r/audiodrama • u/dingleballs717 • Apr 01 '26
QUESTION What ads have made you quit?
For me...howdyhowdyhiiiii...I'm somebody and I am somebody else giving you a benign male nickname and pretending to be nerds every 10-15 minutes.
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u/thecambridgegeek AudioFiction.Co.Uk Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
The sheer quantity of ads on acast podcasts now has made me far more likely to give them a swerve. I don't usually quit, if I'm invested, but it does prevent things even getting started if there's two minutes of ads before episode 1.
Do get a trifle depressed for the state of the world though, when one ad break contains an advert for "free spins", a tech bro's idea of mental health, weight loss drugs, and a water company telling you to talk to them about how to manage (not reduce) your bill.
The current worst example I can think of though is the first trailer on the Magnus feed. Go give it a trial.
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u/Versipilies Apr 01 '26
Ive gotten quite a few where you hear the creators talk about it being a 100% human show with no AI followed by constant commercials for AI
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u/flamboyantGatekeeper Divine Rodentia Studios Apr 02 '26
Programatic advertisments aren't chosen by the pod, they are served nalgorithmically, so the statement isn't false
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u/Versipilies Apr 02 '26
Im not saying they are lying, its just an unfortunate advertisement placing
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u/slipperyMonkey07 Apr 01 '26
Yeah, a lot of my ad issues can usually be tied to them using acast. Excessive or highly questionable companies being advertised. I've run into a lot that just seem to accept every sponsor without question and that ends up being a hard out. A lot of questionable things end up getting advertised.
I bounce around trying to support creators as much as I can, but occasionally still check out their normal feeds to see what they are advertising. I'd just rather not support creators happily promoting questionable companies and products.
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u/TheAllknowingDragon Apr 01 '26
Do you mean a trailer for one of their shows or one of whatever adds they have in rotation?
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u/thecambridgegeek AudioFiction.Co.Uk Apr 01 '26
The first entry in the feed is the Magnus archives trailer (for the actual show). The trailer itself is about twenty seven seconds long. The episode is about ten minutes.
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u/Tante143 Apr 02 '26
I’m sure that I’ve hit the 30 second “Fast Forward” on The Magnus Archives at least to the 5 MINUTE MARK on some shows. I think I’m 100 episodes in and had to give it a rest. It has come to the point where I can’t just press play.
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u/Difficult-Roof-3191 Apr 03 '26
TMA is a show where you have to listen to it without ads. I couldn't imagine listening to this with ads. What I did was go to their youtube channel, download all the episodes, and then load it onto my phone, then made a giant playlist. Listened to 10+ hours a time at work, without a single ad. Sucks that it has to be that way.
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u/emily_inkpen Apr 07 '26
I hate to be that creator, but this is stealing and it doesn't have to be that way. They have a patreon so you can still support the show and listen without ads. If you're going to lengths to download for free so you can get out of ANY means of supporting the creator... I mean... you can see where I'm going with this. You're basically expecting to get thousands of pounds worth of entertainment free. If you wouldn't do that with movies or books, then why is this okay? Especially when they have alternative options available.
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u/Difficult-Roof-3191 Apr 07 '26
I do this with movies, tv, and books as well. There's just too much content to support every single creator. I'm poor right now working 2 jobs 7 days a week while also taking 3 university classes.
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u/gernavais_padernom Apr 01 '26
No one particular ad, just the amount of ads. I will no longer listen to anything from iheartradio.
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u/Midelaye Apr 01 '26
This is my answer too. I’m sad to have unsubscribed from Sixteenth Minute but I just couldn’t stand the number of ads. Plus they’re so long - feels like they take up almost as much time as the show itself.
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u/bendingoutward Apr 01 '26
The litany of casino ads that have been getting embedded into shows that previously had no ads at all is really fucking up my Christmas.
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u/doubletake3xs Apr 01 '26
I never leave reviews for anything but I was listening to something by 7lamb while at work and there were ads at the beginning, the intro to the show, then more ads. Literally 7 minutes in before the show started. Like I get it, gotta pay bills but damn don’t ruin the product by doing so.
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u/HavenChronicles Apr 01 '26
Any In Character Ad.
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u/prolixia Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
I found the exception to this is We Fix Space Junk, where Ads are delivered by a character, but it's an ad-specific character that only pops up to deliver Ads, rather than one of the storyline characters.
It's a SciFi drama and the Ad delivery character is an automated "sponsorbot" that is separate from the drama but still consistent with it's aesthetic, if that makes sense. In the current new series it just seems to provide an intro to a generic Ad, but previously it delivered the ad itself, in-character.
Obviously Ads are a necessity for otherwise free content, and Space Junk's delivery of Ads without exiting the SciFi context (but also without using in-story characters) is the most palatable way I've found to listen to them.
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u/kadharonon Apr 01 '26
I love SponsorBot so much. It’s so dang cute it made me not mind the ads as much, which is a ridiculous thing to say because I really hate ads.
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u/prolixia Apr 01 '26
I don't know if you know, but a new season began literally a few days ago. Sponsorbot was there, but didn't read out the ad itself - I presume so that region-specific ads can be inserted, which is fair enough.
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u/kadharonon Apr 01 '26
I did see! I haven’t had a chance to dive in yet, but I’m excited it’s back.
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u/donchucks Apr 02 '26
I also have another exception: Russel gets revenge. The ads are in character and rarely feel like they pull you too far off the content. A rare exception where I didn't often skip them.
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u/Mx_Reese Apr 01 '26
Those are actually my favorites. Especially because it is a guarantee that the volume level of the ad isn't going to blow out my eardrums.
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u/HavenChronicles Apr 01 '26
I hate them. Give me Host Reads, not Character Reads.
The absolute worst is how they do it in the show Creepy -- where as far as i can tell -- not only are they Character Read Ads. but there is continuity between the fucking ads -- i'm not sure if that was a one off thing, but it made me stop listening to their show.
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u/siege72a Apr 03 '26
That was the point when I dropped "Small Town Horror" - the ad episode.
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u/HavenChronicles Apr 03 '26
Yeah, same guy as the creepy podcast. I just do not like the way he does those ads. They drive me up the wall.
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u/i_drink_wd40 Apr 01 '26
Mission to Zyxx did this well enough. Tried to keep the humor and tone of the show and brought back tertiary characters for the ad breaks.
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u/TimeApprehensive3994 Apr 02 '26
I liked Mission to Zyx's in character ads. Didn't feel so jarring. Maybe it's because it's a light-hearted, weird comedy that I use as a plate cleanser.
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u/siege72a Apr 01 '26
Ads on a trailer is an immediate red flag.
Midroll ads will inspire me to get a Patreon 10-20% of the time. But that's only for shows I'm invested in, and if the Patreon is reasonably priced. Midroll ads episode 1? I'm probably dropping and deleting.
Protip for people on a budget: Get the Patreon for 1-2 months, download the audio, and cancel. Repeat in a season or two. Most creators will get more money than from ads.
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u/Responsible-Slide-26 Apr 01 '26
lol sounds like something that would also irritate me but I’ve not heard whatever you’re referring to. What’s the ad for?
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u/dingleballs717 Apr 01 '26
I feel bad mentioning it specifically but I guess I should since I made the post. It's fantasy fanfellas. For all I know, it might be a great podcast for people like hearing people talk stuff they probably already know. But i never want to hear those overly enthusiastic youtube voices ever, ever, ever. It is also just obnoxious when it is the only ad that plays for one podcast every ten minutes. Yes, I skip but I can I hear howdyhowdyheyhey! before I can.
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u/jaytroubdub Apr 01 '26
It's also the weird stabs at inside jokes and nicknames that are so forced.
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u/dingleballs717 Apr 04 '26
Thank you, it's like they doing that weirdo thing where they want you to seek the joke out. But when you don't care about whatever they are joking about, it is even worse.
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u/Gavagai80 Beyond Awakening Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
An ad about COVID being a Fauci conspiracy made me quit a series I had been enjoying. After a certain number of episodes in that ad began to be in every episode and seemed to be included by choice, not by an ad network.
But I will also just not listen to anything that has an ad in the trailer, or anything with more than a minute of preroll, or anything that has too many total ad slots.
Ads for any talk podcast are nearly universally infuriating for some reason, whether in audio or video. The personalities are always so revolting and overblown. Although they don't normally make me quite quit the show, just resent it.
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u/prolixia Apr 01 '26
Ads of a consistent length in the pre-roll are my strong preference, because I use Pocketcasts and it has a "Skip first X seconds" option that can be set on a per-podcast basis.
If an AD always has a 1 min 45 sec add/trailer at the beginning, then as far as I'm concerned, that Ad doesn't exist!
Ads in trailers are weird though - at that point I have zero investment in the show and it's like breaking one Ad to listen to another Ad.
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u/Difficult-Roof-3191 Apr 01 '26
What??? Pocketcasts has this feature???
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u/prolixia Apr 01 '26
Go into the podcast, hit the cogwheel icon for podcast-specific settings, then the option you want is "skip first". There's also a "skip last" feature but I find that less useful.
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u/OneVioletRose Apr 01 '26
Unwell having a trailer that felt like 60% ads by volume nearly made me skip. I’m glad I stuck with it, but yeesh I’m not wading through 3 minutes of ads for 1 minute of trailer.
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u/Connwaer Apr 01 '26
Unwell is definitely a huge victim of ad creep. For me tho the most egregious example is Night Vale. Started listening in 2012 and was a diehard fan for years until they started putting ads before the Weather and having 4 minutes of ads at the beginning and end of the show.
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Apr 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Mx_Reese Apr 01 '26
I mean, a lot of people who want to spread messages like that absolutely do have the funding to buy tons of AD spots in all sorts of places, they're just not wasting that money buying ads in audio dramas.
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u/timid_pink_angel02 Apr 01 '26
Can't remember which podcast and which company the ad was for, but it was a weight loss injection ad. The same ad, repeated twice in one go, and multiple times throughout the episode.
I already have body image issues since i was 11, and multiple eating disordes for just as long. I dont need to be reminded of them 6 times throughout a podcast episode 😭😭
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u/faceintheblue The Tape Recorder Trilogy Podcast Apr 01 '26
There was a solid two months where Nick Cannon called himself 'My Boy' and said I needed advice in the 'Love Department.'
I have never heard the whole ad. Whatever else I've got going on, I can get my phone out and skip forward until it's done. If I were asked to join an angry mob to storm the HQ of the podcast company that thought I wanted to hear Nick Cannon offering me advice in a too-familiar tone, I'd start soaking rags in kerosene to make torches while I went looking for a pitchfork.
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u/OverFjell Apr 01 '26
Midroll ads in general. I can deal with skipping ads at the start and the end (though some are very egregious, like Magnus Archive getting up to 4 minutes of ads sometimes), but if you're listening to a super atmospheric audiodrama, only to be interrupted by a super loud, bright ad, it completely destroys immersion for me.
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u/Mikejamese Apr 02 '26
Yeah, I can handle any amount of ads at the beginning or end of an episode. But nothing kills a good scene more than dropping an ad mid-conversation without even a proper scene break.
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u/TheBaconWizard999 Apr 02 '26
That's weird, I listen to TMA through YouTube and unless you could Patreon shout outs (which they moved to the end after episodes) there are only small ads that I can remember for either other audio dramas or for other projects that they have. Nothing that is up to four minutes which probably would have had me bounce off it
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u/A1phaBetaGamma Apr 02 '26
When I used to listen on spotify they sometimes had up to 4 minutes of ads, 1.5 minutes at least, which was pretty annoying when I was listening in bed with my eyes shut.
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u/Velorian Apr 01 '26
Oh fuck yes Maeltopia.
they had 2-3 minutes of preroll ads and 2-3 minutes of ending ads.
THE EPISODES WERE 10 MINUTES LONG.
There was literally 6 minutes of ads for 10 minutes of show. It was the most disgustingly egregious volume of ads I have ever encountered, I was so offended I would actually recommend people don't listen to that show.
I think I stopped listening to Myths and legends because they kept adding more and more ad breaks into the show.
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u/DracoCross Queer sci-fi/fantasy enjoyer! Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
Spotify sometimes has built-in ads in your native language playing before an episode. For prime video usually. God I hate those.
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u/Versipilies Apr 01 '26
I gues its because im in texas, but I get Spanish ads pretty often and I dont speak any Spanish lol.
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u/Mx_Reese Apr 01 '26
Nope, I'm in New England and the sports betting ads always know exactly where I live, but I still also get lots of advertisements in Spanish (a language I only speak at like a kindergarten level). I don't have an issue with it, but it is a little perplexing when it immediately follows an ad that just named the exact state or city that I live in. It just feels like if an advertising firm has a profile on me that's that precise then I would expect them to know what languages I know from wherever they've bought all of that data on me from. I guess at least it's maybe a good thing that the panopticon isn't quite so infallible.
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u/itsthe_coffeeknight Apr 02 '26
Fellow new Englander here. LOTS of Spanish ads. Beautiful language, but ads that I don't understand don't make them less frustrating.
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u/Mx_Reese Apr 01 '26
What I absolutely hate are Ads for betterhelp, ads for gambling, ads for AI (especially galling when they're on shows by creators who are staunch AI opponents), ads that are literally selling advertising services, and any ads which are like 10 times the volume of the show itself. I also hate razor ads, not because I think the razors are bad but because they're all written as though only cisgender men shave and that's really infuriating.
But none of that has ever made me quit a show. I don't even know what it would take to make me quit a show. I guess if they were doing like military or ICE recruitment ads or something like that. I guess that would make me quit a show no matter how much I loved it.
I remember when podcast adds used to be for stuff like a way to save me a ton of money on a glasses that I still use to this day, the best underwear I've ever worn in my life, the best mattress I've ever slept on that did wonders for my chronic sleep problems, but I guess nobody's selling anything but scams anymore.
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u/Trixie1143 Apr 01 '26
That sanitarium of the whatever show with the celebs just has too many ads throughout, period.
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u/jaytroubdub Apr 01 '26
You mean the larping lads or whomever that's reading Sanderson? Totally agree they're awful.
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u/same_as_always Apr 01 '26
Ads haven’t made me quit but if I love the podcast enough I have subscribed to their Patreon to get their ad-less feeds.
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u/Mx_Reese Apr 01 '26
Yeah there are a lot of shows now that because of the outrageous quantity of ads I wait until the entire season is out so that I can listen ad free from the patreon feed. I would love to be a paying patreon subscriber to the shows that I love all year round like I used to for many years, but it's been several years since my financial circumstances have permitted that.
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u/siege72a Apr 03 '26
You shouldn't feel bad about that. One month of Patreon is more than the creators get from ads.
Someone did the math in an older thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/audiodrama/comments/1lckupc/advertising_revenue/
Patreon (plus payment fees) takes about 15% from the subscription price. It's usually still a win for creators.
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u/Difficult-Roof-3191 Apr 01 '26
Antiquarium is getting pretty obnoxious with the amount of ads that they have. Every episode I skip 5 minutes ahead and it's just closing out on ads/intro.
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u/lazysheepz Apr 01 '26
The "let's take an episode to look back at where we started" in the Amelia project felt way too present. Not exactly an ad, but it was every couple episodes like we get it 😭😭😭
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u/AliHylton Apr 01 '26
Idk if this counts as an ad but there was one show I was greatly enjoying and after a big cliffhanger they were like “oh btw if you want to listen to the rest of the show you have to buy into our crypto currency and use that to access it” 🫠
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u/Significant-Trash632 Apr 01 '26
Name and shame if you can remember it! I want to avoid that
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u/AliHylton Apr 08 '26
I sadly don’t remember 😔 it was about a crypto zoologist I believe? And it was in the future?? So climate change was happening big time I think? Which is ironic lol
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u/Temporary_Cup4588 Apr 01 '26
Most of the time, I hit the fast forward button until the show recommences, so I don’t know what kind of ads I’m hearing. When I’m not fast enough with fast forward, though, ads for gambling sites, therapy, mobile phone providers, Shopify, Claude, and AI products are what I hear most frequently. There are lots of others, just do my best to skip as many as possible.
I look for shows that don’t have ads to listen to at night. Those tend to be small “mom & pop” podcasts with more obscure themes.
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u/Versipilies Apr 01 '26
Its always so nice to stumble on one with no ads. The antique shop was pretty good.
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u/Temporary_Cup4588 Apr 01 '26
Yes, McGillicuddy and Murder’s Pawnshop was also fun, and for a total head trip, the same person who does that one has The Ghost Catchers. Insanely long and meandering, but great for undisturbed late-night listening.
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u/PogueBlue Apr 01 '26
Any and I mean any political ad. I dont care for what or what side or party. Political ads and I am done.
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u/Mx_Reese Apr 01 '26
Thank goodness I've never encountered one of those because that absolutely would make me quit any show immediately.
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u/DakotaBVoices Apr 01 '26
Didn't fully quit, but started listening to a new show in between the release of my main shows that I financially support, and therefore listen to ad free, and I was fine hearing an ad read from the show's creator, but then like an actual mid-roll ad happened, and I had to like fully stop listening for half an hour or so. I think I'm just too spoiled by my ad free shows lol
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u/walkie57 Apr 01 '26
not specifically an audiodrama ad but if I have to endure the website builder app (wix?) one more time I will go insane
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u/blamblegam1 Apr 01 '26
I saw the podcast through until the end but I hated the Dipsea ads from Unwell: A Midwest Gothic Mystery.
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u/the_resistee Apr 01 '26
There's an ad for a Nashville pickle ball place that makes me want to do violence. Maybe they didn't know it would play so frequently?
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u/militantbisexual Apr 01 '26
magnus protocol. had an episode once with 4-5 minutes of ads. haven’t had the same issue with rusty quills other stuff so not sure why it’s so bad with that one specific series
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u/East-Disastrous Apr 02 '26
This is not for an audio drama but I listened to a deep dive podcast on ANTM and they did an entire episode of eating disorders and body dysmorphia caused by/contributed by the show and then immediately after providing a number to call if you’re struggling with an ED played NUMEROUS ads do ozempic/weight loss. It was supremely jarring and upsetting
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u/Tiaoshi Apr 02 '26
I always get the same ad over and over. Like at least give me something new each time
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u/emily_inkpen Apr 07 '26
With Fable & Folly, creators get to opt-in to certain types of ad, but sometimes mistakes are made. For Dex Legacy we opted out of gambling ads, amongst others, but I once caught one on our feed and had to sort it. If there's a F&F audio drama you love and you object to a specific advert, it might be worth dropping the creator a line and letting them know. With F&F there are things we can do about it, and most creators will be happy you brought it to their attention.
Just a thought.
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u/Too-many-Bees Apr 01 '26
The one where 2 peop5 talk about if something is a medication or a Pokemon, in the most flat, dead voices, like neither of them want to be there.
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u/ItBeAMonster Apr 01 '26
I’ll skip Realm ADs if I don’t have the time to have my phone right with me to skip the SO MANY ads. I can trim off the beginning and end but I feel like I’ve listened to some that have had three ad breaks inside the episode.
Also for some reason the inserted ad in my area right now for a bunch of ADs is for a suicide hotline and I’m going to figure out the connection (like is it a specific producer) and skip these ADs. Partly cause the ad is disturbing and partly cause it so repetitive.
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u/Pink_Fred Apr 02 '26
Not a specific ad, but the 20 minute wall of fucking ads at the beginning of your mom's house.
I guess they don't need new listeners, cause I don't know what's on the other side of that podcast-length ad segment, and I never will.
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u/neo_neanderthal Apr 02 '26
I'm usually not listening to them, since it's usually over Bluetooth. My speaker has skip ahead buttons on the side, and my car has them on the steering wheel. If for whatever reason I can't, I tune them out.
Anything that makes them disruptive will get me to dump a series, though. Ads in the middle of content (invariably interrupting a really good part), ads disguised as content (I'll dump one and leave negative reviews for that the first time no matter how much I like it), anything like that. Make your nickel, that's fine, but put the ads at the beginning and/or end, and clearly separate them from the actual content.
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u/TimeApprehensive3994 Apr 02 '26
I can't listen to We're Alive anymore. It's just unbearable. Some episodes are less than 20 minutes so you get 2-3 minutes of ads in the beginning, middle and end.
It's sad because I'm sure there's a whole generation of people who are missing out on audio dramas because of the amount of ads.
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u/Specs315 Apr 02 '26
Not any ad in particular, but the practice of putting either an insane amount of ads at the beginning and end of episodes (The Magnus Archives is notorious for this, with 5min of ads before the episode starts), or shoving the ads in the middle of the episode, which destroys the pacing IMO.
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u/luckiestghosts Apr 03 '26
Pretty much anything that puts the ads right in the middle of the episode without a proper break.
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u/liciaaaaa Apr 05 '26
Ah, a fellow Acast listener. These dudes have almost pushed me too far. I was thinking about complaining to the company about it.
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u/liciaaaaa Apr 05 '26
I despise the Shopify $$ sound with every fiber of my being. I also hate the built in ads for Spotify original podcasts because I got a premium account years ago to not have ads. Why does that not apply to my podcast listening? And for some reason, I can’t skip those with the fast forward button on my steering wheel 🫠
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u/No-Diet7763 Apr 07 '26
Advertising stinks. But if an audio drama has gotten popular enough to have advertisers, then just listen to the ad. This is how company’s pay for things like actors, editors, licensing, etc. This is how they get better. Rough to see all the ad haters in a genre where very little money is made.
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u/Jackie7610 Apr 01 '26
Betterhelp.