Data sources
- Google Podcasts Manager data comes from listening data on any of Google's podcasting platforms.
- Data is collected only for plays that are at least 5 seconds long. Duplicate plays of the same segment by the same listener on the same PT day are not counted.
- Episode play data is retained for 16 months, whether or not the episode remains on a served feed.
Data timezone
All dates shown are in Pacific Timezone time (PT). A "day" is midnight to midnight, PT.
Consolidation by day, listener, and episode
Google Podcasts Manager consolidates listening data by listener, PT date, and episode. Multiple listens of the same episode on the same day by the same listener are counted as a single listen. Therefore, a listener who listens to the first half of an episode in the morning and the second half in the afternoon of the same day is counted as one play count, with the play time being the full length of the episode. If that same listener then listened to the entire episode again in the evening, the play count would remain as 1, and the play time would also remain unchanged.
Data lifetime
- Podcasts Manager retains show data for 16 months.
- Data is shown only as far back as 30 days before the show was first claimed, even though data is retained for 16 months.
Data discrepancies
You might see differences between the data here and the data in your hosting provider. This is typically because your hosting provider shows episode downloads, while Podcasts Manager shows episode plays. If someone has downloaded but not played your episode, it is not counted as a listen in Podcasts Manager. Furthermore, Podcasts Manager can record replays of downloaded episodes on Google apps, which your hosting provider probably can't do.
Additionally, Podcasts Manager counts plays only from the various Google Podcasts platforms. Plays on other apps or through other mechanisms aren't counted.
Once an episode has accrued any listener data, it can continue to accrue listener data from Google Podcasts platforms even if the episode is no longer served by Google. For example, if episode 22 was on your playlist, and it was listened to, and you later removed it from your feed, but a listener downloaded it and continues to listen to it, you will see the new data in Podcasts Manager.
Variations in episode duration and timestamps
Many podcasts include variable segments, such as ads of varying length for different listeners. Therefore the content of an episode at a specific timestamp might be different between any two listeners. Because of this, you should take any data that associate actions with specific timestamps, such as audience retention, as being approximate rather than exact.
Metrics
Read more about the definitions and calculation methods of the metrics shown in Podcasts Manager.
