Apple is set to start showing adverts in iOS App Store search results starting Wednesday, October 5.
The company previously carried out an apparently-succesful beta test involving ads, which appear at the top of search results when users type a keyword into the search box. According to Apple, more than 65 percent of app downloads come through search results.
Developers in the U.S. have started receiving emails from Apple, making the case for them creating Search Ads for their own apps. To aid with this, Apple’s offering a $100 credit which can be used by devs for their first dip into the advertising world.
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They are able to create ads based on specific demographics, such as gender, age and location. They also only have to pay if users download the apps. However, Apple is making it clear that it doesn’t want to spam users.
“If an ad is not relevant to what the user is looking for, it will not be shown in the ad spot regardless of how much [the developer is] willing to pay,” it notes.
Personally, this looks like a good deal for developers, but it’s definitely an interesting (if not totally unpredictable) move for Apple. With falling iPhone sales, Apple has so far been able to protect its earnings by expanding into services and other revenue streams to offset faltering hardware sales.
Given that Google, to name one example, rakes in billions from advertising, it’s not exactly like Apple is taking a shot in the dark with its new strategy.
With that said, it does raise some questions. For one thing, Apple has been very outspoken about user privacy and how, to quote Tim Cook, “[users] are not our product.” This doesn’t represent a big change in Apple’s privacy policy, but it’s certainly not entirely consistent with that stance — nor with a company which helped make mobile ad-blockers mainstream.
In addition, it’s a bit of a “reverse ferret” on Apple’s pro-curation approach to the App Store, which was based around having a team of editors, instead of algorithms, recommend individual apps.
What do you think about more ads in the App Store? Leave your comments below.
Source: TNW
