YouTube seems to be placing more emphasis on podcasts now. We can see this on the new “Podcasts” page. However, youtube.com/podcasts gives a 404 error for some users and does not open. Some users encounter a special page that highlights podcast content like the image below. We think this page will gradually spread to all YouTube users and 404 errors will be a thing of the past.
The podcast page isn’t doing much right now. It only shows “Popular Episodes” and “Popular Podcast Playlists” for random shows. Clicking it will take you back to the normal YouTube interface and you can watch the content. While it’s not a big step yet, it’s believed to be part of Google’s media brand’s plan to focus on podcasts.
Google already has a podcasting product called “Google Podcasts” which grew very slowly from its search section in 2016. However, it started to become a viable service around 2020 when the iOS app became available. Before that, there were Google Music Podcasts from 2015 to 2020. Before that, there was “Google Listen” powered by Google Reader. YouTube Podcasts will be Google’s fourth podcast platform.
Some of Google/YouTube’s biggest competitors like Spotify, Amazon, and Apple have spent millions (or billions) on podcast-related technology and exclusivity deals, and YouTube is trying to keep up. Google is offering to cover the initial costs of popular podcasts looking to switch to video. Podcast producers also promise improvements for creators such as support for RSS uploads, search and discovery improvements for podcasts, more analytics, and audio-only ads.
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