The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company, which operates the world’s most visited Web site, plans to begin testing the new service — introduced a beta version of its podcast search tool further demonstrating the growing demand for the radio show style audio clips designed for consumption on computers and wireless devices.
Dubbed as Yahoo Podcasts, the service promises to allow people to find, play and rate the audio programs which cover religion, sports and seemingly every topic in between.
Although it can do several things, the free service focuses on making it easier for people to sift through the tens of thousands of podcasts currently available on the Web to find the programming best suited to their personal interests.
Through Yahoo search, consumers can choose the podcast player that they want to use, including the Yahoo Music Engine, iTunes and the Windows Media Player. Podcast files can also be saved and downloaded to a digital music player, such as the Apple iPod, iRiver, Dell DJ and Creative Zen.
Podcasting leverages a technology launched by former MTV VJ Adam Curry, who began distributing the iPodder program he wrote with AppleScript on an open source basis in November 2004. The software launched a cottage industry of amateur podcasters.
Now, thousands of podcasts are available on the Web with content ranging from talk to music in all manner of formats that can be easily saved on iPods and other portable MP3 players. Several public radio and college radio stations have also begun distributing shows via podcast, as well as many professional news and entertainment companies.
But Yahoo is the first Internet heavyweight to tackle the task. We feel like we are really getting ahead of the curve with this, Ralston said.
It’s only a matter of time before Yahoo’s rivals, including online search engine leader Google Inc., introduce similar podcasting features, predicted Phil Leigh, an analyst for Inside Digital Media in Tampa, Fla.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the future of search is in audio and video. Searching through text on the Internet has really reached a maturity point, he said. If you look 10 years down the road, everyone is going to be searching for podcasts.
All the major search engines are adding more bells and whistles in an effort to retain and attract visitors. The traffic is crucial because the search engines need a substantial audience to continue generating the ad sales that account for most of their profits.
Yahoo estimates that up to 5 million people currently listen to podcasts, which run a gamut of topics. Everything from the president’s weekly address to ordinary citizens ranting about their pet peeves is available on podcasts.
The potential market is much larger. Apple so far has sold more than 20 million iPods, accounting for about three-fourths of the MP3 players in the United States.
But the podcasting phenomenon remains a mystery to most of the country — something that Yahoo believes it can change by delivering more comprehensive search results and enabling users to store the podcasts in their computer’s music players, including Apple’s iTunes and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Player in addition to Yahoo’s. That way, people can listen to the podcasts at their convenience, even if they do not have an iPod or another portable device that plays MP3 audio files.
Yahoo’s service is built strictly for listeners. Unlike Odeo’s site, Yahoo is not providing any tools for creating podcasts, although there are plans to do so eventually, said Joe Hayashi, Yahoo’s director of product management. This is all about discovery for now, Hayashi said. Step one is all about growing the ecosystem.
Eventually, Yahoo will offer tools that will allow people to create their own podcasts, Ralston said. The service is available at podcasts.yahoo.com.
America Online and Blinkx also offer podcast search services.