Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Pauses Gambling Ads in App Store Pages After Developers Complain [Updated]
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
But the app store is now essentially a gambling platform anyway, because it's stocked full of freemium games which are designed with a very carefully crafted difficulty curve to feed off people with addictive personalities and get them to spend more and more money on coins/gems/stars/loot boxes etc, it's a really ugly side to gaming these days.
Good old race to the bottom. It’s why we can’t have nice things.
What did people expect? Advertising means maximising revenue from it, and if they means the most money coming from betting site then so be it. Apple isn't new to promoting gambling anywhere looking at some of its history with free to play games.
You wait till the ad supported Apple TV service is launched, this is Cooks Apple now not Jobs.
You wait till the ad supported Apple TV service is launched, this is Cooks Apple now not Jobs.
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
Suspended
Yes, I hardly use the App Store. Sometimes I'll read list articles about helpful apps for art referencing or blocking malicious content online, so my only journey to the App Store is to download what I already want.
Apple have made money for years with in app purchases aimed at children in games, this shouldn't come as a surprise.
Some people look at Apple through fanboy tinted glasses.
Some people look at Apple through fanboy tinted glasses.
I've been scrolling the comments here on MR for the past 5 minutes and I'd say 90% of the comments are that this new ad policy from Apple sucks.
In fact, I don't recall seeing a single "Apple ads are good" comment, but more like "It's Apple's right to do what they want on their platform".
It's always a slippery slope to say what someone would or would not have done, but I agree with the latter part that Apple have lost the sensibility to know how scammy their App Store practices are.
Marco Arment's comment really nailed it for me.
This is actually the first time I truly and deeply agree with this sentiment (variants of it have been around for years, after Tim Cook took over). Apple is a user experience company; develop the best possible hardware and software integration for professionals as well as consumers. That’s what has kept me in the eco system for almost 14 years now. This ads thing… it’s really a symptom of a leadership that’s not aware of the culture and experience that its customers are willing to pay a premium for. It’s greed. It’s setting aside the wellbeing of people (being willing to let gambling companies lure people into their financially toxic universes via the Apple App Store?!). It’s sad, really. Apple needs to lead from the front! And if that means leaving a few dimes on the table, so be it.
The last week has seen our family's confidence - actually our belief! - go through the floor. New products cynically designed and priced - repairs costly and lengthy - products that don't suit our needs. Now we have ads in the App Store because Apple has to keep making even more money. I no longer believe they put their customers first and I will start looking elsewhere to ensure a mixed eco-system wherever possible.
The trouble is, as always, is there's nothing any better anywhere else. It's all a race to the bottom.
I don't think anyone's missing that point - the point of discussion here is that Apple are happy taking money off these companies to advertise and actively promote their apps and 'services' in the App Store.
The ads totally cheapen the experience and suddenly makes the App Store a hostile environment. Many of us try to avoid ads when using the Internet (eg, AdBlocker). This ads thing on App Store adds to that confrontational experience with the wild internet. Stupid move, Apple. Apple is wealthy enough it doesn’t need to do things this way.
I think one of the fundamental problems is that the success (and therefore share price) of companies is judged on constant, year-on-year growth. It's no good just reaching a point and staying there, every year you've got to make more money than the last. Take a look at Microsoft whose share price nose-dived yesterday after they announced a revenue increase of 'only' 11%. Once you reach the point where your primary products have reached market saturation and you can't sustain ground-breaking innovation with every new release, you have to start scrabbling down the back of the sofa for somewhere else to generate that revenue growth from.
Last edited:
I remember reading some interview with people who know, that mention Jobs assumed that he’d have more time and would be able to be in charge of major decisions and company strategy at Apple while Tim would take care of day to day operations. He recognized Tim didn’t have good taste nor was he a product person.
Sadly, adding to the long list of already hated companies like google, facebook, twitter and microsoft.This company really becomes more and more hateable…
I keep getting Diablo immortal ads.
So what am I doing wrong (or right)?
So what am I doing wrong (or right)?
You either die a beloved company or survive long enough to be evil.
The App Store was great 10-12 years ago, today it’s just a swamp of excrement.
I gamble, I bet on sports but I don't think this is a good thing to promote to someone who wasn't actively looking for a gambling app. If you want to have ads like this, save it for searches involving gambling. People should have to seek it out since it can become a dangerous addiction for some.
It's a store. Literally the whole thing is an ad. In that sense ads are fine. The problem is having non-relevant ads on product pages. Gambling app ads shouldn't be on a podcast players page.
What's likely happening is that the vast majority of Apple's ad inventory is from garbage apps. Instead of putting no ad in this slot when no relevant ad is available they drop an ad for something with a ton of inventory in order to get the impression.
What's likely happening is that the vast majority of Apple's ad inventory is from garbage apps. Instead of putting no ad in this slot when no relevant ad is available they drop an ad for something with a ton of inventory in order to get the impression.