According to The Verge , this change is not surprising, as in April, Google allowed US users to listen to podcasts in YouTube Music without a paid membership. The company also allowed offline and background listening to podcasts, and switching between audio and video versions on the service. YouTube also announced that it would offer podcasts in YouTube Music globally by the end of 2023.
Google Podcasts first launched on Android in 2018, offering users a way to listen to a library of free podcasts and get personalized recommendations. In 2020, Google redesigned the app and launched an iOS version alongside the web, Windows, and macOS.
Google Podcasts will end its mission at the end of next year
Writing in a blog post, YouTube said it would increase its investment in the podcast experience, making YouTube Music a better overall destination for users and podcasters. As part of that, Google will shut down Google Podcasts by the end of 2024.
YouTube said the move away from Google Podcasts is in line with what listeners and podcasters are doing. The Google-owned video network cited data from Edison, which found that 23% of weekly podcast users in the US said YouTube was their most frequently used service, compared to 4% for Google Podcasts.
YouTube will also help Google Podcasts transition to YouTube Music by providing a simple migration tool and the ability to add podcast RSS feeds to users' YouTube Music libraries. The platform will also provide a tool that allows users to download OPML files containing their show subscriptions, allowing them to upload them to other listening platforms.
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