Apple buys Pop Up Archive, a sign it's getting serious about podcasting (AAPL)

Tim Cook

Apple

• Apple has bought Pop Up Archive, a small startup focused on podcasts.

• Apple is the sleeping giant in the podcast world, and is estimated to drive over half of podcast downloads through its iPhone app. 

Apple bought Pop Up Archive, a small Oakland startup making tools for transcribing and organizing podcasts.

The company confirmed the acquisition to Hot Pod, which broke the news.

"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," an Apple spokesperson told Hot Pod, which is the Cupertino company's customary confirmation. The price couldn't immediately be learned.

Discovery — finding new podcasts to listen to — is the biggest problem in the podcasting world, and Pop Up Archive made several tools that a company like Apple might find appealing, including Audiosear.ch, a podcast search engine. 

Apple is the sleeping giant in the podcast world, driving as much as 80% of podcast downloads through the built-in podcast app on the iPhone, according to some estimates. Apple has said it will release new tools for podcast makers to measure their audience size. 

The Audiosear.ch website now says:

"Hey there! We ended operations and support for Audiosear.ch on 11/28/17. We've loved seeing what you've built with this technology and are grateful for your support over the years."

There's lots of additional information over at Neiman Lab about how this acquisition could affect podcasters.

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