The newly formed Association for Downloadable Media, based in San Francisco, is setting out to standardize audience measurement and advertising for media such as podcasts. Fifteen major companies are backing the organization so far, with interim board reps from companies such as Apple BlogTalkRadio, NPR, Nielsen Online and Porter Novelli. Internal elections will happen in September. The group will also meet at the Podcast and New Media Expo that month.

The ADM’s primary focus will be on the world of podcasting, downloadable media and other portable content monetized by ads and sponsorship. This includes podcasts, vodcasts (aka vidcasts, video podcasts, or vlogs), audio/video content distributed via RSS, ATOM, peer-to-peer, mobile devices, downloads from Web sites and other platforms to come. Key objectives are to build momentum in the revenue-generating potential of podcasting and establish terminology, standards, guidelines and best practices.

The group will collaborate with the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, but it aims to support the needs of publishers, producers, advertisers, agencies, vendors and research/measurement companies, as well as hardware and software manufacturers who are involved with the production or distribution of downloadable media.

‘Spending on podcasting advertising will quintuple over the next five years, from an $80-million market in 2006 to $400 million in 2011,’ says Geoff Ramsey, co-founder and CEO of eMarketer. According to an Arbitron/Edison Internet and Multimedia 2007 study, the number of people in the US who have listened to a podcast has grown to 13% in 2007.