Google Podcast Recommendations Has New Requirements

Google will enforce new requirements for podcast RSS feeds beginning on September 21. The rules will determine eligibility to serve up as recommendations in Google Podcasts and other services, such as search and assistant.

Podcasts that fail to meet the requirements can appear in Google and Google Podcasts search results. Users also can subscribe to them. They just won’t serve up as a recommendation.

Google said the recommendation podcast RSS feeds must include a valid, crawlable image; a show description that accurately describes the show; a valid owner email address, a link to a home page for the show; and the podcast author’s name.

Marketers or podcast creators lacking the knowledge to complete any of these tasks will find how-tos in the Podcasts Manager Help section. For example, there are specific directions on creating a show home page and linking to the feed.

Any podcasts missing one or more of the requirements will not be eligible to appear in Google recommendations. They will continue to be searchable and be displayed on the user subscription list in Google Podcasts.

Google said the crawler will continue to index the podcasts and can surface them in recommendations within 48 hours once all requirements have been met.

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