Pandora Mobile Apps Get New Podcast Discovery Platform

Pandora has pushed out updates for its Android and iOS apps to bring personalized podcast recommendations. The company first revealed plans to offer the feature earlier this year, later deploying it as a beta to a limited number of users. As with its music service, the podcast discovery feature helps users find new podcasts that they're likely to enjoy based on what they already listen to.

Podcasts are popular again, but finding new ones to listen to can be a daunting task. Unlike music services, which often feature robust discovery tools, most podcast apps merely break content up into popular shows, trending episodes, and similar generic categories.

Pandora has addressed that issue by introducing a new discovery tool not unlike what it already offered for music. With this, users can discover podcasts they'll likely to enjoy based on what they already listen to, presenting them with a personalized experience beyond simple trending charts.

The podcast recommendations are based on the user's listening history, which means the suggestions should get better over time. More than 100,000 podcasts are accessible through Pandora's new offering, and the company says it is adding new shows on a daily basis.

According to Pandora, which introduced the podcasts platform last week, the Podcast Genome Project looks at different aspects of the user's history to determine what they may like, including whether they gave something a thumbs up or down, what content they skip, and more. Machine learning, natural language processing, and collaborative filtering are all involved in the process.

The podcast discovery platform can be accessed in the latest Pandora app version available in the App Store and on Google Play.