People are still throwing money at podcasting, it seems: podcast advertising firm PodBridge, which I first mentioned over a year ago, just raised a substantial $8.5 million Series B round from Sutter Hill Ventures and return backers Mayfield and Worldview Technology Partners.
Rivals include Podtrac, Fruitcast (missing, presumed to be plotting a relaunch), RadioTail and Kliptronic.
Podcasting seems like one of those trends that was overhyped, over-funded, and didn't prove as popular with consumers as many first thought. Hence the bearishness on sites like PodShow and Podtech.net (both, in their defense, have realized that video is far more appealing). I'm not going to say that Podbridge is overcooked, but come on: $8.5 million? What would they need to deliver to live up to that?