Google confirmed it’s putting an end to a feature that allowed users to access playable podcasts directly from the Google Search results in favor of offering podcast recommendations. The feature surfaced podcasts when they matched a user’s query, including in those cases where a user specifically included the word “podcast” in their search terms. But some creators began noticing the podcast carousels had disappeared from Google Search results — and now Google has explained why that’s the case.
At first glance, it seemed Google had made changes to their podcast platform and hidden the feature from users. However, testing revealed that the Google Podcasts Platform was still there but unable to be searched for or browsed through. Instead, listeners were only given links to other places where podcasts could be found. This change has caused some confusion among podcast creators and listeners alike as they struggle to find a way to use Google Podcasts properly.
It was later revealed that Google had intentionally disabled the feature to punish popular conservative website Breitbart. The site’s inclusion of hyperlinks to fake news stories on its platform had angered Google, and the company retaliated by disabling links from Breitbart.
Google announced that Google Podcasts is shutting down on February 13th, 2019. This was a popular feature for listening to audio content and it will be missed.
According to Google, by February 13th, 2018, the podcast carousel will be discontinued and all clicks and impressions will decrease after that date. If you want to keep any historical data of your podcast before this closure occurs, you should download it now.
One thing that a lot of podcasters discovered when data was pulled back on their show’s subscriber numbers is that the recent feature to add Snapchat lenses had caused a significant decline in their listenership. This could be simply because people were tired of seeing so many fun filters, but it’s also possible that the feature alienated some followers who may have stopped listening if they knew it wasn’t required for continued listening.
If you’re a podcast creator and you want to make sure your content is easily findable and playable on various devices, then it’s important to create an index to your episodes. This way, users can jump directly to the section of the episode they’re interested in without having to watch the entire thing. Additionally, if a creator chooses to film their podcasts, then they can provide a video of the content for users who prefer that format.
Though podcast market analysis reports don’t typically consider YouTube when comparing the popularity of various podcast apps, one recent report by Buzzsprout at least suggests that using web browser as a listening app had a very small market share of just 3.5%. This means that if you want to be popular on YouTube, your podcast needs to be noticed too!
Google’s decision to wind down playable podcasts in Search will allow it to focus on a new addition instead – podcasts. The move will likely impact how people find and listen to podcasts, but podcast creators can continue to produce content and hope for the best.
What to Podcast is a new feature on the Audible app that will help users find, listen to, and learn about podcasts. It has detailed information about different types of podcasts and a list of shows available to listen to on different platforms.
Google has released a new set of recommendations for its users that take into account their past search and browsing history, saved podcasts and other preferences. The personalized results can be turned off, however, if the user wants more generic suggestions.
