Sept. 17, 2020

So Begins the Podcast Tracking Wars with Rob Walch

Podcast hosts are loved because the trust and relationship they build with their audience through this show. On this episode of Podcast Me Anything, we chat with Rob Walch, Vice President of Podcaster Relations at Libsyn, to discuss the hidden tech that is tracking podcast listeners and why that should be a concern for content creators.

In the online marketing world GDPR is something that any company running an online business needs to knows about. And one of the key features of that system is the ability for the end user to opt-in. Because that opportunity doesn't exist within the podcasting space, many companies providing attribution and other tracking services are running afoul of these privacy rules. With Overcast's new privacy tool, users are going to learn quickly what data shows are willing to collect through these tools, and he is concerned about the reckoning that will follow.

Listen to today’s show and find the limitations for podcasters to enforce GDPR and CCPA rules, and why Rob is concerned for the entire space.

And don't forget to read this post which outlines in further detail why Rob believes privacy really does matter for podcast consumers.

Key Topics:

  • What are the biggest concerns with privacy in the podcast space (1:01)
  • What solutions are available on the market to provide opt-in tracking (2:17)
  • Does the argument IP addresses are trackable hold water (4:49)
  • What does tracking do for the harm of the industry long term (5:13)
  • What is behind the new Overcast tracking feature (9:30)
  • Will Apple be making any changes to podcasting in the future (14:35)

Guest's Podcast Links:


Guest's Social Links



Thanks for Listening!

Be sure to subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And feel free to drop us a line at mathew@thepodcastconsultant.com.

Follow Mathew on Social Media to stay up to date on Podcast Me Anything - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

In Support of Podvoices.help June 2022 Campaign

****The pre-roll you heard is in support of https://www.podvoices.help/. The opinions expressed in this ad are solely the opinions of Mathew Passy and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of co-hosts or guests that may appear on this show. If links mentioned in the ad do not appear in these shownotes, please visit podvoices.help***