VoloMedia Offers Podcasters Free iTunes Metrics Via Google Analytics
Jun 9th, 2009 | By Elisabeth Lewin | Category: Podcasting Research, Podcasting Services, Podcasting Statistics 
Startup digital advertising and technology firm VoloMedia (formerly known as PodBridge) has announced today a free metrics and analytics service that helps podcasters track the activity of the programs they publish to iTunes.
VoloMedia founder Murgesh Navar described the service in a post today on the Association for Downloadable Media blog:
“Bridge-to-Google Analytics is a plug-in to the iTunes Media player, now installed with over 100,000 iTunes consumers in the US…. Publishers are free to use this free service if it meets their needs, i.e. collect anonymous usage statistics regarding usage of their content on iTunes, and to analyze them using Google Analyics: a free and robust industry-standard platform. If you have ever used Google Analytics, then you are familiar with “GA_ID – Google Analytics IDâ€. With a simple modification of the RSS feed to incorporate the GA-ID the publisher can start flowing aggregated play and download data to their Google Analytics account. More information is on our website: http://www.volomedia.com”
Navar also pointed out that podcasters can use the metrics and analytics service whether or not they are VoloMedia customers, insisting, “this free service does not require any relationship, contractual or otherwise, with VoloMedia.”
Podcasters will also have access to the API for VoloMedia’s iTunes plug-in (now available for PC and Mac). The plug-in gives the audience tools for sharing podcasts via email or social bookmarking sites and provides the podcaster with a place to display supplemental content or advertising/sponsorship messages, along with a way to track data on whether the audio/video file is played.
Reed Kavner, Associate Marketing Manager at VoloMedia, elaborated on the benefits of the service: “It’s a cool move for VoloMedia, as previous products and services were only available to top-tier publishers who had partnership agreements. And while we will continue to offer enterprise-level services, this is VoloMedia’s first offering to publishers of any size without any business development paperwork. And it’s free.”
So this is just a cross section of 100,000 listeners who opted in to having their play histories uploaded to VoloMedia who parses it using Google analytics, right?
I can’t remember who it was, but this has been done before, but not using Google. The problem is that if I upload songs to my iPhone/iPod and delete them before syncing again, the plays/listens are totally missed.
Hmm, now this does look interesting… Thanks for the post! 🙂
Also, this is a refrain we’ve heard before: https://www.podcasting-news.com/2007/10/18/podcast-downloads-matter/
@ Rob
One small correction, Rob – Play histories are sent directly to publisher’s Google Analytics accounts. VoloMedia’s service does not intermediate this transaction.
@Mirjana
Thanks for the correction. Have you tried using this with FeedSmith, PowerPress and other podcasting plugins on WordPress to see about feed compatibility? I could see that being a potential issue.
This is just more of the same from this company that does nothing but spy on listeners. There is no way I would install this plugin.
This application needs to be classified as SPYWARE
@ Rob
We don’t see how this would be an issue. The only change we suggest making to the feed is enclosed in VoloMedia namespace, which should be ignored by parsers. You are welcome to test it out and let us know if you run into any problems.
@Jim
VoloMedia plug-in does not collect any personally identifiable information, only anonymous usage statistics, and was never listed as Spyware. We have always been very transparent with the consumer making it easy to change their preferences and uninstall. As a matter of fact, we’ve seen a tremendous adoption of the Windows version, and the recently released Mac version as well.
Plug-in social features – sharing podcasts with friends, directly within iTunes, via email or posting to a social network such as Facebook – strongly appeal to many podcast consumers.
To the podcast publishers, the plug-in is invaluable tool in continuing to deliver popular and free content.
If you are an avid podcast consumer like many of us here, I hope you can try it for yourself. More consumer feedback is always welcomed 🙂