Google introduces Podcast content to its YouTube Music service in the US
Google announced that it will introduce Podcast content to its YouTube Music service in the US starting today, marking its official entry into the Podcast content market.
Previously, YouTube Podcast project manager Kai Chuk stated that he would first test the new Podcast service on YouTube Music in the US, enabling users to access Podcast content through more connected devices. And this announcement of the official launch also indicates that users can listen to Podcast content instantly without subscribing to YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium services, and allow the content to play in the device’s background, or send it via push notifications to compatible smart speakers and audio devices.
Currently, this feature is only gradually rolling out in the US, but it is also expected to be available in the global market in the future, though there is no definite timeline yet. Moreover, Google will not restrict whether there are ads in the content, which means that users may also hear embedded ads or verbal descriptions of ad content when listening to Podcast content.
However, given that a separate Podcast content service app was already available before, Google’s announcement of adding Podcast content to YouTube services clearly aims to keep users on a single platform for all content and increase their paid subscription rate.
But with the current decline in popularity of Podcast compared to before, it remains unclear whether Google can boost its traffic by integrating Podcast content with YouTube services.
