The top 15 brands engaged in podcast advertising spent a combined $49.5 million in February, according to data compiled by Magellan AI. While this represents a 9% decrease from the previous month’s spending by the top advertisers, the first quarter typically sees lighter advertising activity.

BetterHelp, an online counseling service, maintained its position as the top podcast advertiser in February. Among the other major brands, Toyota increased its podcast ad spending by a significant 48% month-over-month, rising to the third position with $4.2 million in expenditure. Shopify also boosted its investment, with a 5% increase to $3.5 million.

Amazon, a major advertiser during the holiday shopping season, retained the status of one of podcasting’s biggest spenders in the quieter first quarter, investing $3.8 million in February after $6.8 million in January.

An analysis of the genres targeted by the top advertisers revealed that “Sports” was the most popular category, used by nine brands. Three brands favored “Comedy” podcasts the most, while two others focused primarily on “News” podcasts.

Beyond the established players, several brands emerged as “movers and shakers” in the podcast advertising space, considerably increasing their spending in February. Dental provider Byte topped this list, escalating its expenditure from $34,000 in January to $630,000 last month. Soda and snack food giant PepsiCo tripled its podcast ad spending, likely capitalizing on Super Bowl viewership.

Anheuser-Busch, another brand associated with the Super Bowl, also more than tripled its podcast ad investment month-to-month, potentially reflecting marketing campaigns tied to the NFL championship game and the NBA.

Other notable movers and shakers included Etsy ($614,000), Sleep Number ($494,700), Greely ($202,100), and Allstate ($152,200), all of which substantially increased their podcast advertising budgets in February compared to the previous month.

Magellan AI’s analysis is based on data from the top 3,000 podcasts in the U.S., as ranked by Apple Podcasts. The company’s proprietary model estimates advertising spend by considering factors such as the number of ads, ad load variation, episode downloads, and estimated CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) based on media kits and podcast popularity.

As the podcast advertising industry continues to evolve, brands and marketing agencies can gain valuable insights from monitoring the spending patterns and strategies of major players and emerging advertisers in the space.