How are downloads calculated?

In the world of podcasting, downloads represent the number of times an episode is played or accessed by listeners. Every time someone hits the play button and engages with your content, it counts as a download. So, in essence, downloads are simply plays—a direct measure of your podcast's reach and popularity among your audience. But how are these downloads actually calculated? Let's break it down:

• One Download per Device: As previously said, each time someone starts listening to an episode on a device, it counts as one download. But if they keep starting and stopping the same episode on the same device, it's still counted as just one download. This stops numbers from being inflated by repeated plays.

• Switching Devices: If a listener switches to a different device to continue listening, each device counts as a separate download. This helps track unique listeners accurately.

• Filtering Out Incomplete or Duplicate Requests: Partial requests and duplicate entries are ignored to ensure only genuine downloads are counted. This makes the numbers more reliable.

• Tracking IP Addresses: We exclude duplicate IP combinations to avoid counting multiple downloads from the same source. This enhances accuracy by effectively filtering out duplicates.