A show represents a podcast in Google Podcasts manager. Each show is defined by an RSS feed that is known to Google and is served on Google Podcasts platforms. A show provides listening data and more about your podcast on Google Podcasts platforms.
Here's how to add, update, and remove shows and episodes in Podcasts Manager. Your show does not need to be in Podcasts Manager to be served by Google.
Manage shows
To add a show to Podcasts Manager:
- Create and publish your podcast's RSS feed (and optional podcast homepage), if you haven't already done so. The next steps will prove to Podcasts Manager that you own the RSS feed of the podcast.
- Copy the URL of your feed. If your podcast has more than one feed, choose any feed and the Add and Verify wizard will guide you through.
- If you are using a podcast hosting provider, such as Libsyn or Anchor:
- You'll need to find your show's feed.
- You must verify that your feed contains an email address that you have access to.
- If you are using a podcast hosting provider, such as Libsyn or Anchor:
- Provide your feed URL to the Add and Verify wizard. (If you already have shows registered in Podcasts Manager, you can open the drop-down list of shows and then click Add show).
- If you are signed in to Google using the owner email address specified in the show's RSS feed, your ownership will be verified automatically.
- Otherwise, a verification code will be sent to the email address of the owner specified in the RSS feed. Enter the code as directed in the verification page to prove ownership of the feed.
- ⚠️ The new Podcasts Manager show will be verified to the Google account you used when running the Add and Verify wizard, not the email address to which the verification code was sent.
- Optionally add users to the show in Podcasts Manager. When you verify ownership of a feed you are granted Admin status for the show with the Google account that you used to verify ownership.
- View your show's performance data. Remember to log in using the Google account verified for the show.
- If Google has already been serving episodes to users and there is listening data, you will see up to 30 days' worth of data as soon as you create a new show in Podcasts Manager.
- If you don't see any data for your new show, either the podcast was previously unknown to Google (that is, it was never indexed), or you had no listeners on Google Podcasts platforms in the last 30 days. Confirm that your show is indexed by searching Google for your podcast. New data takes about three days to appear on Podcasts Manager.
- Duplicate feed: If Google says that the podcast that you are trying to create is already being served from another feed, you won't be able to verify ownership of the submitted feed.
- Feed already verified: You can't verify ownership of a feed that someone has already verified ownership of. (However, if the served feed changes for a show, anyone can verify the newly served feed.) Please contact the feed owner listed in the Owner block of the feed.
You might occasionally see a warning that you must verify a new feed for one of your shows. This happens when Google has found several RSS feeds for your show. Google can serve only one feed per show; if Google calculates that a different feed than the one you submitted is a better definition for that show, it will serve the new feed instead of the previously chosen feed. When the show feed changes, if your show has never proven ownership of the newly chosen feed, you'll be asked to verify ownership of the new feed.
Note that once you click "send code" in the reverification process, you will not be able to access that show in Podcasts Manager until you complete the verification.
If you need access to an existing show in Podcasts Manager, ask an Admin in the show to grant you access.
If you try to add a new feed to an existing show in Podcasts Manager, be aware that Google serves only one feed per podcast to listeners. When you try to add the new feed, one of the following will occur:
- If the new feed is similar to another feed for any verified show on Podcasts Manager, you will be informed of the URL of the feed that is served by Google, and you won't be permitted to add the new feed. Google chooses only one feed from similar feeds to serve to listeners, and that is the feed that must be verified in order to create (or maintain ownership of) a show in Podcasts Manager. If Google has never seen this feed before, it might take a few days before Google realizes that this new feed is similar to an existing feed; in that case, you will see an alert in your show in Podcasts Manager.
- If the feed is not similar to another feed for any verified show on Podcasts Manager, your new feed will be considered a separate podcast, will create a new Podcasts manager show, will be served separately to listeners from the other feed. The different shows might have the same name and branding on Podcasts Manager, but Google won't consider them to be related.
If you need to change the URL of your show's feed—for example, if you change RSS hosting services—see Move a feed to a new URL.
Note that moving a feed will require you to reverify ownership of the show. Wait until you see a reverification needed message for your show in Podcasts Manager before trying to verify ownership of the new feed.
Also note that if you move the URLs of the episode audio files, Podcasts Manager will show them as new episodes in the episodes list. This is because episodes in Podcasts Manager are uniquely identified by file URL, not by <guid> tag. There currently isn't a way to change the URL of an existing episode without seeing it as a new episode in Podcasts Manager.
- To remove a show from your show list in Podcasts Manager
Ask another Admin to remove you, even if you are are an Admin yourself. This removes the show in your Podcasts Manager account; other users will not lose access. If you want access to the show again, you will have to ask a show Admin to add you, or verify ownership of the feed. - To remove a show from another Podcasts Manager user's account
See Managing users and permissions. - To remove a show for all Podcasts Manager users (including yourself)
Remove the podcast from Google. - To remove a podcast from Google
See Remove a podcast.
Manage episodes
You can add or remove show episodes from Google Podcasts platforms simply by adding or removing episodes from your show's RSS feed.
You cannot add or remove episodes from Podcasts Manager without changing the feed; Podcasts Manager is just a reflection of your show. (An episode is shown in Podcasts Manager if it has any listening data in the past 16 months, whether or not it is still served on your feed.)
Episodes in Google Podcasts Manager are uniquely identified by file URL, not by the <guid>
tag. This means that if you change the URL of an episode file for any reason, Podcasts Manager will see it as a new, identically named episode in your show, and listening data will be assigned to the episode by episode URL. URL changes are any changes except casing, for example:
http
tohttps
is a changeexample.com?id=1111
toexample.com?id=2222
is a changeexample.com
toExample.com
is not a change
Episodes in Google Podcasts platforms are identified by GUID, not by URL, so if the URL changes, the episode won't change to listeners, but will change in Podcasts Manager.
Add an episode
- Google has found the episode in your feed, and
- The episode has listener data. New listening data takes 2-3 days after it occurs to appear in Podcasts Manager.
You cannot add an episode to Podcasts Manager without showing it to listeners as well.
Remove an episode
Remove an episode from Google
To stop an episode from being served on Google Podcasts platforms, either remove it from the served RSS feed or add either <googleplay:block>yes</googleplay:block>
or <itunes:block>yes</itunes:block>
to the episode description in your RSS feed. The episode should stop being served within a day.