Google Podcasts will be decommissioned in 2024, and users will be directed to Podcasts in the YouTube Music app instead. Users will have access to YouTube Music and Google Podcasts until 2024, when the latter will be phased out.
According to Google, the change is in line with the usage patterns of podcast listeners. According to Edison data, 23% of weekly podcast users in the US listen to podcasts via YouTube, while only 4% prefer Google Podcasts.
In a blog post announcing the switch to YouTube Music, Google said, “Looking forward to 2024, we’ll be increasing our investment in the podcast experience on YouTube Music — making it a better overall destination for fans and podcasters alike with YouTube-only capabilities across community, discovery and audio/visual switching.”
“Later in 2024, as part of this process, we’ll be discontinuing Google Podcasts. As part of this process, we’ll be helping Google Podcasts users move over to Podcasts in YouTube Music.” the search giant added.
