Is Google Podcasts too late or just in time?

Ep.9 -Is Google Podcasts too late or just in time?

Tim and Kyle take a deep dive into Google's strategy for putting practically zero effort into marketing their new podcast application: Google Podcasts.

Episode at a Glance:

• Tim and Kyle talk about Google's June 2018 announcement of their stand-alone podcasting app launch.
• Do some thinking on why 55 percent of all US users and 86 percent of the world are on phones with the Android OS, but Google Podcasts only accounts for only 0.9 percent of total listens. Why?

What did we learn?

• The biggest complaint about Google Podcasts is that it's an app and not native to Andriod OS like Apple Podcasts is to iOS.
• Even if someone DOES download the app, does the app have everything you want in a podcast listening application? Only for those who don't know what podcasting is
• Not everyone is in the Google Ecosystem... Yet! Google Podcasts is all about connecting people to Google Assistant and having a podcast player they can use in the car.
• This is not an attempt by Google to put your favorite podcast app out of business. This is Google's on-ramp to podcasting if you've never listened to podcasts before.
• This is Google's slow move towards the future where they move past directories and jump straight into audio indexing. Checkmate!

Additional Reading:

• Why doesn’t anyone use Google Podcasts?
• Closed-captioning is coming to Google Podcasts
• Google app 9.0 preps Podcasts transcription, rounded Assistant, 9to5G shout-out
• Why the new Google Podcasts app is a big deal: and why there are no auto-downloads
• Making sense of Google's podcast flip-flop
• Why is the Google Podcasts App Failing So Hard?

Predictions:

• NEW -- Google Podcasts will eventually be native to Android, will be on every phone, and become a "must have" app for podcast listeners within the next three (3) years.
• REVISIT -- #18 — We do think Google will double down on Audio Indexing in 2019, making audio content like podcasts searchable for the first time. It won’t be pretty, but it will get better in time and become part of their overall search tool.

Quotes:

• "I think the power-listeners who criticize Google Podcasts for being too simple miss the point. It’s like a wine connoisseur criticizing a child for drinking Capri Sun." -- Daniel J. Lewis
• "The new Podcasts app is but one tiny piece of a much grander goal." -- JR Raphael

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• Email us at -- podwrecked AT GMAIL DOT com
• Website: http://podwrecked.com

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