Is Your Podcast Host IAB Certified? How to Check the Tech Lab Registry and Read the Certificate

What Does an IAB Podcast Certificate Prove?

That an independent review found the company counts downloads, listeners and, where listed, ads the way IAB Tech Lab’s guidelines define them. It does not prove anyone listened. Flightcast’s November 9 report repeats the guideline definitions: “A valid download does not confirm that the episode was played,” and an ad delivered “does not confirm the ad was heard or viewed” (Flightcast report). The report’s header names AAM, the Alliance for Audited Media, as the reviewer.

How Do You Check a Host, Step by Step?

1. Open the registry. Go to IAB Tech Lab’s Compliant Companies page and choose the Podcast Compliance tab (IAB Tech Lab). The page says the same data is in its Transparency Center as a downloadable file.
2. Search for the parent as well as the brand. Several listings share a report. AdsWizz and Simplecast both link to one report filed under SXM, dated May 15, 2025; Spreaker and Voxnest Audience Network share a Spreaker report; Blubrry links to RawVoice, CoHost to Quill and Speakeasy to Red Seat Ventures.
3. Read the version. Version 2.3, which IAB Tech Lab finalized on September 29, 2026, adds rules for video files, invalid traffic and feed-address changes, covered in our explainer on what changed in the download rules. A 2.2 listing is still valid; it was reviewed against the earlier text.
4. Match the metrics to your use. If you buy ads, look for Ad Delivery. If a host quotes “listeners,” look for Listener.
5. Check the date. The v2.3 report says “Annual recertification may count toward self-audit record,” so a date well over a year old is worth a question.
6. Open the report and read the exceptions. Look for rows marked “Not Supported” or “Not Applicable.” In Flightcast’s, domain threat filtering is not supported, client-confirmed ad plays are not applicable, and the user-agent rows for players are not applicable to a host.

What Does the Registry Show Today?

A mix of fresh and aging certificates, and some well-known hosts absent. We read every podcast listing on November 11, 2026.

Almost every listed company is certified for the two basic counts, but only about half for counting ads, and very few for ads a player confirms were played.

Hosts we looked for and did not find on the list include Transistor, RedCircle, Audioboom, Fireside, Amperwave and Castos. Absence from this page means only that; a company may be audited by another body or be in progress. Megaphone’s listing carries a Spotify logo.

How Do You Know the Check Worked?

You should be able to name the version, the metrics, the date and at least one “Not Supported” row, if any, for the host you use. If the host or its parent is not in the registry, ask it in writing which body reviewed its counts and when. Then compare its numbers with the warning signs in our guide to checking downloads for bot traffic, since certification covers filtering rules but not every spike.

Common Mistakes

• Treating “certified” as one thing. A listing for Download and Listener says nothing about ad counts.
• Reading the brand only. A host may be covered under a parent’s name and report.
• Assuming a date is a deadline. The registry shows the last certification, not an expiry date; ask before concluding a certificate has lapsed.

Podtrac, whose October rankings we analyzed in our report on listeners per show, is listed for Download and Listener, last certified July 10, 2026.

Sources and Methodology

This guide is built from IAB Tech Lab’s compliant-companies registry and podcast compliance program page, and Flightcast’s November 9, 2026 certification report, all read on November 11, 2026. Counts are ours. Steps marked as recommendations are ours, not IAB Tech Lab rules. We did not test any host’s measurement.

1. standards IAB Tech Lab, Compliant Companies: Podcast Compliance. All 35 listings, versions, metrics, dates, report links. Read November 11, 2026.
2. standards IAB Tech Lab, Podcast Measurement Compliance. Program purpose. Read November 11, 2026.
3. standards IAB Tech Lab / AAM, Flightcast IAB Podcast Measurement Report, November 9, 2026. v2.3 controls, exceptions, definitions, self-audit rule. Read November 11, 2026.