SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 9 — Google has set out to make finding podcasts through Search easier; as of yesterday, queries with the word “podcast” within them will offer users playable podcast episodes in their results sprinkled between conventional web page, news, image, and video hits.
Google announced this week that it is making playable podcasts easier for users to find via Search.
According to the company, if you are looking for a podcast on a particular topic, among the results that would typically pop up as the result of a query — news, videos, websites, images, etc. — will be playable podcast episodes related to your search. “Soon,” you won’t even need to include the word “podcast” within your search, they will simply appear as a standard result to all queries.
The Google Assistant will also begin to suggest podcasts in response to commands like “Hey Google, play a podcast about Marie Curie” later this year. When you choose one, it will automatically open within Google Podcasts whether you use it on the web, your phone, or a tablet.
This push for podcast accessibility follows the trend led by other tech companies who are committing to the growing podcast industry. Earlier this year, Spotify acquired two major platforms — Gimlet and Anchor — who are currently among the leaders in the podcast market. In December, Pandora added over 100,000 podcast episodes to the streaming service which are recommended to users based on their tastes.
Google is jumping deeper into this audio movement, too, with this new Search functionality. Podcasts will be popping up within related search results as of yesterday for English-speaking users in the US. — AFP-Relaxnews
