This is the second meeting of the Eurowaves Advisory Board, whose goal it is to promote European podcasting through its coordinated efforts.
Eurowaves
You know you’ve been around podcasting for a long time when you can recall “the old days.” Back in 2010, the largest advertiser in podcasting was Amazon through its Audible audiobook subscription service. The advertising connectivity between listening to podcasts and listening to audiobooks seemed as natural as pairing Brie and Camembert cheese with an unoaked Chardonnay. (The buttery centers match the creamy texture of the wine.)
Today, podcast advertising strategies are more sophisticated and use much more data to interpret trends and ad buys.
The global podcast advertising and broader podcast economy market size is valued at over $9 billion to $23.9 billion, depending on whether you measure direct ad spend or the total ecosystem revenue. U.S. podcast advertising revenue alone sits between $2.4 billion and $4.2 billion depending on specific definitions of ad-supported vs. integrated networks. Over 580 million to 600 million people listen to podcasts globally, with monthly U.S. penetration reaching 67 million listeners.
Platforms like YouTube and Spotify are turning video into a primary monetization layer rather than just a discovery tool.
Why the “boom” mentality for podcast advertising? Molly DeMellier, Head Of Communications at Sounds Profitable, reminds us of the results of numerous studies about podcast advertising, many of them from Sounds Profitable.
Molly notes: Our 2026 UK Advertising Landscape study found that 43% of British adults listen to ad-supported podcasts monthly, and 79% of those listeners recalled hearing a podcast ad in the past week. More importantly, 44% reported making a purchase after hearing a podcast ad in the previous three months. That tells us the effectiveness of podcast advertising isn’t uniquely American — there’s a significant opportunity for brands to apply what we’ve learned in the U.S. to international markets, while still understanding that each market has its own nuances.”
In this article, we will examine a recent announcement that made waves in the podcast industry advertising, whereby the industry’s largest advertiser, Better Help, hires a global, creator-led media agency, Media Bodies, to support Better Help’s podcast advertising strategy across 10 international markets.
Who Are The Biggest Podcast Advertisers?
Industry tracking data and media reports show that BetterHelp has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on podcast ads, leading tracking firms to label them the top podcast advertiser of all time. They have held the #1 spot consecutively or near-continuously for multiple years running (with data from platforms like Magellan AI and Podscribe frequently putting them far ahead of competitors like Amazon and Shopify).
They lean heavily into host-read ads across a wide variety of genres, such as comedy, true crime, and society & culture, often ramping up spending heavily around Mental Health Awareness Month in May.
The other significant podcast advertisers include:
- Quince: Leads the market as a top monthly spender in fashion and home goods.
- BetterHelp: Dominates wellness and personal development ad slots.
- Amazon: Invests heavily across broad commercial and shopping categories.
- Shopify & T-Mobile: Target massive general, business, and news audiences.
- Toyota & State Farm: Focus on mass-market appeal through automotive and insurance messaging.
- DraftKings & FanDuel: Lead sports and betting genre investments.
- Meta & Google: Scale major multi-million dollar investments into news and tech programming
according to InsideRadio,
Telecom and commerce brands remained deeply embedded in podcasting. T-Mobile spent $4.5 million, while Shopify followed at $4.1 million, with both continuing to prioritize scale through podcast advertising. Financial platform Public.com ranked seventh at $3.6 million, closely followed by Intuit at $3.5 million, as tax-season marketing continued to support strong fintech spending.
Insurance, media, and legacy brands also showed continued investment. Progressive spent $3.4 million, while Comcast reached $3.3 million, signaling ongoing interest from large national advertisers. McDonald’s remained active with $3.1 million in spending.
As in prior months, sports podcasts dominated advertiser preferences, serving as the primary genre for a majority of top spenders. Only a handful of brands — including Quince, Shopify, and Meta — leaned into comedy or news content.
What Do We know About BetterHelp?
BetterHelp is the world’s largest online therapy platform, founded in 2013 to make mental health services more accessible. The platform operates 100% online through the BetterHelp website or mobile app. Users complete an intake questionnaire, and the platform matches them with a licensed professional. Users can switch therapists easily if the first match is not a good fit.
BetterHelp operates on a subscription model, typically ranging from $70 to $100 per week, billed monthly.
BetterHelp
Memberships include access to digital worksheets, journaling tools, and live interactive group seminars. Providers include licensed psychologists (PhD/PsyD), marriage and family therapists (LMFT), clinical social workers (LCSW/LMSW), and professional counselors (LPC). Therapists on the platform generally hold a master’s degree or doctorate and have at least three years of clinical experience.
BetterHelp has grown from a small 2013 startup acquired for $4.5 million into the world’s largest online therapy platform, generating over $1 billion in annual revenue and serving more than 6 million users.
Projected revenue sat at roughly $60 million in 2018, before surging during the COVID-19 pandemic to $700 million by 2021 and passing $1 billion by 2022.
BetterHelp Taps Media Bodies to Lead International Podcast Advertising Expansion
On September 29th, BetterHelp announced that global creator-led media agency Media Bodies has been appointed by BetterHelp to lead the next phase of its international podcast advertising strategy across 10 markets.
The appointment brings together one of podcast advertising’s most established advertisers with Media Bodies’ international creator and audio expertise. The partnership stems from BetterHelp’s efforts to translate its success in the U.S. podcast market into sustainable growth internationally.
The international expansion comes as podcast advertising continues to grow rapidly. U.S. podcast advertising revenue reached $2.86 billion in 2025, an increase of 17.6% year-over-year, according to IAB and PwC.
Under the new partnership, Media Bodies will work alongside BetterHelp to develop, launch and scale campaigns across 10 international markets, combining global strategy and performance data with local market expertise.
Media Bodies CEO Edward Fuller told me: “BetterHelp practically wrote the book on podcast advertising and already has an incredible amount of experience in the space. But what works in the U.S. can’t simply be exported market by market. At Media Bodies, it’s our responsibility to take those learnings and combine them with a much more granular understanding of how people actually consume media in each country.”
Mr Fuller continues: “That means looking at everything from which genres and creators over-index with the audiences BetterHelp wants to reach, to how mature the podcast advertising market is, how audiences respond to different creative approaches, and how attitudes toward mental health and therapy vary culturally.”
Media bodies is an ongoing presence in podcasting events. Here, they market the company to attendees of the London Podcast Show 2026.
Media Bodies
Media Bodies will lead strategic planning, market and audience analysis, creator and show selection, partnership management, campaign execution, optimization and performance analysis.
Rather than applying a single global media strategy across territories, the program will build individual market approaches spanning podcasts and multi-platform creator media. Strategies will account for differences in podcast maturity, media consumption, creator ecosystems, consumer attitudes towards mental health and overall market opportunity.
The partnership will also explore opportunities beyond traditional host-read podcast advertising, including programmatic audio, creator-led formats, longer-term creator partnerships and cross-platform campaigns spanning audio, social and video.
Media Bodies currently operates across more than 26 countries, with a global network of more than 450 podcast publisher partners and access to more than 300,000 podcast shows.
Media Bodies
“BetterHelp is one of the most established businesses in podcasting, which makes the opportunity to help shape its next phase of international growth incredibly exciting. But the opportunity isn’t to simply replicate what has worked in the U.S. market,” said Edward Fuller, CEO at Media Bodies. “Podcasting, creator behavior and consumer expectations look very different from one country to the next. Our role is to combine BetterHelp’s experience and scale with the local knowledge, data and creator relationships needed to build something that works in each individual market.”
Edward Fuller is known as a passionate marketer with an entrepreneurial spirit and data-led outlook. He is the founder and CEO of Media Bodies, a global, award-winning influencer marketing agency.
Media Bodies
The appointment reflects Media Bodies’ broader focus on helping global brands turn creator-led media into scalable, performance-driven marketing channels.
Media Bodies CEO Fuller expands on that point: “Host-read advertising remains incredibly powerful, but we think the bigger opportunity is what we call ‘Brandformance.’ Across several years of data from multiple clients, we’ve seen a clear correlation between investment in podcasts and creators and performance across a brand’s wider marketing mix. When investment in those channels increases, we often see acquisition costs improve elsewhere. So you’re getting the direct performance of the podcast or creator campaign, but you’re also building familiarity and trust that can make the rest of your marketing work harder.”
What Does This Mean?
What does this announcement mean? Is it simply a press release with no connection to podcast consumers? Or does this new business arrangement have broader implications for the global podcast industry?
Dale Crenshaw, a digital media specialist, sees the announcement as a clear sign that podcast advertising has become so significant in dollars spent and impact on consumer behavior that it is now developing global podcast advertising strategies.
“This is really a first in podcast advertising,” says Dale. “The largest podcast advertiser in the U.S. has hired a global media agency to coordinate its international advertising strategy in podcasting.”
Previously, podcast advertising was primarily developed on a country-by-country basis. As podcasting and the connective tissue of advertising have matured, the need for more integrated advertising strategies for podcasting across national borders becomes more necessary.
Molly DeMellier, Head Of Communications at Sounds Profitable, expounds on the power of podcast advertising: “The optimism around podcast advertising is backed by what we consistently see in the data at Sounds Profitable. In our U.S. Advertising Landscape study, 86% of the most active podcast listeners recalled hearing an ad in the past week, the highest ad recall of any medium we measured, and 80% said they trust the advertising they hear on podcasts. There’s a relationship between audiences and the voices they choose to spend time with that gives podcast advertising a level of trust and attention that is incredibly difficult to replicate elsewhere.”
Edward Fuller of Media Bodies cuts to the heart of advertising success: “We increasingly think beyond the media buy itself. Podcast, influencer and social should be connected parts of the marketing mix, and the strongest campaigns can take those relationships into the real world as well. We’re building 360-degree campaigns that can start with audio and creators, extend across social and digital, and then come to life through live events, sponsorships and experiential activations.”
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