"Podcast Fakery: Call Her Daddy and Top Shows Manipulate Follower Counts, Reveals Report"

Several top podcasts, including Call Her Daddy, have been using a marketing tool from MowPod to artificially boost their follower counts by incentivizing mobile game users to interact with their content. The tool promises a higher position in the Apple Podcasts Charts and has proven effective at increasing follower counts, downloads, and listening time. However, this practice comes at a premium price, with customers paying $5 per new follower and a required minimum spend of $5,000. The tactic highlights the challenges of breaking into the exclusive top podcast charts and underscores the concentrated success at the top of the podcasting industry.