Google Puts an End to Playable Podcasts in Search Results

Google recently announced that as of February 13, it would be putting an end to a feature that allows users to listen to podcasts directly from the Search results. The feature, launched in 2019, had surfaced playable podcasts when matched to a user’s query. The company explains the decision to remove the podcast carousels in favor of offering podcast recommendations. 

Podnews.net first noticed that the feature had disappeared from Google Search results when they tested the feature by searching for “history podcasts.” They were only offered a list of shows and links to podcast reviews, Apple Podcast pages, and other streaming services. Google's message in Google Podcasts Manager states that clicks and impressions in How people find your show will drop to zero after February 13. 

The playable podcasts in the search feature were not very effective, as they didn't offer a way to do much more than click to play an episode. In the 2022 market survey of podcast listeners, YouTube was found to be more popular than Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Meanwhile, using a web browser as a podcast listening app had a very small market share of just 3.5%. 

In response to the closure of the feature, Google announced that it would replace it with a "What to Podcast" feature that provides detailed information about podcasts, links to listen to the shows on various platforms, and links to the sites of the podcasters themselves. The search results are personalized to the user if they’re signed into their Google account but can be easily turned off.

In conclusion, Google’s decision to remove the podcast carousels from the search results may surprise many. But the company aims to offer users a better way to find podcasts of interest by replacing it with the new What to Podcast feature. It remains to be seen if this new feature will be better received by podcast listeners.