A discussion about corporate and business podcasting with tips and guidelines

Kiptronic is a podcast advertising service that I've had my eye on for a while now. Kiptronic's distinctive strength is two-fold. For starters, the service offers an Apache module which (allegedly) can be used on any Apache server to insert ads in podcasts. I say allegedly because the one time I tried to get it working, it didn't and my support calls disappeared into the ether. The second neato-O thing about Kiptronic is that it offers the ability to geo-target ads. Big word meaning that the Kiptronic system has the ability to deliver ads to listeners from specified geographical areas.

Geo-targetting is becoming bigger as the underlying technology that associates IP addresses and geographical regions becomes more robust. The power of geo-targetted ads is great and it addresses one of the podvertising issues that competes with main stream media. If I am an advertiser hosting an event or sale in Calgary, why would I want to pay to have my ad podcasted all over the world? There's little value in that. Kiptronic's geo-targetting allows me to ensure that my ad is only heard by (and therefore I only pay for) people from Calgary or region.

The Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA), an associate of indie music artists, has decided to use Kiptronic to promote concerts specifically because of this geo-targetting ability. Bands that have concerts or tours coming up can use Kiptronic to advertise to listeners in those specific cities and areas about their upcoming dates.

Keep an eye on ad services that offer geo-targetting. Those services are the ones that will rise to the top.

Update: OK, OK...Jonathan Cobb from Kiptronic has soundly thrashed me for stating that Kiptronic "allegedly" works. I meant it as more of a "I can't verify it because it didn't work for me" statement rather than a "I suspect it doesn't work" statement. Apologies to the Kiptronic crew.