Google Podcasts app gets RSS feed support

• The Google Podcasts app on Android, iOS and the web is now an actual podcasts app: because from today it supports subscribing by RSS feed.

  • This means it now works with all private RSS feeds, including those from Memberful - who are sponsoring our podcast this month, and offer a simple way to create a members-only podcast feed and earn more revenue.

• For Google Podcasts, if you’re a developer, you can use https://podcasts.google.com/subscribe-by-rss-feed?feed=(base64-encoded-rss-feed) as a direct way to subscribe to an RSS feed. Our FAQ has more info.

  • This feature now allows Podnews to offer Google Podcasts buttons for all shows - even if they’re not listed. As one example, here’s a great show from the BBC, which blocks Google from listing its podcasts.

  • 'Friendly social marketing platform’ ToneDen have added Podlinks, a simple landing page for your podcast, complete with analytics.

• Casted, a podcast platform built for B2B marketers, has seen its revenue quadruple in its second year.

• StreamGuys have released a major update to their podcast platform, SGrecast. Now at version 4, there are better editing tools and new automation capabilities.

• Spotify have published their 2020 Podcast Hall of Fame, a podcast playlist with hand-picked episodes showcasing the best of 2020. Expect some of the best episodes from ReplyAll, 99% Invisible, WTF, Miley Cyrus on Call Her Daddy, Gimlet’s Resistance, and a curious absence of anything from Joe Rogan (who has a new logo! Kind of).

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 30 2023

• MANSCAPED and podcasting are growing together, says Midroll, who have posted a case study into the men’s grooming product. More than 40 shows on Midroll have run campaigns with MANSCAPED.

  • A few months ago, Podnews published a story about MANSCAPED looking for new podcasts to sponsor: and congratulations to The Who & How Club, which is now proudly sponsored by MANSCAPED - including a special dedicated show. “It’s all thanks to that post on Podnews,” they tell us, before breathlessly telling us their promo code is WHOHOW20 to save 20%. Shameless!

Tips and tricks

• The Podcast Host has released a book. Called Podcast Growth: How to Grow Your Podcast Audience, it’s available as a paperback or on Kindle in the US, Canada, and the UK, and as a Kindle item only in Australia.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 30 2023

• How to use the compressor in Audacity (Buzzsprout)

• How Pacific Content Pitches Podcasts To Brands - unconventional strategies for working with great clients (Steve Pratt)

Podcast News - with Fable & Folly

DOWN, by Definitely Human is a sci-fi thriller set aboard a deep sea research submarine, where impossible twists and dramatic intrigue bring the crew to breaking point. Ad sales by Fable and Folly.

How not to travel returns for a second series from Studio Ochenta. It’s the COVID-19 edition, exploring the many ways in which travelers and travel industry people have adapted to a year without travel.

The Bello Collective has produced their 100 outstanding podcasts for 2020 list. This section of Podnews needs a link to a podcast to actually work, so one picked from random from the list is Before Breakfast, a short podcast with time management tips every day.