…Things are back to normal after an outage that left podcasts hosted by Megaphone inaccessible for eight hours on Monday and Tuesday was reportedly caused by what amounts to a clerical error. The Verge[1] reports Spotify failed to renew Megaphone’s SSL certificate – the code on a web server that provides security for online communications. It is the “S” in HTTPS. “During the outage, clients were unable to access the Megaphone CMS and podcast listeners were unable to download podcast episodes from Megaphone-hosted publishers. Megaphone service has since been restored,” a rep said.
…The U.S. Army is using podcasting to reach young recruits as part of its latest “Know Your Army” campaign. After a survey found a lot of Gen Z has misperceptions about Army service, the goal of the ad effort is to educate today’s youth about the wealth of Army benefits that can help them achieve their personal and professional goals. “The Army has what Gen Z is looking for in an employer – they just don’t know it yet,” said Maj. Gen. Alex Fink, Chief of Army Enterprise Marketing. In addition to podcast ads, the Army is buying TV and online ads including Reddit, Google Discovery, YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
…Acast has hired Dimana Zaharieva as Programmatic Automation Manager for the U.K. and Ireland markets. The Bulgarian-born Zaharieva joins with a tech background, most recently as Digital Ad Operations Manager at Wavemaker. “My experience will help us collaborate on new creative projects and ideas, ensuring we keep Acast at the forefront of the podcast for many more years to come,” she said. Programmatic was the fastest-growing ad buying channel for Acast in 2021. And a recent Acast survey found 60% of marketers think it will become even more relevant over the next few years.
…SquadCast, the cloud recording studio platform, says it will launch Version 5 of its platform in the coming weeks. Community Manager Arielle Nissenblatt writes in a blog post[2] that it is in the “final stages of beta” and they are on track to launch sometime this month. Nissenblatt teases that the new version will include more tools for collaboration among podcast creators. “We know we’re not the only ones who work on multiple podcasts and collaborate with many different people on each,” she writes. There will also be a refresh of the look, including a revamped logo, and a streamlining of its pricing structure.
…The fiction podcast app Apollo will be rolling out several new features focused on improving the listening experience during the next few months. They include a redesigned audio player and a listening queue system. “The new queue system allows listeners to build a playlist for the day’s occasion, hit play, and not have to touch the app again,” it says in a blog post[3]. There will also be a new mini-player. Plus a design of its backend systems which Apollo says lays the groundwork for more ambitious updates later this year. “We will be releasing a brand new Library system, allowing users to create smart playlists that auto-update based on user’s chosen criteria,” it says.
…Blubrry has announced it is now offering annual billing for podcast hosting. It previously only offered month-to-month billing, and with the new option Blubrry is offering discounts of about ten percent to podcasters that commit to a full year. “We’ve worked directly with many customers over the years to provide this on an individual basis, and have experienced a vast number of reasons why podcasters find it useful,” it says in the announcement[4].
References
- ^ The Verge (www.theverge.com)
- ^ in a blog post (squadcast.fm)
- ^ a blog post (medium.com)
- ^ the announcement (blubrry.com)