Google to Sunset Google Podcasts in Favor of YouTube Music

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In a significant announcement on its 25th birthday, Google has decided to bid farewell to its podcast service, Google Podcasts, just six years after its inception. The tech giant revealed that users will now be able to enjoy podcasts via YouTube Music, signaling a strategic shift in their audio content delivery.

Google cited statistics indicating that 23% of weekly podcast users in the United States already prefer to consume podcasts through YouTube, whereas only 4% express a preference for Google Podcasts. To capitalize on this trend, Google plans to invest more in YouTube Music in 2024, aiming to provide a more immersive experience for fans of Google Podcasts and YouTube Music alike.

While Google has announced the transition from Google Podcasts to YouTube Music, they have yet to specify a precise date for this changeover. Nevertheless, the YouTube Music team has indicated that they will offer tools and functionalities to facilitate the migration for existing Google Podcasts users, potentially enabling them to import podcast RSS feeds into their YouTube Music libraries.

Additionally, Google had previously committed to enabling offline podcast listening, ensuring that listeners can enjoy their favorite content without an internet connection. This move aligns with their vision to seamlessly integrate audio and visual content through YouTube Music.

It’s worth noting that as of now, YouTube Music’s podcast feature is accessible to users in the United States, Canada, and Latin America, with a global expansion planned by Google.

As part of Google’s ongoing streamlining efforts, several products and features were discontinued in 2023, including the album archive feature and cloud gaming service Stadia. This move follows earlier discontinuations, such as Google Play Music, Google Play Movies & TV, Google Talk, Google Duo, Google Reader, Google Glass, Google Domains, and Google Plus.

Looking ahead to 2024, Google intends to sunset additional products, including certain home security offerings like Nest Secure, with support ending in April 2024, and the HTML version of Gmail, which will be discontinued in January 2024.

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