From Brisbane, the latest from our daily newsletter at podnews.net with Magellan AI. Google appears to be driving hundreds of thousands of podcast downloads every week that we don't think are being listened to. The Google Audio News product on mobile phones and smart speakers is driving significant extra traffic. And we can reveal today we're not the only company who's noticed. You can find that link to from our show notes and our newsletter at podnews.net.
Podtrac released its March US podcast rankings. Among the most popular podcasts, NPR News Now has overtaken The Daily. And Vince has debuted into the chart at number seven. The show is by Vince Coglianese and has taken over Dan Bongino's feed. Livewire published the top podcast hosting companies for February based on released episodes. Spotify for Creators posting a 10-month high. Spreaker posting a record number of new episodes.
And Buzzsprout remaining on a two-year high at number three. Libsyn posted another all-time low. There's been a round of layoffs at Daily Wire to, quote, better align resources with business priorities and growth areas. Co-founder Jeremy Boreing and VP of Public Relations Alyssa Cordova have also left the company in recent weeks. It's reported that the kids' division has closed, which is about 25% of the company's employees.
Automattic, which owns Pocket Casts and WordPress, is laying off 280 workers, that's 16%, in a restructure, it's unclear which units are affected. The company's been mired in drama after its owner, Matt Mullenweg, criticized WP Engine. 59 employees left the company in October. At the NAB show in Las Vegas, Live 365 has announced its launching in Mexico after reaching licensing agreements in the country.
In the UK, a Bristol-based podcast agency, Earworm, has secured US$260,000 in investment. A new streaming platform has been launched containing video shows from spiritual podcasters. New Reality TV describes itself as Netflix for the spiritually curious. And DaVinci Resolve 20 has been released with a bunch of new features.
And linked from our show notes and our newsletter today, Podcasting is asking the wrong question about videos, says Steve Pratt, offering a video strategy that doesn't compromise the magic of audio. Noventa y Contando, a podcast hosted by people aged over 90, has been a big hit in Argentina, according to El Pais. No one knows how to define a podcast anymore, and it's become a problem, suggests Business Insider.
And John Wardock covers his panel at Evolutions in Chicago about AI and podcasting. It's a Monday, so time for some tech stuff and the Podcast Standards Project has written up its meeting in Chicago. The group committed to adding the location tag to the list of supported features in the PSP certified specification. And, HLS was discussed as an opportunity for video podcasts delivered via Open RSS.
The podcast follow tag is currently under consideration for the new podcast namespace, and this podcast now supports the tag in our RSS feed. We do plan to support it in our podcast pages too, after its integration. It's an all-time high for Amazon CloudFront, who's now serving over 62% of all new podcast episodes. And we have a question in our show notes and our newsletter at podnews.net about Transmission 2.77. Does anybody know what that is a user agent for?
And in podcast news, more details about Vince, which took over from Dan Bongino. It's a show that sounds as if it's been recorded in an echoey room, and it starts with Vince showing people a picture of a tree. We assume it's also a video podcast. Anyway, Vince Coglianese's surname is pronounced like mayonnaise, which is all we were listening to discover. GeekWire has, as a guest, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, talking about the company's 50th anniversary and where it's headed from here.
The episode also features highlights from Microsoft's 50th anniversary event in Redmond, which featured a rare joint appearance by Nadella alongside former leader Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. The Expat Experience is new from Produce Your Podcast, an essential guide to understanding expat life in one of Mexico's most picturesque towns, San Carlos. The show contains everything from real estate to legal and financial essentials, and it's hosted by San Carlos resident Robert Deforge.
The Girlfriend's Spotlight is new from iHeart Podcast and Novel Audio today. The new instalment will feature eight gripping episodes exploring untold accounts of women caught in the web of crime, survival and justice. It's hosted by Anna Sinfield. How to Age Up is a new season of the Atlantic's popular How-To series launching today, co-hosted by Atlantic staff writer Yasmin Tayag and producer Natalie Brennan.
Together, they'll examine how our scientific understanding of the ageing process is expanding and if our cultural thinking is keeping pace, including looking at how we normalise ageing and why we continue to push back against its inevitability. And Season 2 of Canardian, the podcast gossiping about Canadian hometowns, is here. Felan Johnson, who's co-host of the beloved podcast The Secret Life of Canada, is joining the show to discuss Brantford in Ontario.
It's from Pod the North and hosted by Kattie Lore. And this podcast is sponsored by Magellan AI. Public radio meets performance data. American Public Media has teamed up with Magellan AI for next-gen ad measurement. You can read the full story in a link you'll find in our show notes and our newsletter. And that's the latest from our newsletter. To read all the stories and subscribe for free, we're at podnews.net.