It's fair to say that Google was late to the podcasting game.
Podcasts had already been around for 13 years by the time they launched Google Podcasts in 2018. Apple was the dominant force (having jumped on board right at the start) and other platforms like Spotify, Stitcher, and Overcast were busily building themselves a loyal follower base.
The Google Podcast app was straightforward (some would say basic) and lacked features that other app users took for granted. According to reviews over the years, some Android users loved the clean lines and smooth playback tools. Others weren't convinced, preferring apps that showed their subscriptions and complaining that it was "too focused on discovery."
Google shut down its podcast app in 2024, along with its charts. But let's take a look back to see how their podcast charts worked.
What did the Google Podcast Charts look like?
When you opened the Google Podcasts app, you found a section called "Popular and Trending," which was similar to the All Podcasts or Top Podcasts charts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. However, unlike those platforms, the podcasts in this section were not explicitly ranked.
While Google never officially disclosed how they chose their top podcasts, the charts seemed to rely on subscriptions or follows, listening activity and engagement trends. Furthermore, the rankings seemed to reflect ongoing popularity rather than focusing on recent spikes.
As well as running a Popular and Trending chart, Google also featured the top twenty podcasts over seven categories: Society & Culture, Education, Business, Comedy, Arts, Technology, and Health & Fitness.
What happened to the Google Podcast Charts?
When Google announced they were closing their app for good in April 2024, the charts disappeared too.
The decision to shift podcasting to the YouTube Music app consolidated their audio content under one platform. YouTube Music includes music videos and podcasts. It doesn't currently offer a direct replacement for Google Podcasts Charts, but it does list popular shows, as does Rephonic.
Alternative podcast charts
The Google charts may have been consigned to history, but other chart rankings are still going strong.
Apple podcasts
The Apple Podcasts Charts are one of the most influential ranking systems in the podcast industry and rank shows in four sections:
- Top Shows - rank entire podcasts (as opposed to single episodes) based on recent listener activity.
- Top Subscriber Shows - the most popular podcasts based on the number of active paid subscribers and recent growth (new sign-ups seem to matter more.)
- Top Series - ranks groups of podcasts that are part of the same publisher, network or brand. For example, The New York Times, Wondery and BBC Global News.
- Top episodes - highlights individual episodes.
Apple podcast charts are region-specific. So, each country or sub-region has its own charts, based on listener activity and engagement within that region. A podcast might rank highly in one country but not appear at all in another regional chart.
This means podcasters can track their performance and focus their marketing on the regions that matter most to them. It also helps listeners see how their favorite shows are faring and lets them find other popular podcasts in their region.
You can quickly view any podcast’s chart rankings in Apple or Spotify by tapping the Charts tab on its Rephonic page.
Spotify Charts
Spotify's Top Podcasts list the 200 most popular shows overall, and the top 50 within individual categories, based on recent unique listeners and overall follower counts. These charts vary from region to region, so that a chart of the most popular podcasts in the US is likely to differ from the United Kingdom's charts.
They also identify Top Episodes - defined as, "The top 200 episodes gaining popularity in each country, determined by recent listening changes (such as growth and audience size)."
You can find these charts in your Spotify app or listed on the web at Podcast Charts by Spotify.
Final thoughts
If you're researching a podcast prior to making a guest pitch, you could trawl through all the above charts to see where (or if) they rank.
Or you could simply head to Rephonic's search tool and enter its name. Tap on the podcast to open its podcast data and tap the charts tab. If it ranks on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you'll see it listed.
Rephonic is a database of over 2.5m podcasts that helps brands and agencies find, pitch and get featured on the right shows. Get started for free and access tons of invaluable information including listener numbers, chart rankings, contact info, reviews, social reach and lots more.
