YouTube Rolls Out Dedicated Podcast Page

YouTube is going all in on podcasts: The platform has begun rolling out a dedicated page for episodic series.

Launched in late July and spreading at a glacial pace(Opens in a new window) to US users, YouTube.com/podcasts(Opens in a new window) is live for some, while others are met with a “404 Not Found” error.

It can also be found in a new tab on the Explore page(Opens in a new window), alongside links to Trending, Music, Movies & Shows, Live, Gaming, News, Sports, Learning, and Fashion & Beauty.

As reported by 9to5Google(Opens in a new window), the “very rudimentary” desktop and mobile service currently features carousels that can be expanded to highlight popular episodes, playlists, and creators, as well as algorithmic recommendations. Users can also browse by category—comedy, true crime, sports, music, TV & film—or watch trending channels with already-massive subscriber bases, like The H3 Podcast or Logan Paul.

YouTube’s page, still in its infancy, may be less sophisticated than rival platforms like Apple or Spotify, which are pouring money into their respective podcast brands. But it might not matter, according to a May study by Cumulus Media(Opens in a new window), which tipped YouTube as the leading platform for accessing podcasts.

“Podcast advertising reaches millions of young consumers who have abandoned linear television for advertising-free video streaming services,” Suzanne Grimes, EVP of marketing for Cumulus, said at the time. More than 24% of study participants listen to podcasts on YouTube, followed by Spotify (23.8%) and Apple (16%).

YouTube parent company Google is no stranger to audio products: The tech giant’s laundry list includes Google Listen (2009-2012), Google Play Music Podcasts (2015-2020), and Google Podcasts (2016-present)—the latter which only just launched on iOS in 2020. YouTube Podcasts, Ars Technica notes(Opens in a new window), is the company’s fourth podcasting platform.