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Apple Pauses Gambling Ads in App Store Pages After Developers Complain [Updated]

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Update October 26 3:31 p.m.: In a statement shared with MacRumors today, Apple said it has paused gambling ads in App Store app pages, with no further details provided:
We have paused ads related to gambling and a few other categories on App Store product pages.
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Original story from October 25 follows.

Apple today rolled out new ad placements in the App Store on the iPhone, allowing developers to advertise their apps in more places, including the main Today tab and in the "You Might Also Like" section at the bottom of individual app listings.

new-app-store-ads-today-tab.jpg

Just hours later, several prominent developers have complained about distasteful ads for gambling apps appearing in their own App Store listings outside of their control, including Marco Arment, Simon Støvring, and others. The issue was also highlighted in a tweet shared by MacStories editor-in-chief Federico Viticci.


"Now my app's product page shows gambling ads, which I'm really not OK with," tweeted Arment. "Apple shouldn't be OK with it, either."

As noted by Arment, Apple provides advertisers with the choice to have their ad shown in app categories different than their own app's category, allowing ads for gambling ads to appear in listings for unrelated apps like the podcast app Overcast.

The presence of gambling ads in the App Store as a whole has prompted some criticism, with some accusing Apple of being greedy and moving away from policies that the company upheld under former CEO Steve Jobs. Apple earns revenue from both the ad placements and its 15% to 30% cut of in-app purchases in gambling apps.


Beyond upsetting some developers, Apple allowing apps to run ads in other apps' listings has already led to the company facing accusations of anticompetitive behavior. In a tweet last week, legal expert Florian Mueller argued the ads are "another means of increasing the effective app tax rate, forcing developers to buy ads on their own app pages in order to avoid that others steer customers away from there."


In August, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple wanted to nearly triple its current advertising revenue to at least $10 billion per year in the future. Gurman said keyword-based search result ads are coming to the Apple Maps app starting next year.

We've reached out to Apple for comment and asked if the company will consider tightening its rules surrounding the ads. We'll update this story if we hear back.

Article Link: Apple Pauses Gambling Ads in App Store Pages After Developers Complain [Updated]
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/10/26/app-store-gambling-ads-complaints/
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Reactions: G3Blue, CJM, Pro_the_legend and 13 others
I hope they change this as the garbage casino apps are definitely not something many devs want to be associated with. It would also be nice if the ads didn’t include things I already have on my phone. However if they keep being attacked by various regulators and are forced to drop their commissions the money will have to come from somewhere, so it will be ads everywhere or very expensive development tools.
 
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Reactions: Amelio_R, gmarm, szabogabor10 and 22 others
I'm sure eventually Apple will want to monetize some of their other services to try to please shareholders. I can picture a future with iMessage ads, for example, as much as that might seem impossible now.

Every year, Apple becomes more and more like all the other tech giants, and not in good ways. Can't say I'm shocked though, all shareholders want is services revenue.
 
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Reactions: Tim Apple’s Glasses, dellaster, tello and 46 others
The “legal expert” they continue to quote obviously is wrong — developers aren’t being forced to advertise on their own app pages. Does he have any evidence of this happening? Any “legal expert” would not make this claim unless they had evidence.

If developers are allowed to advertise in any category, with no regard for the user interests, what is the point of this section? Apple knows what apps a user has downloaded, so this section should be a simple algorithm of category and previous apps downloaded. Either way, I rarely scroll down to the bottom section, so I wouldn’t see these apps anyways.
 
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Reactions: Chazz12, cyanite, V.K. and 14 others
I am serious: is android play store any better? Apple's appeal for the last 20 years was a walled garden, but if the garden is starting to rot (ads, price increases, product releases that don't mesh), how do I justify staying all in? At this point the only lock-in feature I like is iMessage. But it's a two horse race and my perception of android and samsung/google are they're worse.
 
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Reactions: G3Blue, szabogabor10, dustin_ and 27 others
Personal responsibility is its own argument, but I feel like even having casino apps being shown without specifically searching for them is an issue as it is. They should at least be tagged with a prominent “Gambling” label.

Apple keeps its tight grip on the App Store for the supposed sake of user safety, but they’ll happily accept ad revenue from Apps which people have surely destroyed their lives over.
 
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Reactions: snek, twocents, G3Blue and 32 others
Tbh as a European, I still do not get why anyone should be fine to accept seeing ads in Apple's App Store, when people clearly prefer not being bombarded with ads (that was the big selling point when Apple sold TV series in the early days). Apple gets so much money from me as a customer, why do I see ads in a curated store where I am looking around to buy quality apps, hoping to be guided by Apple's quality control... What am I missing? To me, it is just corporate greed, from a team that repeats their mantra of "culture of innovation"...

I have already stopped using News+ because of the ads, might as well switch to Google now!
 
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Reactions: snek, twocents, johnmarki and 60 others
Bustycat said:
I use App Store only when I need it.
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I remember back in 2010-2012, i would be excited about getting a new app (both free/paid) and spent so much time browsing in the app store.

Today, I cant remember the last time I downloaded an app. or even opened the app store. (probably around 2017ish). My perception of the app store? a toxic hell stew of subscriptions and in-app purchase-infested freemium apps.

EDIT: Looks like my last purchase was Apr 5th, 2016.
 
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Reactions: Tim Apple’s Glasses, 4tune8chance, snek and 46 others
saudor said:
I remember back in 2010-2012, i would be excited about getting a new app (both free/paid) and spent so much time browsing in the app store.

Today, I cant remember the last time I downloaded an app. or even opened the app store. (probably around 2017ish). My perception of the app store? a toxic hell stew of subscriptions and in-app purchase-infested freemium apps.

EDIT: Looks like my last purchase was Apr 5th, 2016.
Click to expand...
And App Store always pushes the ad of Apple Arcade.
 
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Reactions: Solidbilly, skoor101, drumcat and 4 others
I'm so ****ing over Tim Cook as CEO. He's dragging Apple into the ground.

This profit above all else ethos is quickly destroying the brand that Steve spent years cultivating. People pay a premium for Apple hardware to not have to deal with this sorta crap.
 
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