Bad news for iPhone and iPad users! From October 25, the Apple App Store will welcome even more advertisements on its home page and in its other tabs. And that’s obviously just the beginning…
Apple had warned, but we weren’t expecting it so soon! The App Store – its essential application store on iPhone and iPad – will contain even more advertising inserts from October 25th. Indeed, in an internal email sent to iOS developers that was intercepted by MacRumors, more promotional apps will appear in the Today and You May Like tabs. “The exposure this location provides makes it an ideal choice for raising awareness of your app, especially when launching new content, special events and seasonal promotions.“, explains Apple in an attempt to attract future investors. These ads will take the form of a large blue block with screenshots of the app in question and a small “Announcement” badge. As for the ads on the product pages, they will be displayed”in all relevant app categories” in order to “Promote your app to interested people when they visit different pages in the App Store.“
Apple App Store: ads from the home page
Admittedly, advertising continues to invade services and applications! After social networks – Facebook and Instagram are integrating more and more sponsored channels to the detriment of their users’ interests – it’s the builders’ turn to give in to the sirens of this – comfortable – source of income. While Glance undertakes to display advertising from the lock screen of the smartphone, Apple is also undertaking the development of advertising. La Pomme is not a beginner in the field of advertising. In the United States and English-speaking countries, the firm places ads in the News and Stocks application. On Apple TV+ too, advertisements have appeared during baseball games offered by the streaming service for a short time. And that’s just the beginning…
Since 2016 in the United States and in 2018 in France, the App Store has included ads, in the form of banners, but only in the Search tab. They take the form of suggestions surrounded by a blue box, in order to distinguish them from simple recommendations. In the search results, Apple systematically puts in the first place an advertisement for which the developers have paid in order to obtain the best position. In September 2021, the firm began asking users for permission to enable personalization of sponsored content. Today, it takes a new step by integrating advertising from the Today tab – in other words, the home page – but also in the individual pages of each application, as it announced. on July 29, 2022, through three specialized media – 9to5mac, MacRumors and AppleInsider.
The “Today” tab is the area in which we arrive each time you log in to the App Store. It presents the latest news, best sellers and application suggestions based on those already downloaded on the platform. the firm will place sponsored content to promote an application, or display a selection of software classified according to a specific theme.They will be identifiable by the presence of a small blue cartridge on the side.
Advertisements are also going to be present in individual app pages. At the very bottom of the screen, there is going to be a section “You may also like” to suggest software that the user may like. Of course, the first application offered will be an advertisement paid for by the software publisher. Note, however, that ad buyers will not be able to target the pages on which to display their advertisements.
iOS: soon advertisements in native applications?
Apple seems to want to significantly increase its advertising revenue. Revenues that are already very comfortable, which would already amount to some 4 billion dollars per year according to Mark Gurmann, the famous journalist of Bloomberg specializing in news from the Apple firm. As he explains in an article published on August 14, 2022, this turnover could well jump, Todd Teresi, vice-president of the advertising branch of Apple, indeed wishing to increase it to 10 billion dollars per year at least. And, to achieve this, iodée would directly integrate advertising into the applications installed as standard on iPhones and iPads – the so-called “native” applications –, in addition to that added in the App Store, the app store. An intrusion that may not please all users…
Apple could well display more sponsored advertisements in its Maps, Books or Podcasts applications. Indeed, according to Mark Gurmann, the firm has several leads for that. First, Apple Plans could offer merchants to buy advertising banners to appear ahead of the competition during a search. Apple Podcasts and Apple Books could also host ads while browsing. Attention is also on the side of Apple TV Plus, the company’s SVOD service, which could offer a new, cheaper subscription formula on the condition of accepting advertisements, like what Disney + and Netflix are in the process of setting up.
Since April 2021, Apple has encouraged iPhone and iPad owners to opt out of ad tracking. In May 2022, the firm even deployed an advertising campaign dedicated to privacy on television and on social networks. One of them depicts an auction during which several actors fight to acquire the data of an iPhone user. The addition of advertisements may therefore seem somewhat contradictory, although Apple ensures that these advertisements will respect its standards for the protection of privacy. The giant with the apple explains that “Apple Search Ads gives developers of all sizes the opportunity to grow their business. Like our other advertising offerings, these new ad placements are built on the same basics: they will only contain content from approved App Store product pages and will adhere to the same rigorous standards of confidentiality.” There is therefore a priori nothing to fear on this side, but that does not prevent this decision from impacting users, especially since they are obliged to go through this store to download applications, unlike Android. More generally, this more “aggressive” advertising strategy could have a hard time getting through to users, who agree to pay for more expensive devices so as not to be bothered by this kind of inconvenience…