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9to5Mac is reporting that the way Apple Watch podcast downloads were being counted is being changed, to avoid double-counting. The issue occurs with Apple’s Podcasts app. The change may see audience numbers dropping.
The IAB issued a statement about the issue: “Concerns have recently been raised about Apple’s watchOS Podcasts app. Downloads to an Apple Watch device appear to be duplicative of downloads to a user’s iPhone after the watch performs its synching cycle. This outcome could result in significantly inflated reporting of downloads and listeners. IAB Tech Lab’s Podcast Measurement Technical Guidelines describes how most podcast measurement occurs today on the server (due to lack of client-side access), and how it makes it somewhat challenging to discern between a download and an actual listen. The guidelines provide further details on a methodology of filtering that should be applied to server logs in order to generate consistently reliable and accurate measurements of downloads and listeners.”
9to5Mac is reporting that to avoid the problem, the IAB wants to filter out Watch downloads from the official Apple app altogether.