The Open Podcast Analytics Working Group is a cross-platform initiative to standardize podcast download tracking and measurement.
Download measurement is currently locked up behind a prohibitively expensive paywall, causing independent podcasters to lose out on reliable metrics, which in turn affects their ability to monetize. The OPAWG is working on a standard anyone can implement, along with a self-certification system that puts trusted metrics in the hands of every podcaster.
Founding members
Supporting members
The working group is currently over 140 members strong. If you’d like to join us, email join[at]opawg[dot]org.
Initiatives
This is a list of our active projects. Some of them are open to contributions, while some are currently still in the planning phase.
-
Open Download Measurement Specification 1.0
Our primary goal is to build a standard set of guidelines for measuring what constitutes a download of a podcast episode, considering things like the amount of file downloaded, whether the request came from a known bot, and so on.
-
Testing rig
The key to making the standard relevant and accessible to everyone regardless of budget or platform, is to create an automated testing mechanism that can reconcile a stakeholder’s implementation of the standard with the official one (put simply: does someone adopting our standard agree that x number of files have been downloaded y number of times?). This is currnetly in the design phase and we’re looking for technical help in implementing it.
-
User agent list
A list of apps, services and bots that consume podcast audio. This data is used by a number of podcast hosts to assist with their analytics.
-
Podcast host list
A JSON list of podcast hosts, and the patterns they use in audio URLs.
-
Podcast prefixes
A JSON list of podcast prefix companies.
Help us
Right now, we’re looking for talented coders, preferably using Python and familiar with test-driven web development, to help us build our test harness.
We’d also welcome your input into the measurement standard, whether you run a hosting service, tracking prefix, or podcast player. If you run none of these but you have a vested interest in improving the way we count podcast downloads, perfect.
Email hello[at]opawg[dot]org if you’re up for landing a hand.