Monthly update for February 2021

API improvements. DDoS attack.

Hi there!

This is the 41st full month (3 YEARS and 5 months) that I worked on Listen Notes full-time. Hope you are doing well and staying safe!

Product updates

1, A bunch of improvements on search result rankings. Specifically, added a couple new ranking signals.

2, A bunch of improvements on Listen API’s Enterprise Plan infrastructure.

3, Fixed a few bugs of Listen API. Specifically, a) a bug related to adding teammates to an API account; b) a bug related to the payment logic of signing up the PRO plan.

4, Be able to type in a number to login. This solves the problem when it’s not possible (or inconvenient) to check & click the login link, e.g., on a smart TV.

5, Be able to batch export podcasts metadata from a specific hosting service — this is a popular feature request from our customers.

Company updates

1, DDoS attack

Around 8:45am (PST) Feb 21, many podcasting websites got DDoS attack, including listennotes.com. You can learn more from this Twitter thread and this article.

Luckily, there was zero damage to our website, thanks to previous investment of infrastructure improvements. This kind of infra work is invisible to users, but it’s critical when crisis happens (or about to happen).

This is the email we got from the DDoS attacker, which is the same email that many podcasting sites got:

The DDoS attack lasted ~10 minutes or so for listennotes.com, which didn’t affect our website’s performance at all.

2, New product initiatives

Working on a cross-platform tool for podcasters now. We occasionally try out new product ideas. Stay tuned!

---

Thanks for reading! Drop me a line and tell me what you think about Listen Notes -- just reply this email or hello@listennotes.com :)

Stay safe!