Google suspends Podcast Addict from Google Play app store

• The Google Play app store has suspended Podcast Addict, the most-reviewed Android podcast app, for having podcasts in it that mention the coronavirus. The note from Google says that content in the app about COVID-19 had not been approved by government entities or public health organisations. As Reclaim The Net reports, suspension of the app also immediately stops all ad revenue and all in-app payments; an appeal process takes at least seven days. Xavier Guillemane, the app’s independent developer, tells Podnews: “I cannot believe that they would really want to ban the app for this reason”, and points out that this policy should also apply to all web browsers, news apps and social networks. Existing users can continue to use the app.

  • Google’s AdMob banned Podcast Addict in November 2019, and once more in early April 2020, for linking to adult-themed podcasts or to copyright material: after appeal, AdMob agreed both times that Podcast Addict had not violated any policies. In 2017, the European Union fined Google €2.4bn for unfairly favouring its own products in search. Google Podcasts, which has the same podcasts in it, is still available in Google Play.

• Exclusive: PodKite is to launch a new SEO service this week, aimed at improving search position within podcast players. Most people discover new shows via player searches, the company claims; the company allows you to monitor your place in keyword searches in Apple Podcasts and others.

• The BBC had 230m podcast downloads in Q1 2020, it says, excluding its own UK-only BBC Sounds app, which claimed a further 123m plays of on-demand radio and podcasts. That roughly translates to 117m downloads per month, making the British broadcaster bigger than the New York Times, but smaller than NPR or iHeartRadio. The number of podcast downloads in Q1 2020 was flat based on last quarter. The BBC is still blocking Google Podcasts.

• Podcast host Libsyn have filed their 2019 financial statement. Libsyn brought in $14.4m in 2019 (up 14%); including Pair, the company’s ISP, the company made $2.8m profit (down from $4.3m last year).

  • There are now 69,000 podcasts on Libsyn (12,000 new in 2019); 5.8m episodes (938,000 new in 2019); accounting for 6.2bn downloads (up 21.5%) to 130m listeners (up 17%).

• Winds is a “beautiful RSS and podcast app” for desktop. The open source app offers discovery based on “machine learning”.

• The digital advertising exchange DAX is now exclusively representing podcasts from Reach plc, the UK news publisher. DAX will host and distribute the podcasts, as well as represent them for advertising.

• A podcast has exposed a married Nevada congressman for having an affair. Mistress for Congress, which oddly isn’t listed in Apple Podcasts though appears to be everywhere else, has forced Rep. Steven Horsford to come forward.

  
  Aug 24 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Deezer Germany is running a podcast contest to support creators. Participants can win a prize of €3,000 in cash, and professional podcast coaching worth €2,000. You’ve got until the 7th June: here’s the podcast competition website (auf Deutsch).

• We Are Podcast House Sessions has claimed it will be the world’s first multi-day, multi-stream, live virtual podcast conference. It happens later this week with speakers like Jordan Harbinger, Hal Elrod, and our Editor, James Cridland.

• PodUK, a “fandom-focused podcasting convention”, is holding a virtual event on May 30.

• Our podcast pages no longer do all the LINK REL checks for Google Podcasts, now the company has added Google Podcasts Manager. (This also means podcast publishers will no longer see our bot on their websites.) The company still “strongly recommends” adding the code.

Tips and tricks

• Essential Interview Prep for Podcasters (Podcast Movement)
• How a Hit Entrepreneurship Podcast Creates Show Notes That Don’t Suck (Pod Reacher)

Aug 24 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

Podcast News

Exponent, a podcast about tech and society hosted by Ben Thompson and James Allworth, discusses the differences between Spotify and other podcast apps, based on a piece Thompson wrote entitled Open vs Free.

The Dream Team Tapes is the first podcast from Diversion Podcasts, a new podcast studio in New York NY, USA. The company is a division of book publisher Diversion Publishing.