They probably want to monetize on podcasts too, in the same way they do on videos and music. At the moment, Google Podcast is completely free and ad-free.
I came here to say exactly this. IG and all the others are private companies, with their own terms and conditions one agrees on, and also agrees those terms can be changed by them at any time. Moderation of content is part of it. Deal with it, or don't use them at all.
https://lemmy.world/post/10678878