With the advent of conversational smart assistants, users are increasingly spending time with screen-free devices and audio media. Advertisers want to effectively reach these users and engage with them. However, at present they lack ad formats beyond television and radio style commercials, which are generic broadcast ads not personalized to the user. This disclosure describes audio ads that are endorsed by individuals within a user’s social network. An advertiser collates comments about a product through social media. The social network of commentators who favorably view the product is determined. With the permission of such commentators, their comments about the product are played back to individuals within their social network. Such comments are played during ad slots within, e.g., a podcast, a streaming audio session, etc
