This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important news from this week and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. I'm Bryan Barletta. And I'm Evo Terra. Today; a creative way to reward podcasters and get press, a look at good news and good data for 2022, how full-funnel marketing helps podcast, and two more stories you don't want to miss. Let's get started. Audio and Ad Tech were hot industries in 2021, according to the highly respected adtech investment group Luma Partners annual report. The report highlights an incredibly active year, with 18 companies going public and an increase of 82% in the number of mergers and acquisitions when compared to 2020. Digital Audio and Podcasting received significant attention in the report, with iHeart, Spotify, SiriusXM, Amazon, Global, and Audacy all highlighted for their prominent purchases. In a year where concerns were high around data and privacy, amid a pandemic, a report like this showing record breaking growth is encouraging for podcasting. Social audio service Racket and creator financial studio Stir have teamed up to launch Podca$h, a program that awards sponsorships to small, independent podcasters and people who have a cool podcast idea they want to bring to life. Quoting from the podcash.com website: We love audio. We want to support small, independent podcasts. And, we want to support people with cool podcast ideas. So we're awarding between $250 and $5000 in sponsorship to hundreds of podcasters and podcasters-to-be. Y'all deserve more love, and we're here to give it to you. All you need is an interesting idea. The idea of business providing seed money to podcasters to help grow the space is an interesting one. And, clearly, a great way to generate press and goodwill for your own business. Leah Nylen of Politico reports that "Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai personally approved a secret deal that gave the social network a leg up in the search giant's online advertising auctions, attorneys for Texas and other states alleged in newly unsealed court filings." In a Twitter thread, Leah simplifies Google's Project Bernanke, which charged advertisers for a second price auciton and paid publishers as a third price auction. What that means is, if three bids came in for an impression at $19, $18, and $9, the $19 would win all three, but depending on the auction type they'd paid different amounts. First-price would be at $19, second price would be at $18, and third price would be at $9. In this scenario, Google charged the advertiser $18, paid the publisher $9, and used the rest to "secretly raise bids by advertisers using its tools to ensure they would always win out over advertisers using non-Google tools." As podcast advertising continues to explore programmatic opportunities, it's important we demand full transparency from all parties involved. We're dipping our toes into a space that is being rightfully scrutinized. Podcasting wins by doing it right from the start. In what may seem like self-serving news, Caila Litman has made her debut as a writer for Sounds Profitable with a rundown of 2022's most important "Good Data" points of interest to those in the business of podcasting. Every month, Caila will give a breakdown of a report or study...