How To Create an Ad-Free Feed

How to create an ad-free version of your Main RSS Feed to use for premium content and other workflow needs.

Luke avatar
Written by Luke
Updated over a week ago

What are Ad-Free RSS Feeds?:

  • Ad-free RSS Feeds are a duplicate version of your Main RSS Feed that has no dynamic audio inserted (Ads/Campaigns) that can be used for premium content and other podcast publishing workflow needs.

  • Ad-free feeds are set to unlisted and block apps and search engine indexing by default.

  • The ad-free RSS Feed URL can be regenerated if the feed is ever compromised or needs to be changed.

Who is Ad-Free RSS Feeds for?

All Simplecast Users who have access to Mae (Moveable Audio Engine), the dynamic audio insertion toolkit used to create Campaigns, and all users who have AdsWizz integration enabled.

Ad-Free RSS Feed Example Use-Cases:

  • Stitcher uses an ad-free version of their feed in the Stitcher app for premium content so it’s a premium ad-free experience for their paid subscribers. This allows them to only have one feed to publish to and the ability to offer premium content.

How To Create An Ad-Free RSS Feed:

This will make a duplicate version of the Main RSS Feed with no Campaigns or ads.

  1. Click the drop-down menu in the top-left corner in the dashboard

  2. Click on the gear icon to go to 'Show Settings'

  3. Click on 'Show Distribution'

  4. Click on 'Advanced Settings' directly under the RSS Feed

  5. Go to 'Ad-free Feed'

  6. Toggle on to enable Ad-free RSS feed

  7. The Ad-Free Feed will be generated with a 'Copy' button for sharing

  8. When finished, click the save button to save all your changes.

How To Regenerate An Ad-Free RSS Feed:

This will change the -unique hash at the end of the ad-free feed URL

  1. Click the drop-down menu in the top-left corner of the dashboard

  2. Click on the gear icon to go to 'Show Settings'

  3. Click on 'Show Distribution'

  4. Click on 'Advanced Settings' directly under the RSS Feed

  5. Go to 'Ad-free Feed'

  6. Click the 'Regenerate' link below the Ad-free RSS Feed

  7. Click the 'Regenerate' button in the pop-up confirmation

Ad-Free RSS Feed Highlights/FAQs:

  • Ad-free RSS Feeds are available to all Mae and AdsWizz enabled customers

  • Ad-free feeds can be enabled and disabled in the 'Advance Settings' on the Show Distribution page

  • All Default (Main) RSS Feeds can have an ad-free version of themselves

  • The ad-free feed is an exact copy of the parent feed and has the same URL but with an added -hash (for example -SdA8) added to the end. This makes it easy to identify the ad-free vs default RSS feed.

  • Ad-free feeds can be turned on or off at any time.

  • Ad-free feeds can be regenerated which will change the -unique hash (example https://feeds.simplecast.com/sAS23-x4FFD). This is useful if the ad-free feed gets compromised or you want to change the URL for other reasons. The old URL will no longer work.

  • Ad-free feed shares the same bitrate (audio quality) to the feed it’s connected to

  • The ad-free feed is unlisted and blocked from being added to apps and discovered by search engines by default.

  • There are no specific “downloads” or data on your Ad-free feed-in Analytics.

Related Articles:

What Is An RSS Feed and Why Do I Need One for My Podcast?

How do I find my Simplecast RSS Feed URL?

How to Add an Analytics Prefix URL to your RSS Feed

* * *

Still have questions? We'd be happy to answer them. You can reach our Support Team at support@simplecast.com!

Did this answer your question?