Integral Ad Science has expanded its brand safety and suitability measurement to YouTube Audio Ads campaigns, extending its Total Media Quality product to another YouTube ad format.
The addition gives advertisers third-party measurement for audio campaigns on YouTube, with reporting designed to show whether ads appear alongside content that meets a brand's safety and suitability requirements.
The expansion comes as digital audio continues to attract ad budgets. IAS cited eMarketer data showing U.S. adults are expected to spend an average of one hour and 26 minutes per day with digital audio across platforms.
YouTube's audio offering has become a larger part of that market. IAS, citing Google figures, said YouTube has more than 1 billion monthly active podcast users across formats, underscoring the scale of the audience available to advertisers using audio placements on the platform.
Advertisers using YouTube Audio Ads will be able to access the same measurement framework IAS already applies across other YouTube environments, including Shorts and long-form video. This creates a single reporting view across different formats within the YouTube ecosystem.
The service will provide content-level reporting and industry-aligned measurement, allowing marketers to see where media appeared and assess whether placements met their standards. Coverage for the YouTube Audio Ads measurement product will be available globally.
Audio expansion
The announcement broadens an existing relationship between IAS and YouTube, which already includes measurement and optimisation tools for advertisers. In 2024, IAS introduced its optimisation product for YouTube to help advertisers manage contextual suitability through pre-screen controls alongside measurement reporting.
IAS has also expanded its work with Google in other areas. It launched a pre-screen brand safety product for Google's Search Partner Network and previously secured Media Rating Council accreditation for integrated third-party calculation and reporting of YouTube video viewability.
For advertisers, the latest step reflects a wider push to apply the same brand safety checks to newer or less visible formats as those used in established video inventory. Audio advertising is often marketed as a way to reach users in background or ambient listening settings, but independent verification remains a key requirement for brands seeking consistency across channels.
Lisa Utzschneider, Chief Executive Officer of IAS, linked the launch to shifting media spending patterns.
"Digital audio is experiencing a surge in engagement, with U.S. adults due to spend an average of one hour and 26 minutes per day with the format across platforms in 2026 according to eMarketer,*" said Lisa Utzschneider, Chief Executive Officer of IAS.
"As more brands shift their budgets toward audio to reach these highly engaged audiences, it is essential that they have the same level of granular, content-level transparency they have come to expect from IAS. We are excited to expand our Total Media Quality product to YouTube Audio Ads campaigns, providing advertisers with the trusted, third-party measurement they need to scale with confidence."
Measurement vendors have sought to strengthen their role as marketers spread spending across video, social, connected television and audio, where differences in format can make standardisation harder. Independent reporting has become central to those efforts, particularly on large platforms where advertisers want external validation of placement quality.
The YouTube Audio Ads extension is intended to maintain a consistent measurement approach whether campaigns run in short-form video, longer video content or audio environments. That consistency is likely to appeal to brands and agencies looking to compare results and controls across a broader range of media buys.
IAS described the product as offering a unified, transparent view of brand safety and suitability across YouTube, with reporting intended to show exactly where media appears.