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It’s amazing how little analytics there are on podcast listening by default as a standard that all apps should provide. Stuff like if an episode was started, ma

It’s amazing how little analytics there are on podcast listening by default as a standard that all apps should provide. Stuff like if an episode was started, marked as listened (but not actually listened to), etc. I get the reason for this change in general and the idea behind it, although this still gives inflated numbers for a minimum of 5 episodes.

Vvector 3y ago
Please no. I don't want to be forced to use a special player to listen to podcasts just so analytics can be collected
- adhesive_wombat 3y ago
  But if we put it on The Blockchain, you can mint PodCoins by listening to podcasts! Of course, to ensure you're really listening, you'll also need a secure cryptographic module installed in your auditory cortex. Depending on how well that surgery goes, maybe it finally can put the killer in killer app.
  - kombookcha 3y ago
    This is the wrong kind of cyberpunk, I was assured there would be USB-key knuckledusters so I could punch 1337haxX into corpo terminals.
- gsich 3y ago
  RSS is a RFC MUST for it to be called podcast.
  - kartoffelmos 3y ago
    Do you have a source for this?
    - philipwhiuk 3y ago
      https://www.reddit.com/r/AlignmentCharts/comments/xldke8/what_is_a_podcast/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AlignmentCharts/comments/xldke8/wha...
- MDWolinski 3y ago
  No, I fully agree, the idea being that there’s a standard set of analytics and a way to report on them that apps can openly support. Granted the odd ball out would be Apple and if they’d support the analytics in their podcast app, but much like Apple’s podcast directory is the defacto directory, there’s an opportunity for a better, OPEN, solution. EDIT ADD: I’d be surprised if every podcast app doesn’t already collect a robust amount of analytics on listening, they just don’t report it where podcast owners could see easily.
- coffeebeqn 3y ago
  These are common events used by the ad industry as well
- api 3y ago
  The reason podcasts are so great as a medium is that they have not yet been “platformified” and many still just distribute with RSS. Do not enshittify podcasts.
  - brnt 3y ago
    Spotify took a dear podcast of mine 'private' (it has since been freed). Some have their own paywalls. Even some 'smaller' podcasts now feature network leaders. Many thus feature localized ads. Not sure we're not already on that path.
    - dugite-code 3y ago
      > Some have their own paywalls Nothing wrong with paying for a product. A common method is a private patreon RSS (Atom) feed. It's still an open standard but the podcast earns money. It's at least a better option than the path Spotify took. > Many thus feature localized ads. I'm not against dynamic ads per-say, but it really reminds me of TV with the Ad's being wildly irrelevant to me and often being significantly loader than the actual podcast
gerikson 3y ago
That kind of reporting has clear privacy implications. I'd avoid any client that reported those metrics.
- FrustratedMonky 3y ago
  Pretty Sure Netflix has this, though only used internally.
  - rimunroe 3y ago
    I’m sure they have incredibly granular information about exactly where in a video most people spend their time watching, where they stop watching, where they pause, where they fast forward/rewind, and probably more. As a company which has first-party content, it would be shocking if they weren't collecting it. Some porn sites (i.e. PornHub) make info about where people spend the most time watching available in the UI in the form of a small graph over the seek bar at the bottom of the video. Even though the adult entertainment and sex work industry has historically been a pioneer of new tech, I don’t think they’re alone in tracking that stuff. And I’m not thrilled about any of that. I’d be upset if my podcast app started reporting more info. I don’t really care about the specific privacy implications of knowing which podcasts I listen to, but I do care about the loss of privacy in general, especially because some people might be potentially more affected than me.
    - philipwhiuk 3y ago
      YouTube also provides the graph to creators.
      - dwighttk 3y ago
        and sometimes viewers
  - karaterobot 3y ago
    Does... Netflix do podcasts now?
dwighttk 3y ago
That is because a podcast is just an rss feed of audio files… to get that sort of information (from all your listeners) you have to add to rss and break compatibility.
- astro19238_ 3y ago
  What about spotify? Their model should be strong if the others don't count streams.
- theshrike79 3y ago
  I think we have the capability in RSS since the age of blogs and RSS aggregators. Basically the aggregator can grab the main RSS feed and tell the server "I'm not just one person, I'm actually serving this to {subscriber count} people" and the server can use that information if it wants to.
ironmagma 3y ago
There's a beauty in the fact that Podcasts are decentralized and built on RSS. Let's not ruin that.

Vvector 3y ago

Please no. I don't want to be forced to use a special player to listen to podcasts just so analytics can be collected

adhesive_wombat 3y ago
But if we put it on The Blockchain, you can mint PodCoins by listening to podcasts! Of course, to ensure you're really listening, you'll also need a secure cryptographic module installed in your auditory cortex. Depending on how well that surgery goes, maybe it finally can put the killer in killer app.
- kombookcha 3y ago
  This is the wrong kind of cyberpunk, I was assured there would be USB-key knuckledusters so I could punch 1337haxX into corpo terminals.
gsich 3y ago
RSS is a RFC MUST for it to be called podcast.
- kartoffelmos 3y ago
  Do you have a source for this?
  - philipwhiuk 3y ago
    https://www.reddit.com/r/AlignmentCharts/comments/xldke8/what_is_a_podcast/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AlignmentCharts/comments/xldke8/wha...
MDWolinski 3y ago
No, I fully agree, the idea being that there’s a standard set of analytics and a way to report on them that apps can openly support. Granted the odd ball out would be Apple and if they’d support the analytics in their podcast app, but much like Apple’s podcast directory is the defacto directory, there’s an opportunity for a better, OPEN, solution. EDIT ADD: I’d be surprised if every podcast app doesn’t already collect a robust amount of analytics on listening, they just don’t report it where podcast owners could see easily.
coffeebeqn 3y ago
These are common events used by the ad industry as well
api 3y ago
The reason podcasts are so great as a medium is that they have not yet been “platformified” and many still just distribute with RSS. Do not enshittify podcasts.
- brnt 3y ago
  Spotify took a dear podcast of mine 'private' (it has since been freed). Some have their own paywalls. Even some 'smaller' podcasts now feature network leaders. Many thus feature localized ads. Not sure we're not already on that path.
  - dugite-code 3y ago
    > Some have their own paywalls Nothing wrong with paying for a product. A common method is a private patreon RSS (Atom) feed. It's still an open standard but the podcast earns money. It's at least a better option than the path Spotify took. > Many thus feature localized ads. I'm not against dynamic ads per-say, but it really reminds me of TV with the Ad's being wildly irrelevant to me and often being significantly loader than the actual podcast

gerikson 3y ago

That kind of reporting has clear privacy implications. I'd avoid any client that reported those metrics.

FrustratedMonky 3y ago
Pretty Sure Netflix has this, though only used internally.
- rimunroe 3y ago
  I’m sure they have incredibly granular information about exactly where in a video most people spend their time watching, where they stop watching, where they pause, where they fast forward/rewind, and probably more. As a company which has first-party content, it would be shocking if they weren't collecting it. Some porn sites (i.e. PornHub) make info about where people spend the most time watching available in the UI in the form of a small graph over the seek bar at the bottom of the video. Even though the adult entertainment and sex work industry has historically been a pioneer of new tech, I don’t think they’re alone in tracking that stuff. And I’m not thrilled about any of that. I’d be upset if my podcast app started reporting more info. I don’t really care about the specific privacy implications of knowing which podcasts I listen to, but I do care about the loss of privacy in general, especially because some people might be potentially more affected than me.
  - philipwhiuk 3y ago
    YouTube also provides the graph to creators.
    - dwighttk 3y ago
      and sometimes viewers
- karaterobot 3y ago
  Does... Netflix do podcasts now?

dwighttk 3y ago

That is because a podcast is just an rss feed of audio files… to get that sort of information (from all your listeners) you have to add to rss and break compatibility.

astro19238_ 3y ago
What about spotify? Their model should be strong if the others don't count streams.
theshrike79 3y ago
I think we have the capability in RSS since the age of blogs and RSS aggregators. Basically the aggregator can grab the main RSS feed and tell the server "I'm not just one person, I'm actually serving this to {subscriber count} people" and the server can use that information if it wants to.

ironmagma 3y ago

There's a beauty in the fact that Podcasts are decentralized and built on RSS. Let's not ruin that.