You may have already read about YouTube releasing the ability to add RSS feed based podcasts to their platform on November 6, 2023. With the announcement from Google that its sun-setting Google Podcasts in 2024, this is a highly anticipated feature release. YouTube's new RSS ingestion feature enables automatic upload of new audio content from a podcast RSS feed to YouTube, accompanied by a static image of the show art to accompany your audio. By leveraging this functionality, you can expand your podcast's reach, enhance the visual experience for your viewers, and benefit from YouTube's robust analytics suite.
With these exciting new developments in the space, we want to ensure our ART19 customer base is fully updated on the latest information in podcasting for your continued success as publishers. We hope this provides you with the context, information, and insight to help you determine if this feature is right for you and your podcast operation.
Noteworthy Features of YouTube RSS Ingestion:
Automatic Content Upload: More and more podcasting consumers are taking their listening and viewing of podcasts to YouTube. With YouTube's RSS Ingestion feature this streamlines the integration of your audio content from an RSS feed onto YouTube directly. Once you set up the RSS Ingestion, new episodes will be automatically uploaded to your YouTube channel.
Show Artwork Included: Alongside your audio content the RSS ingestion will also include a static image of your series' artwork to enhance the visual experience of your podcast episodes on YouTube.
Hosted Content: YouTube RSS ingestion does NOT offer "passthrough" functionality (like most other RSS-based podcast platforms). Meaning the RSS feed is solely used as a means to automatically ingest audio content into YouTube's system. All podcast content is then re-hosted on YouTube servers and not served from ART19.
Benefits of Using YouTube RSS Ingestion:
YouTube's Reach: As previously mentioned, podcast listeners are increasingly consuming podcasts through video, and YouTube is at the forefront of that. YouTube is one of the largest video-sharing platforms with billions of users worldwide. Through the RSS Ingestion feature, you can leverage YouTube's vast audience and expand the reach of your podcast, potentially finding new listeners.
Things to Consider in Regards to YouTube RSS Ingestion:
Hosting Platform Metrics: ART19 will NOT have visibility into the number of times a podcast episode is listened to on YouTube. As all podcast content on YouTube is copied to and hosted on YouTube's servers, analytics related to YouTube views and engagement will be available exclusively through YouTube's creator platform. Please make sure you make the necessary adjustments to your series/networks stats reporting to make sure you are tracking all your relevant data and statistics.
Ownership: Should you choose to utilize YouTube RSS Ingestion, you are granting YouTube the necessary permissions to host and distribute your podcast content on their platform. Ensure that you review YouTube's terms of service and any applicable agreements before proceeding with the ingestion.
Should you have any questions regarding YouTube RSS Ingestion - feel free to reach out to support@art19.com.