Getting Your Podcast on Google Podcasts

IMG_0355.PNG

Google recently launched it’s own native podcast app for Android powered devices aimed at putting them in a competitive position alongside Apple Podcasts and Spotify as a leading listening platform.

Since Android powers around 50% of phones in the US and around 80% worldwide it makes complete sense for Google to have their own native podcast solution to match Apple’s offering as well.

So how exactly do you get your podcast listed on Google Podcasts?

Well, it might already be there without having to do anything. In true Google fashion as long as your podcast’s RSS feed is available on your website then chances are that Google has already managed to list it.

Google’s approach to indexing podcasts is very much in line with how it's search tools work. In short, Google trawls websites and hoovers up the information it finds there. In hoovering up that information Google is able to say “hey that looks like a podcast feed” and add it to its podcast app. This is how it’s able to present relevant information to search queries.

This certainly saves you the hassle of having to go through a submission process like other platforms do, though you might be a little disconcerted at not explicitly opting in to this.

Another thing to keep in mind is to check with your hosting service to see if your RSS feed is able to be found by search engines (aka Google). Simplecast for example has a toggle within a podcast’s settings for allowing the show to be indexed by Google, which would in turn lead to being indexed on Google Podcasts. 

FullSizeRender.jpg

Currently the service is still in its nascent stages, and therefore changing, but if you want to search to see if your podcast is available on Google Podcasts, the quickest way is to search within the app itself if you have access to an Android device.

If you don’t then PodNews has a handy tool where, as long as your show is on Apple Podcasts, you can search for it and if a Google Podcasts badge appears next to it then you’ll know it’s available there as well.

Google also has a set of official badges and marketing tools that you can add to your site if you want to directly link to your show from your website.

IMG_0356.PNG