Apple Introduces iAds Mobile Advertising Platform

[firewood]

Good apps will always find buyers at a price the developer can make money from.

It's the apps nobody truly needs that have to be ad supported.

According to my sales and analytics reports, more people are currently downloading and still using my free ad supported app than my similar paid app. Guess all those thousands and thousands of users don't truly need that free app...

 

[Porco]

I don't want Apple to make it easier to put ads in apps, I want it to be so difficult they won't bother unless they really have to. Maybe it'll work for them, but personally if I download a free version of a paid app it's to try the app so I can decide whether to spend the money on the full version, not to be served a load of ads. I would rather developers make money from impressing people with their apps instead of annoying people.

And what if you like a free app with no paid version? It just makes the experience worse, even if you are prepared to pay.

Using ads to make money sucks, far too often I think they are a crutch for when people can't convince people to spend money on the actual product.

The few free apps I've downloads with intrusive ads in so far I've just deleted and rated 1 star. Looks like that will become more common.

 

[Bleubird2]

Inaccurate statement?

We tried to buy a company called admob, and Google came in and snatched them from us. We bought Quattro instead.

I'm not siding with anyone on this issue, but according to the New York Times, this is inaccurate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/technology/14brawl.html?pagewanted=3

While Apple conducted due diligence on the deal, AdMob agreed to a 45-day “no shop” provision, a routine clause that prevented the start-up from offering itself for sale to others, according to three people briefed on the negotiations. But after Apple inexplicably let 45 days pass without consummating its offer, Google pounced.

So, who do we believe?

 

[itickings]

Advertising is an excellent way to go about establishing a revenue model on free apps -- let the market decide if an app is worthwhile.

Agreed, let's just hope the majority of developers will supply both ad-supported free and ad-free paid options for their apps.

 

[caffeinejoe]

Well, ads can be fun too. Look at all the hype over Super Bowl ads. They generate revenue for the company, the network and they can be highly entertaining. It will interesting how this all plays out. Given Steve's track record I'm not gonna bet against him on this.

 

[DaBrain]

then buy paid apps, instead of the free ones.

arn

Hmmmm, a wee bit sensitive regarding Ad revenue eh?--))) Just kiddind with ya Arn! 😀

Although I do agree. However, if I see an ad in a paid App, then I will no longer be doing business with that developer. They can take that to the bank. 😉

 

[jaison13]

😡😡😡😡😡

[Expletive deleted] that. I will never click on an ad in an app. This may be a dealbreaker for me on the iPhone.

I like Apple's hardware, mostly, but I really hate the way this [expletive deleted] company makes decisions for its users. Steve Jobs apparently thinks he's [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] God. (I'm not kidding. When asked: "Why no widgets on iPad?" he replied: "We just shipped it on Saturday, and we rested on Sunday. Everything is possible." Really, Steve? This guy makes some great products but he seriously needs to get over himself.)

And, since I'm on this rant, let me just add that iTunes is the worst, slowest, money-grubbiest piece of [expletive deleted] I've ever had the misfortune to have been forced to use on a mac. I use it only to sync the phone and download free podcasts mainly for academic use. I refuse to buy [expletive deleted] music or other [expletive deleted] except for iphone apps and hardware from Apple.

The iPhone, which I have come to really like, is starting to seem less worth it. I am now seriously on the lookout for an iPhone killer.

😡

you sound very silly. 1st, any smartphone you buy will have ads somewhere on them. why do you think google bought admob? so they can have better ads too. you don't want ads buy an old fashioned cell that only makes calls and send texts. that's about the only way to completely avoid ads.

pretty much you use itunes for everything but buying music, so stop hating. i do pretty much the exact same thin and like it very much.

 

[ValSalva]

Like they have better things to do than to feed the conspiracy theories of crackpots like yourself.

I'm not sure you understood that post. The real question is why would two gazillionaires have lunch together outside in full view of the press? Conspiracy? Not sure you understand what that word means.

 

[xapatan2]

A master move !

I read a very interesting post on Macbidouille(original version of Hardmac) :

Ads in HTML 5 is ****ing brilliant !
How do you build ads on the web these days ? with flash
If you have to develop an ad for the Iphone (big big market), it's in HTML 5
Do you need to re-develop your ad in flash for the web ? No, it's already in HTML 5...
So what do you do ? you don't want to lose your time, your an ad-agency, you develop all your ads in HTML 5 ...

Jobs just gave a master slap in the face of Adobe and Google !
Brilliant !
Xap'

 

[Prynce]

Good apps will always find buyers at a price the developer can make money from.

It's the apps nobody truly needs that have to be ad supported.

And, thanks to this new service, the ads may creep into good apps.

Solution: offer two flavors. A higher priced without ads, and a lower priced for with ads.

PAID Apps should be AD FREE Period....

 

[gmcalpin]

3) In media sales, the independent rep who sells the advertising usually gets 20%. But they are never the ones hosting the advertising or the ones providing the platform. Therefore, 40% is probably about right. It still is an eye opening number, though. Again, a sign that media companies have lost control over their mediums.

40% is normal for website ad networks; it really is "industry standard," as they said in the address. I've seen 35% and 30% occasionally, although the 30% was tied to an exclusive contract. This, obviously, isn't. Those were also not terribly good networks. This has Apple's name behind it, which will undoubtedly lure high-quality advertisers.

This of course also has the perk that Apple will be paying out to you — probably right in the same check/deposit that you get your app's revenues.

 

[That70sGAdawg]

then buy paid apps, instead of the free ones.

arn

They never said it was for free Apps only..Expect it everywhere.

 

[Osnabrueck]

This is good news and I'm glad Apple is muscling-in on this because ultimately, they have the well-being of the user experience in mind in addition to their bottom line.

 

[gmcalpin]

They never said it was for free Apps only..Expect it everywhere.

Those apps will not succeed.

You don't think people aren't going to RUN to negatively rate any paid app that makes them look at ads?

 

[PeterQVenkman]

Yes, you are absolutely correct. The people complaining about this are ridiculous. Apparently you are one of the very few who can comprehend the English language enough to understand that this isn't really a bad thing.

You've got to be kidding me.

Apple's been eying mobile advertising ever since as early as January. Today, as part of their iPhone OS 4.0 announcement, comes iAd: Apple's plans for in-app ads that are about to get a lot more interactive—possibly even fun.

What that means is that we're going to start seeing a lot more ads inside of apps. Since the average person spends 30 minutes inside apps per day, Jobs figures, one ad every three minutes would lead to 1 billion ad impressions per day over Apple's 100 million devices.

The type of ads you're going to see will be different as well. Ideally, according to Jobs, they'll hit the intersection of emotion and interactivity. In practical terms, that means interactive and video content ads are going to be served up without your leaving the app. You can also return to your app enjoyment at any time by closing out of the ad.

For example: a Toy Story 3 banner ad, when clicked on, will fill out the screen and offer a variety of interactive options: sound clips, video playback, even games within the ad.

Wow, it sounds just like intrusive flash ads! What a surprise! I guess when Apple's doing it, it's a good idea, huh?

Ideally, according to Jobs, they'll hit the intersection of emotion and interactivity.

We all know this isn't going to be the case. The bulk of online advertising is poorly designed, badly programmed, annoying, and irrelevant to the user. Even flash apologists can admit that the biggest single use for flash is those horrible "Obama Pays for Moms to go back to School" and "Check the loan rate in your area" ads that crop up everywhere. Thank you so much, Steve Jobs, for giving out of work flash ad developers a way to keep using their skills to make crappy ads!

Anyone want to take bets on when the first iAd crashes an app or even the whole touch OS?

 

[itickings]

They never said it was for free Apps only..Expect it everywhere.

We'll just have to have faith in the free market. There isn't a shortage of apps in the App Store, so there will hopefully be alternatives if ad-free paid apps are economically feasible. Users will complain loudly...

 

[arn]

They never said it was for free Apps only..Expect it everywhere.

Um. no. It's not like this is new technology. Mobile ads already exist on the iPhone on a massive scale. And there aren't many (any?) paid apps with ads in it.

This changes nothing.

arn

 

[gmcalpin]

Wow, it sounds just like intrusive flash ads! What a surprise! I guess when Apple's doing it, it's a good idea, huh?

It's inherently a lot less intrusive: Video and sound DOES NOT PLAY unless you CLICK on it. (As the big-ass bold words you quoted yourself make very, very clear.)

And because it's a touch platform, there's no such thing as a rollover — meaning no obnoxious auto-expanding ads or audio coming at you if you rollover anything.

 

[spazzcat]

I think most people miss the reason this is import for Apple. Apple makes no money off a free apps. But other companies like Google are making a lot of money from these free apps. Guess what, that will end if a developers move over to iAds. Now Apple is getting a cut on these free apps.

 

[frankjl]

Politics.

 

[tomatillo]

hmm... yeah, and I thought that clothes with advertising on them should be free. But it turns out that they cost more😕

 

[spazzcat]

I don't want Apple to make it easier to put ads in apps, I want it to be so difficult they won't bother unless they really have to. Maybe it'll work for them, but personally if I download a free version of a paid app it's to try the app so I can decide whether to spend the money on the full version, not to be served a load of ads. I would rather developers make money from impressing people with their apps instead of annoying people.

And what if you like a free app with no paid version? It just makes the experience worse, even if you are prepared to pay.

Using ads to make money sucks, far too often I think they are a crutch for when people can't convince people to spend money on the actual product.

The few free apps I've downloads with intrusive ads in so far I've just deleted and rated 1 star. Looks like that will become more common.

Its really easy to put in Ads in apps right now. This really doesn't change anything other then maybe making the ads better...

 

[Gasu E.]

I
Using ads to make money sucks, far too often I think they are a crutch for when people can't convince people to spend money on the actual product.

MacRumors is ad-supported. Given your philosophy, what are you doing posting here?

 

[Sky Blue]

They never said it was for free Apps only..Expect it everywhere.

no

just... no.

 

[e3boy9876]

I read a very interesting post on Macbidouille(original version of Hardmac) :

Ads in HTML 5 is ****ing brilliant !
How do you build ads on the web these days ? with flash
If you have to develop an ad for the Iphone (big big market), it's in HTML 5
Do you need to re-develop your ad in flash for the web ? No, it's already in HTML 5...
So what do you do ? you don't want to lose your time, your an ad-agency, you develop all your ads in HTML 5 ...

Jobs just gave a master slap in the face of Adobe and Google !
Brilliant !
Xap'

No, it doesn't work like that.
These new ads will still be made in flash or a resizes video variant, just exported to qt video and coded up with HTML 5 and maybe some menu interactivity added to it.

It's a totally different format from the standard 728x90, 300x250 and 160x600 flash ads you mostly see.
It's more equivalent to an expando ad.

It will just be another different ad spec people build to. It will not replace flash.

HTML 5 is still very limiting compare to flash in terms of creative production.
Even if HTML 5 was equal to flash in capabilities, it would take WAY more effort to do simple animation in HTML 5 compared to flash and that equates to cost.

Trust me, the web is still a WAY bigger market than the iphone market.