It strikes me that the mechanics of podcasts are so consistent and simple that it would be straightforward for podcast apps to implement truly privacy-preserving analytics. As an example, Apple could make available to podcast publishers numbers like “how many people actually listened to this episode”, instead of the current status quo of “how many people downloaded it” using server logs, which is obviously inaccurate as this episode makes clear. There’s no need for Apple to disclose or even collect anything identifying to make these numbers available. It’s just a big distributed SUM() operation.
Of course, once that was available, advertisers would next want attribution for who had listened to which ad segments, etc. and it would all be downhill from there.
Of course, once that was available, advertisers would next want attribution for who had listened to which ad segments, etc. and it would all be downhill from there.