Podcasting is an extraordinary medium that allows people to share information, perspectives, stories, and ideas with listeners around the world. With the launch of the Podcast Channel we want to make our guiding principles simple: we want to provide a delightful, trusted experience for listeners, and rewarding opportunities for creators to produce highly rated excellent content, widely distribute and monetize their shows.

 

To help creators and listeners know what to expect from each other, and from the Podcast Channel, we maintain the following content guidelines. These guidelines will evolve over time and we will keep creators informed of significant changes as they are updated and we encourage your input as we grow our creator community.

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In the event that a creator’s content does not meet these guidelines, we may take action to label or remove the content from the Podcast Channel. We value the work creators will be offering on the Podcast Channel and will work closely with you as we can to help resolve any issues that may arise.

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1. Inaccurate, Misleading, or Unauthorized Content

• 1.1. Metadata Accuracy. Podcast metadata (for example, titles, descriptions, language, etc.) must always accurately represent the corresponding content that is distributed.

• 1.2. Explicit Content. Creators must flag individual episodes with the “Explicit” tag if they contain explicit content (for example, profanity or content that may not be suitable for children).

• 1.3. Self-Censored Content. Podcast Channel monitors can automatically censor certain explicit words in titles, so creators should not self-censor language in metadata, such as titles or descriptions. These metadata fields must be written as intended, and all words should be completely spelled out. For example, creators do not need to insert asterisks within explicit words. However, the use of censoring symbols as a stylistic name or brand choice is permitted, if you use that name or brand with such censoring symbols consistently in your name elsewhere, beyond Podcast Channel posts.

• 1.4. Impersonation. Podcasts designed to mislead listeners by mimicking, copying, or duplicating other content or search terms are not permitted. Creators must not pretend to be someone else or claim they are affiliated with someone else without their permission and cannot use the artwork, description, or metadata of another creator’s show without permission. 

• 1.5. Manipulation. Creators must not encourage or cause any misleading, fraudulent, improper, unlawful, or dishonest activities that interfere with the integrity of the Podcast Channel. For example, creators cannot artificially increase, falsify, or otherwise manipulate a podcast’s follows, listens, ratings, or reviews, or attempt to influence search using inaccurate or inappropriate terms.

• 1.6. Incomplete Content. Don’t provide sample or trailer episodes for podcasts which are not or will not be shortly available on the Podcast Channel. For episodic shows, you may choose to make a subset of your podcast episodes available on your show page or Podcast Channel so long as the episodes are published into the Channel on a regular cadence. 

  • The amount of editorial content in an episode should greatly exceed any advertising content, so episodes must not consist primarily of advertising or marketing for products, content, or services outside the Podcast Channel without providing an editorial benefit for listeners.

• 1.7. Rights Infringement. Podcasts must not contain materials that infringe on the rights of others (for example, copyright, right of publicity, trademark, etc.). Creators must ensure their podcasts only include content that they have the rights to use.

• 1.8. Password-Protected Content. Content that requires a password is prohibited from the Podcast Channel directory.

• 1.9. Duplicate Content and Repeated Submissions. Content may be removed if multiple copies of a show or episode are submitted. If creators seek to publish an updated version of a show or episode, they should upload a replacement to the original.

• 1.10. Use of Trademarks & Copyrighted Terms. Podcasts not produced by us have to be considerate in how they reference the Podcast Channel.  Your show is hosted or found on our channel but should not be referenced in a way that makes the content appear to be channel-branded or created by us. The same applies to other brands that should not assumed by the listener to be part of any podcast unless that disclaimer is made clear. To learn more, we will develop further guidelines for podcast producers soon.

• 2. Illegal, Harmful, or Objectionable Content

• 2.1. Illegal Content. Creators’ content must comply with applicable law and regulations for the countries or regions where the content is distributed. 

• 2.2. Harmful or Objectionable Content. Some content may not be suitable for distribution on the Podcast Channel, such as content that may lead to harmful or dangerous outcomes, or content that is obscene or gratuitous. For example, the Podcast Channel does not allow content that includes:

  • Encouragement of suicide or self-harm.

  • Encouragement of criminal activity or illegal acts.

  • Defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national or ethnic origin, or other targeted groups, particularly if the content is likely to humiliate, intimidate, harass, or harm individuals or groups or includes specific threats of violence against certain groups or individuals. Professional political satirists and humorists are generally exempt from this requirement.

If a podcast contains harmful or objectionable content that is disputed by authoritative sources, the Podcast Channel may label the podcast to reflect the dispute.

• 2.3. Cultural Sensitivities. Creators are responsible for being knowledgeable about and, if appropriate, addressing any cultural sensitivities before distributing a podcast in a given country or region.

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3. Advertising Guidelines

• 3.1. Advertising Laws. All advertising must be in compliance with applicable law (for example, laws around disclosure of content as paid or sponsored advertising, the content of advertising, and what type of advertising may be included without an age verification).

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4. Paid Content Guidelines

In addition to the preceding content guidelines, the following guidelines apply to paid content available on the Podcast Channel through Podcast Channel Subscriptions.

• 4.1. Subscription Accuracy. Creators must clearly and accurately describe what benefits listeners will receive in exchange for the price, and the description must match the benefits provided, including the frequency or cadence on which subscribers can expect new subscriber content. Creators must update this information if and when there is a change to the benefits or content that a subscriber might reasonably be expecting.

• 4.2. Duplicate Shows. A show must be associated with a channel and duplicate shows are not permitted. If creators offer free and paid versions of the same show on the Podcast Channel, they must link them using Podcast Channel distribution tools and panel gateway (in development coming soon).

• 4.3. Premium Experience. In order to ensure that customers receive a premium experience when buying subscriptions on the Podcast Channel:

  • Creators cannot charge for content in the Podcast Channel if that content is available elsewhere for free at the same time in the same country or region.

  • Creators cannot offer benefits, such as ad-free listening or early access to new content, if those benefits are available elsewhere for free at the same time for listeners in the same country or region.

  • Creators cannot offer ad-free listening as a benefit if they do not have ads in their free shows.

• 4.4. Ongoing Value. Subscriptions are not intended to be one-time transactions. The value may differ for each subscription depending on the content and benefits offered by creators, but the subscription must supply ongoing value to subscribers.