Yahoo launches podcast search site

By Elinor Mills
Staff Writer, CNET News
Last modified: October 10, 2005 6:02 AM PDT

Related Stories: AOL to upgrade podcast search
September 14, 2005; Podcasting goes mobile
August 19, 2005; Blinkx unveils podcast, video blog search
June 29, 2005

Yahoo launched on Monday a podcast service that offers access to much of the streaming audio on the Web and features user reviews and other information about the programming.

Yahoo Podcasts is intended to enable people to easily search podcasts through keywords, categories or user-generated topic tags. The beta site also highlights podcasts of note, those that are particularly popular and user recommendations and ratings, said Geoff Ralston, Yahoo's chief product officer.

Searchers can listen to or subscribe to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds for individual shows or episodes of programming or entire series, he said.

Users who listen to a podcast through the Yahoo site can increase the playback speed to hear the audio at up to twice the actual speed, without the voices sounding like chipmunks.

Yahoo plans to eventually offer tools that will enable people to create their own podcasts, Ralston said.

America Online and Blinkx also offer podcast search services.

See more CNET content tagged:
podcast, Yahoo Launch, Yahoo! Inc., streaming audio, Time Warner Inc.

Add a Comment (Log in or register) 6 comments

Message has been deleted.
by October 10, 2005 4:34 AM PDT: Reply to this comment

My Yahoo & Podcasting
by October 10, 2005 4:34 AM PDT: It would be great if they integrate it into My Yahoo. There aren't
many personalization tools in podcasting now.

Podcast Shufle; Reply to this comment

Please post a link!
by October 10, 2005 4:42 AM PDT: Your news alerts concerning web-entities are just clutter if we have to go and search for web-links to the mentioned item on our own!; Reply to this comment

The link is in the story
by pfmahoney October 10, 2005 8:10 AM PDT: It's the end result of the link that's under "Yahoo Podcasts" at the top.

For a more direct link, it's http://podcasts.yahoo.com; Reply to this comment

Tastes Like Apple
by TV James October 10, 2005 8:48 AM PDT: I thought it was interesting to notice that they require at least one non-standard iTunes-specific tag, and recommend others.

I'm not suggesting collusion, but Apple can take a little pride in knowing they're shaping the world of podcasting. Minor grumble.. if it were Microsoft-specific tags, people would be all up in arms about them trying to take over the world. But simply put, Yahoo! probably recognizes that the structure that Apple has added to podcasting, most obviously in the "album art" is really smart and already has a large enough installed base that why should Yahoo! invent its own mechanism?

I'm looking forward to the day that Yahoo! or iTunes or Odeo offer you the ability to record from your own microphone directly into a podcast without any fancy software or uploading or anything. Odeo is the only one I know that's working on that, but Yahoo! and Apple tend to wait until something is done to announce it, so who knows?; Reply to this comment

Story was updated with a link when the site went live
by pencoyd October 10, 2005 8:59 AM PDT: At the time the story was posted, the Yahoo Podcast site was not live, so no URL was provided. Once the site was available, a URL was added to the story.

Thanks for reading.

John Roberts
CNET News.com product development; Reply to this comment

Latest tech news headlines

CES Day 1: Webware wrapup (Mostly Palm)
Posted in Webware by Rafe Needleman

January 9, 2009 12:22 AM PST
CES: Toshiba undecided on Netbooks in U.S.
Posted in Nanotech - The Circuits Blog by Brooke Crothers

January 8, 2009 10:50 PM PST
Ford touts its leadership in in-car connectivity
Posted in News - Gaming and Culture by Daniel Terdiman

January 8, 2009 10:17 PM PST
See all headlines

RSS Feeds

Add headlines from CNET News to your homepage or feedreader.

More feeds available in our RSS feed index.

Markets: Market news, charts, SEC filings, and more; Related quotes; Yahoo (2.83%) 0.36 13.07; Google (0.99%) 3.18 325.19; Time Warner (0.97%) 0.10 10.39; Dow Jones Industrials (-0.31%) -27.24 8,742.46; S&P 500 (0.34%) 3.08 909.73; NASDAQ (1.12%) 17.95 1,617.01; CNET TECH (0.75%) 8.48 1,141.83

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right

Nanotech - The Circuits Blog
CES: Toshiba undecided on Netbooks in U.S.
Toshiba is still pondering its Netbook Strategy in the U.S.
Gallery
Photos: Highlights from Ford's CES keynote
Digital Noise: Music and Tech
Microsoft's Bach: We'd do Zune differently
Entertainment and Devices President Robbie Bach insists to financial analysts that, given a second chance, the company would still do the Zune.
Beyond Binary
Ballmer: Google, Google, the economy, Google
In an interview with CNET News, Microsoft CEO talks about Windows, taking software to the Web, and competing with the search king. But there's no escaping the bad economy.
Video
Ballmer still trying to have fun
Digital Media
Yahoo reportedly near decision on new CEO
Search pioneer is said to be wrapping up its search for a new chief executive, and a decision could come as early as next week.
Video
CES Press Conference Day 1
Gaming and Culture
Ford touts its leadership in in-car connectivity
During a CES keynote address, Alan Mulally, the CEO of the automotive giant, talked up his company's initiatives in getting Internet-based applications into millions of its cars.
Cutting Edge
'60 Minutes' video: Tech that reads your mind
This segment investigates breakthroughs researchers have made in identifying what people are thinking by conducting brain scans, and why the Supreme Court might one day get involved.
Gallery
Photos: Highlights from Sony's CES keynote
Webware
CES Day 1: Webware wrapup (Mostly Palm)
Palm lit up CES with the announcement of a new OS and a new hardware product.
Politics and Law
Smart grid companies want stimulus cash from feds
Proponents of smart grid technology, including investors, tell a Capitol Hill audience on Thursday that federal stimulus money should go to improve the country's electric grids.