Marketers hit play as Yahoo and Spotify turn up India’s audio ad game

MUMBAI- The sound of opportunity just got louder for Indian advertisers. CereOne Media, Yahoo DSP’s partner in India, has announced the arrival of the Yahoo DSP and Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX) partnership in the country, a move set to turn programmatic audio advertising into a full-fledged performance channel.

For years, digital audio has been India’s underplayed medium engaging but under-measured. Now, with Spotify’s high-quality audio, video and display inventory available directly through Yahoo’s Demand-Side Platform (DSP), agencies can finally plan, activate, and measure audio campaigns alongside display, video, Connected TV (CTV) and Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) from a single console.

In other words, sound has officially joined the omnichannel conversation.

“Digital audio has become one of the most engaging and high-attention environments for advertisers, but access and measurement have often been limited,” said Yahoo DSP SEA head of commercial Kenneth Koh. “By integrating Spotify into Yahoo DSP, we are helping brands plan, activate and optimise audio with the same sophistication they bring to video and display. It unlocks the full potential of sound as a measurable and scalable performance channel.”

The partnership gives advertisers programmatic access to Spotify’s premium inventory spanning music, podcasts and playlists, all backed by first-party logged-in user data that enables precise targeting. When this is layered with Yahoo’s own first-party data from Search, Mail and its content ecosystem, brands can tap into richer audience insights and deliver more relevant, measurable campaigns across devices and moments.

CereOne Media director Deepak Karnani called it a “big step forward for Indian advertisers.” He added, “Audio is no longer a background medium; it is immersive, measurable and deeply personal. This partnership lets brands access Spotify’s high-quality inventory programmatically with precision and transparency. For India’s fast-evolving digital ecosystem, it opens a new frontier of engagement through sound, storytelling and scale.”

The timing couldn’t be better. India is home to one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing digital audio audiences, with millions tuning in across languages, genres and devices. Music streaming and podcasts have evolved from passive pastimes to powerful touchpoints for connection and influence, a fact brands are now recognising in their media mixes.

With this collaboration, CereOne Media, Yahoo DSP and Spotify are not just tuning into that change, they’re amplifying it. Together, they’re giving marketers the ability to measure emotion, target mood, and quite literally, find their audience’s frequency.

For a market long defined by visuals, the message is clear: in India’s next chapter of digital storytelling, it’s time to be heard.