I understand that data sells adverts which fund free to listen podcasts, but Google getting involved in it means that data is now really worth something. Not all podcasters are happy about this and its also going to change the podcasting scene to become a lot more commercialised. Google’s own podcasting product though is far from mature and ready yet for use.
Not everyone realises that podcasts are actually an audio form of RSS feeds and remember what Google did with Google Reader? Just shut it down as there was no commercial model in it… Well the good news is plenty of others came forward and kept RSS feeds going quite well. So I trust there will be lots of room for everyone to play in the podcasts area and those who want to keep user data more private (which will be their niche) will still have their publishing outlets available.
See Google Podcasts will give podcasters more data about their listeners
How long people listened and where they dropped off.