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takyon writes:

BBC removes its shows from Google's Podcasts app

If you search for BBC programs on the Google Podcasts app or through Assistant, you might get a handful of results at most -- or none at all -- instead of the dozens you'd usually get in the past. The broadcaster has pulled its offerings from the app after the tech giant altered its search function to direct viewers to its own service instead of BBC Sounds and other third-party services.

[...] [Perhaps] the main reason why the broadcaster chose to abandon the app is somewhere near the bottom of [BBC's Distribution and Business Development Director Kiera Clifton's] post, particularly the part where he talks about audience data. By directing users to its own app, Google is depriving the BBC of information on what potential listeners are interested in. The broadcaster uses that data to determine what's popular or trending, so it can create more programs of a similar nature. It could also use that information to surface similar shows for a user and to make sure it doesn't have gaps in its coverage.

Google is looking for a solution, so expect more user tracking.

Also at Android Authority.

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