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Spotify and Pandora to test voice-activated ads
https://mashable.com/article/spotify-pandora-voice-ads/
We’ve all been there: You hear an ad while streaming music on Spotify or Pandora and it’s just too much effort to look up the product later.
Well, both music streaming services are looking into ways to change that with interactive voice ads.
Spotify announced on Thursday that it would do limited tests of voice-activated ads in the United States. Right now it’s just advertising its own products, like original podcasts and branded playlists. The ads give users a moment to say “Play now” if they want to hear what is being advertised. If not, the ad will keep going like usual.
The company initially hinted at the move in an earnings call this week, according to TechCrunch. So far it’s just happening with a limited amount of free users in the U.S., and they can opt out in the app’s settings menu.
This is just a month after Pandora announced it would try its own voice-activated ads — these would allow users to get more information about an advertised product — sometime in 2019.