Audiohook buys Podscan, makes podcast intelligence free for the industry
What's the deal? AudiohookDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has acquired PodscanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an AI-powered podcast monitoring platform that ingests, transcribes, and analyses more than 70,000 episodes each day. The deal, whose value was not disclosed, closed on August 24, 2026. Audiohook is now making the majority of Podscan's data available to the industry at no cost.
What changes? Creators, podcast networks, and publishers can now access transcripts, brand-suitability analysis, and contextual segments for their shows for free. Advertisers can also use the platform to monitor when and where their brands are mentioned across podcasts, including surrounding context and sentiment.
What's the endgame? Audiohook, an Ogden, Utah-based audio advertising platform, sells performance-driven ad services across streaming audio, digital radio, and podcasts. Folding in Podscan expands its data intelligence and, it argues, strengthens the wider ecosystem. "The more transparency and information we can put into the hands of brands, creators, networks and publishers, the more confidently everyone can make decisions," said chief executive officer Jordan Bentley.
The hire: Podscan founder Arvid Kahl has joined Audiohook to oversee the technical transition and future development of the platform. "Joining Audiohook gives us the resources and expertise to accelerate the roadmap, expand the platform's capabilities and build things that would have taken us much longer to accomplish independently," Kahl said.
Why now? Podcasting's rapid growth has made comprehensive analysis difficult, as the sheer volume of new content outpaces manual review. At 70,000 episodes a day, Podscan offers visibility across brand suitability, contextual categories, mentions, and sentiment at a scale few can match.
The signal: Opening a paid data product to the industry for free is a bet that broader adoption — and better ad targeting on Audiohook's core platform — outweighs direct subscription revenue. For a maturing podcast ad market still short on transparency, freely available intelligence lowers the barrier for advertisers and publishers alike.
Read more: AP News
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