Apple Podcasts Category Benchmark

Podcast networks, agencies, and portfolio teams use this actor to compare public podcast categories, publishers, and show groups. Input public RSS feeds, show URLs, Apple search terms, target keywords, and an optional portfolio monitor key. Output source-linked benchmark rows, fit evidence, category reports, and portfolio exports.

The default initialRunMode: "baseline_only" stores the first portfolio baseline with zero rows and zero charge. Later unchanged runs emit zero rows and zero charge. Use emit_backfill only when you explicitly want current benchmark rows, a category report, and an export delivered.

Start with a low-cost paid trial

Use this capped input to verify the source and buyer-facing output before buying a full report. It disables the report and export events and caps the run at $0.50. It delivers both a source row (podcast-show-benchmarked, $0.008) and a buyer-facing signal (podcast-network-signal, $0.08) when the starter evidence matches. A zero-row run has zero event charge.

{
  "rssFeedUrls": [
    "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
  ],
  "showUrls": [],
  "searchTerms": [],
  "targetKeywords": [
    "economics",
    "business",
    "money"
  ],
  "maxEpisodesPerFeed": 3,
  "initialRunMode": "emit_backfill",
  "monitorKey": "starter-podcast-category-benchmark",
  "generateReport": false,
  "emitRawRows": true,
  "emitShortlistExport": false,
  "emitUnchanged": false,
  "maxChargeUsd": 0.5,
  "dryRun": false
}

When the result fits your workflow, use the separate state key below to generate the full podcast-category-benchmark-report output ($2.50) and podcast-benchmark-export export ($2.00). The cap covers the selected report/export path; unchanged monitoring runs still produce zero rows and zero event charge.

{
  "rssFeedUrls": [
    "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
  ],
  "showUrls": [],
  "searchTerms": [],
  "targetKeywords": [
    "economics",
    "business",
    "money"
  ],
  "maxEpisodesPerFeed": 3,
  "initialRunMode": "emit_backfill",
  "monitorKey": "starter-podcast-category-benchmark-full-report-v1",
  "generateReport": true,
  "emitRawRows": false,
  "emitShortlistExport": true,
  "emitUnchanged": false,
  "maxChargeUsd": 4.84,
  "dryRun": false
}

Store Quickstart

1. Start with the first input example below using dryRun=false and initialRunMode: "emit_backfill" when you want a paid trial result.
2. Keep emitUnchanged=false so repeated no-change runs emit zero rows and zero charges.
3. Set generateReport=true and emitShortlistExport=true when you need the report/export path.
4. Review billingEventName before scheduling recurring runs.

{
  "rssFeedUrls": ["https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"],
  "targetKeywords": ["economics", "business", "money"],
  "maxEpisodesPerFeed": 3,
  "initialRunMode": "emit_backfill",
  "monitorKey": "store-quickstart-category-benchmark",
  "generateReport": true,
  "emitRawRows": false,
  "emitShortlistExport": true,
  "emitUnchanged": false,
  "maxChargeUsd": 5,
  "dryRun": false
}

Run the next report

• Use Apple Podcasts Scraper first when you only need broad Apple Podcasts show metadata.
• Add source-linked public evidence with Podcast Sponsor Evidence Report Scraper.
• Build a ranked candidate export with Podcast Media Buyer Shortlist Scraper.

Input Examples

{
  "rssFeedUrls": [
    "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
  ],
  "showUrls": [],
  "searchTerms": [
    "business podcast advertising"
  ],
  "targetKeywords": [
    "business",
    "marketing",
    "startup",
    "saas"
  ],
  "maxEpisodesPerFeed": 8,
  "initialRunMode": "emit_backfill",
  "generateReport": true,
  "emitRawRows": false,
  "emitShortlistExport": true,
  "emitUnchanged": false,
  "dryRun": false
}

{
  "rssFeedUrls": [],
  "showUrls": [],
  "searchTerms": [
    "fintech podcast",
    "ecommerce podcast"
  ],
  "targetKeywords": [
    "fintech",
    "payments",
    "commerce"
  ],
  "maxEpisodesPerFeed": 12,
  "emitShortlistExport": true,
  "emitUnchanged": false,
  "dryRun": false
}

{
  "rssFeedUrls": [
    "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
  ],
  "showUrls": [],
  "searchTerms": [],
  "targetKeywords": [
    "founder",
    "growth",
    "analytics"
  ],
  "maxEpisodesPerFeed": 6,
  "emitShortlistExport": false,
  "emitUnchanged": false,
  "dryRun": false
}

Sample Output

The report/export path emits value rows like these. The values are illustrative examples, not performance claims.

[
  {
    "rowType": "podcast_shortlist_export",
    "billingEventName": "podcast-category-benchmark-report",
    "sourceName": "apple-podcasts-public-metadata-and-rss",
    "sourceUrl": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml",
    "candidateCount": 1,
    "shows": ["Example Business Growth Podcast"],
    "authorizationBasis": "public_rss_or_show_page"
  },
  {
    "rowType": "podcast_benchmark_export",
    "billingEventName": "podcast-benchmark-export",
    "sourceName": "apple-podcasts-public-metadata-and-rss",
    "sourceUrl": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml",
    "candidateCount": 1,
    "benchmarks": [
      {
        "showTitle": "Example Business Growth Podcast",
        "publisher": "Example Network",
        "score": 72,
        "sourceUrl": "https://feeds.example.org/example.xml"
      }
    ],
    "authorizationBasis": "public_rss_or_show_page"
  }
]

See docs/sample-output.json for the complete row set.

Output Fields

Every row includes:

• billingEventName for PAY_PER_EVENT charging
• sourceName, sourceUrl, retrievedAt, and sourceMethod
• showTitle, publisher, matchedKeywords, and mediaBuyerFitScore when available
• authorizationBasis
• limitations and prohibitedInterpretations

Pricing

This actor uses PAY_PER_EVENT pricing. You are charged only when candidate, fit evidence, or shortlist export rows are emitted:

• podcast-show-benchmarked: $0.008 per benchmarked show row
• podcast-network-signal: $0.08 per source-linked network signal
• podcast-category-benchmark-report: $2.50 per generated benchmark report row
• podcast-benchmark-export: $2.00 per generated export row

No-change runs must emit zero default dataset rows and zero billable events by default.

maxChargeUsd is an optional positive per-run cap. The actor estimates every output row from the configured PAY_PER_EVENT unit prices before calling pushData; if the estimate exceeds the cap, it fails before charging. 0 preserves the existing no-explicit-cap behavior. Delivery journal entries record pending, charged, failed, and uncertain attempts so a partial retry can deduplicate confirmed charges and refuses to retry an uncertain charge.

Compliance Guardrails

• Use public RSS, public show pages, and public podcast search surfaces.
• Use shortlist rows only for source-linked media planning research and human review.
• Do not imply endorsement by Apple, publishers, or podcast networks.
• A score is a source-linked research signal, not a prediction of campaign performance or publisher acceptance.

See Also

• Apple Podcasts Scraper for Apple Podcasts show metadata.
• The linked sponsor evidence and media buyer shortlist workflows cover the next evidence and ranked-export steps.