Apple’s iOS17 update has made significant changes to podcasts and ads. Automatic downloads are changing and your workload got a little lighter with the introduction of transcripts.

Update 1: Apple Automatic Downloads Changes

The update changes how podcast episodes are downloaded on mobile devices. This affects how listen counts are measured. It gives a more accurate picture of listener behavior, but your podcast downloads could be lower than what you’re used to.

Before, downloads would pause if the device’s storage was full or if the listener hadn’t played the latest five episodes for over 15 days. Now, Apple Podcasts only downloads new episodes unless the user chooses to download older ones. So older episodes won’t be automatically downloaded.

This change may result in a decrease in total listens, but it will show how often people actually listen to podcasts. The industry may see a 10% drop in listens because of this update.

However, the number of unique listeners will not change, so advertisers can still reach their audience. This update will give advertisers more accurate data to measure their return on investment and plan their campaigns.

Update 2: Automatically Generated Transcripts for Apple Podcasts

Apple Podcasts now has a transcript feature, which lets listeners read and search the text of full episodes. Words are highlighted as the episode plays, similar to how they are when you listen to a song on Apple Music. You can find transcripts on the episode details page.

This is great news for podcasts host! After your publish a new episode Apple automatically creates a transcript for you or you can choose to upload your own instead. However, any changes to the episode, like new audio, won’t be in the transcript. Transcripts will be available for podcasts recorded in English, French, German, and Spanish, and you can use them in over 170 countries.

How iOS17 update will impact the podcast industry

These update show the growth of podcasting. By promoting on-demand streaming and making users choose which episodes they want to download, Apple is highlighting the move towards personalized content. This follows the trend of on-demand streaming becoming more popular across different media.

In the long term, these changes are expected to strengthen the podcast advertising industry. The better measurement capabilities will help advertisers make informed decisions about their campaigns, improving performance and increasing return on investment.

In short, the iOS17 update from Apple has changed the measurement of podcasts and ads. While there may be a temporary drop in total listens, this update gives a more accurate picture of listener behavior. Advertisers will benefit from this improved measurement because they will get more reliable data to measure their campaign success and plan future campaigns. This update shows the growing importance of podcasts as an advertising medium.

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