it reaches a publisher-defined limit, and Target Best Insertion, which adjusts available targeting criteria when a DAI platform does not support ad prioritization. Flightpath plans to add six more playbooks.
Because a playbook changes the state of a live order and those changes cannot be undone, Flightpath has designed the product to keep ad operations teams in control of enrollment and provide visibility into every change. The company also framed the development as a defense of publishers’ authority over their own inventory. Flightpath CEO and co-founder Sean Howard argued, “Today we are standing publicly with our publishers, and for their right to control the inventory they own.”
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