It was a marketing ploy all along. It still is even with limited days. Whatever the case if people like it they will use it as long as app usage is free. They add paywalls then you are just serving hardcore podcasters and listeners and not general public. This is where Ad revenue comes into picture.
Discussion
It was good ploy at least. It's the reason I started listening to podcasts on the regular. I still use it daily to listen to Bitcoin podcasts, but only as long as it stays free.