YouTube could have big plans for podcasts creators this year, including the launch of a dedicated podcast homepage on the platform. The company could give podcast creators a more established presence on YouTube with dedicated pages for their shows and new podcasts cards in search results.
The information comes from Podnews, which obtained an 84-page internal presentation detailing YouTube’s new podcasts strategy. YouTube plans to have a new podcasts homepage at youtube.com/podcasts, an URL that doesn’t work yet, and the video platform also plans to improve the way it brings podcast episodes to YouTube by leveraging RSS feeds.
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YouTube is also a major advertising platform for Google, and the company plans to offer audio ads sold by Google and other partners. Another page of the document also mentions the launch of new metrics for podcast creators, as well as the ability to integrate YouTube podcast data into industry-standard measurement platforms.
According to a previous report, YouTube has been trying to attract podcasters by offering them up to $300K “grants” to launch a video version of their podcast on YouTube. Last year, the company also appointed Kai Chuck, a 10 years YouTube veteran as its new podcasting lead.
If YouTube has been hosting podcasts for many years, the company has been lagging behind Apple and Spotify, which have both made bold moves to become the top podcast platform. Spotify has acquired several startups in the podcast industry and has been investing in exclusive shows, while Apple has launched new monetization options with paid podcast subscriptions.
Google already has a dedicated Podcasts app on the web and mobile devices, which has remained pretty barebones compared to the competition. Despite its video-centric nature, it really makes sense for YouTube to become Google’s main platform for podcasts, as it’s already the home of many content creators on the Internet.