Embedded Podcasts Will No Longer Be a Part of Google’s SERP
For a really long time, users were able to listen to podcasts that were
embedded within Google’s SERP. In spite of the fact that this is the
case, it seems like the search engine giant will no longer be providing
this feature. According to Google, this is being done to improve the
overall quality of the SERP, as well as to send more traffic to YouTube
than might have been the case otherwise.
Google is a massive
company with a number of subsidiaries that fall under its umbrella.
Hence, it would not want users prioritizing one of their services over
another. YouTube has turned into an important source of podcasts, and
Google would likely want to ensure that users get to go there to get the
kind of experience that they are looking for.
With all of that
having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that
podcast episodes will still be featured on the SERP. The only change is
that they will no longer be embedded, which means that users won’t be
able to listen to them from within the SERP itself.
This is
actually a bit of a change from Google’s recent updates. The tech
juggernaut has been trying really hard to get users to stay on its SERP,
but this recent update is quite distinct because of the fact that this
is the sort of thing that could potentially end up forcing users to
click away.
Still, chances are that users will find search
results showing podcasts on YouTube, and that will do a lot to funnel
traffic to the video streaming platform with all things having been
considered and taken into account. Some are questioning whether this
will actually improve the user experience, but if nothing else it will
make for a slightly more optimized SERP and that could be worthwhile.
Google
hasn’t updated its podcast app for 18 months now. That led many to
wonder if they were going to be removed, and the recent update revealed
that this was a clear course of action that Google was looking to take.
H/T: Podnews