14 DAY TRIAL // Appeared initially as a niche phenomenon aimed at iPod users, the podcasts have been acknowledged once Apple launched iTunes 4.9, which included support for this type of content.
Two days after iTunes offered the feature, over 1 million users had already subscribed to podcasts and they had also stirred up the large companies' interest. Prior to iTunes 4.9, there were already specialized search engines, like Podcast.net, for instance.
After AOL and Blinkx have started to offer podcast search services, it was Yahoo's turn to enter this business.
The company's officials have announced that starting today, Yahoo will start testing a search engine for podcasts, the users having the possibility to introduce terms like categories, keywords or tags.
Yahoo is planning to go even further, by introducing tools that will allow podcasts to be created.
Obviously, it is only a matter of time before Google and MSN start offering similar features, because the podcast market has a huge potential.
A study, carried out in April 2005 by Pew Internet & American Life Project, concluded that there are already 6 million users who listen to podcasts. Since Apple has sold somewhere between 15 and 20 million iPod podcasts only in the US, it's obvious that the podcast has all the chances to become the next big thing on the Internet.