Beginning on September 21, Google will enforce new requirements for podcasts to show in recommendations on the Google Podcasts platform, the company told podcast owners via email on Thursday. Podcasts that do not provide the required information can still appear in Google and Google Podcasts search results and users can still subscribe to them, they just won’t be eligible to be featured as a recommendation.
The new requirements. Starting on September 21, to be eligible to show as a recommendation, podcast RSS feeds must include:
- A valid, crawlable image: This image must be accessible to Google (not blocked to Google’s crawler or require a login).
- A show description: Include a user-friendly show description that accurately describes the show.
- A valid owner email address: This email address is used to verify show ownership. You must have access to email sent to this address.
- A link to a homepage for the show: Linking your podcast to a homepage will help the discovery and presentation of your podcast on Google surfaces.
- The podcast author’s name: A name to show in Google Podcasts as the author of the podcast. This does not need to be the same as the owner.
More details can be found in the accompanying forum post.
Why we care. Recommendations in Google Podcasts provide greater visibility, which can help the podcasts that are able to appear there attract more listeners. Following the new requirements will help to ensure that your podcasts are eligible for those free, highly visible placements.
In addition, recommendations in Google Podcasts are personalized, so there’s a higher likelihood that, if your podcast appears as a recommendation, it’ll be more relevant to a listener’s interests, which may benefit your marketing goals.
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