I noticed in iTunes this morning a little graphic promoting the StarTribune’s gardening podcast. It got me wondering. Seems as though Apple is geo-targeting with iTunes now. I doubt somebody in Atlanta would be shown a promo for a Minneapolis paper’s podcast for green thumbs. This should be really easy for Apple to do since they know where I live, right? Does it mean Apple is selling that placement to the Strib? If so, what’d they pay for it? What’s a reasonable amount to charge for preferred placement in the largest podcast directory in the world? Or is Apple doing this to 1) make my experience better and/or 2) prepare themselves for eventually selling the spot?

So many questions. Apple’s position as the largest directory of podcasts and the nascent nature of the developing podcast business model makes the answers to them fairly interesting.