Recently, Google continues to make its venture into the field of podcasts with not only their podcast application but also a newly introduced podcast features in Search.
Search's podcast feature
With this new feature, if you put in a term into Google Search such as "grilling podcasts", you would see some playable podcasts on top of the result pages. The search giant also plans to improve this feature so that your search would lead to podcasts even in the case that you didn't put the word "podcast" into the search bar.
Put into the search bar a term like "grilling podcasts", you would see some playable podcasts on top of the result pages.
Moreover, the company also plans for Google Assistant to start suggesting podcast episodes for you to enjoy later this year. Plus, Google Podcasts will allow you to hear podcasts right from the browser without having to download and install an app.
The Producers' point of view
All of those new features will be convenient for everyday podcast listeners. But, the producers of the podcasts might not be happy about these new changes. Like the BBC who has pulled its podcast program out of Google Podcast just early this year. The producers (getting support from the public fund) objected to Google taking the traffic from its own application, saying that the user data is needed for the numbers of audiences analysis.
BBC has pulled its podcast program out of Google Podcast just early this year.
However, the company has hinted that it offers a truce with the podcast producers on this matter. A spokesperson from the tech giant said that it will allow publishers to choose their playback destinations, like via a third-party app or website. With that, users could discover podcasts that might be available exclusively by subscription or purchase on third-party podcast providers.
The mentioned podcast feature of Google Search is already available, so you could try it out right now.