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Apple Rumored to Be Considering Launching an Ad Exchange

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple is planning to launch an ad exchange, according to an anonymous advertising executive who spoke to Business Insider. The site says it heard from "one of the biggest players in online advertising", but could not confirm it -- BI said it talked to other sources who said they had heard nothing about it.

An ad exchange is an online sales platform that allows advertisers to target users through a variety of mechanisms. An Apple exchange could theoretically target particular Apple users based on their location, type of device, buying habits, what apps they own and more. Apple holds a ton of data about the buying habits of its customers, making an Apple ad exchange a potential gold mine for advertisers.
We can't confirm it. And, of course, the ad business is awash with rumors. (And, to give the full context, a couple of other sources we talked to said they'd heard nothing of the kind.)

But ... it's interesting that a bunch of people in the mobile ad business expect, even want, Apple to launch one, perhaps inside iAd, its existing mobile ad network.
Click to expand...
Facebook and Twitter have recently announced plans to develop ad exchanges, and companies like Google and Yahoo already have their own.

Bloomberg reported last October that advertising was to be part of a broader push by Apple, in particular with its new iRadio service which is said to be partially funded by advertising:
The advertising initiative is part of broader flexibility Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is giving the company's mobile advertising group to lure new business and integrate ads with other Apple services, according to people familiar with the matter.
Click to expand...
Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said at D11 that advertising was not a central business for the company, but Apple wanted to help iOS developers make as much money as possible.

At the beginning of last year, Apple hired former Adobe executive Todd Teresi to head its iAd mobile advertising unit and he now reports directly to Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president for internet software and services.

Article Link: Apple Rumored to Be Considering Launching an Ad Exchange
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/05/31/apple-rumored-to-be-considering-launching-an-ad-exchange/
Yay.

On a side note, has anyone ever seen an iAd? Are they limited to certain countries? I don't think I've ever come across one (not that I'm complaining :rolleyes:).

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Plutonius said:
Do you have a reason why you think it's dumb ? Apple is a business who exist to earn profits. All companies will copy competitors when the competitors have a good idea that helps them earn profits.
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And then said competitors sue them... :rolleyes: :apple:
 
Plutonius said:
Do you have a reason why you think it's dumb ? Apple is a business who exist to earn profits. All companies will copy competitors when the competitors have a good idea that helps them earn profits.
Click to expand...

Given that iAd hasn't exactly been drawing in the Advertisers I'm with the other two. It'd need be something special, not just iOS limited. It'd have to be web-based, and we all know how poorly Apple runs web services.

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skippymac said:
Yay.

On a side note, has anyone ever seen an iAd? Are they limited to certain countries? I don't think I've ever come across one (not that I'm complaining :rolleyes:).

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And then said competitors sue them... :rolleyes: :apple:
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You should be getting them in the UK. If you're a developer you instead see Apple iAds Ads on how to make an Ad...yup...that's what I said... :p
 
If true, this will be the most depressing Apple news since Steve's departure. :(
Please Apple, stick to what you do best; Build Great Computers.
 
Last edited:
And we blame Google

Really? I thought 'Google sells the Nexus phone for $350 because they mine your data, Apple don't'
 
Plutonius said:
Do you have a reason why you think it's dumb ? Apple is a business who exist to earn profits. All companies will copy competitors when the competitors have a good idea that helps them earn profits.
Click to expand...

Because they are always banging on how respectful they are regarding people's private information. And doing this would be a cheating on their costumers. I personally hate Google for doing that. That's why I dropped my Gmail account.
 
I don't really see why people think this is dumb.

I work for a digital media agency myself (and yes it is a ********* industry, but it pays the bills). Users are going to be served ads no matter what platform we use, be that Android or iOS. None of us like it, but that's something we can't change.

I'd rather be served an ad that's relevant to my interests though than something completely random and unrelated to me...
 
As long as its relegated to an app I downloaded from the app. store for free and only appear when I run that app, I'm OK with it.
If it can pop up no matter what I'm doing on the phone then I want a deep discount on the phone.
 
If this means developers are going to be putting even more iAds in their free apps, I won't be buying them anymore.
 
iradio service partially funded by the ad, well as long as it's free, dont mind seeing an ad.
 
Plutonius said:
Apple is a business who exist to earn profits. All companies will copy competitors when the competitors have a good idea that helps them earn profits.
Click to expand...

Tim cook said at D11 - “I don’t want copying. It’s a values thing. This is about values at the end of the day.”

I know it was in relation to Samsung, but you cannot have it both ways..., unless your Apple it seems.
 
MacRumors said:
Apple holds a ton of data about the buying habits of its customers, making an Apple ad exchange a potential gold mine for advertisers.
Click to expand...

Like it or not, customer data is what the big tech companies are all fighting over.
Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook can and will sell more to you if they know
more about your demographics, purchase history, affinities, etc.

I guess this is why Amazon is considered a "tech company." Because 1. they're
online, and 2. they use a massive database to store your product affinities.
You know, the "Frequently Bought Together," and "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought..."
 
The site says it heard from "one of the biggest players in online advertising", but could not confirm it -- BI said it talked to other sources who said they had heard nothing about it.
Click to expand...

Explain why this is front page news worthy?
 
"OMG I won't buy products from an AD COMPANY! That would make them just like GOOGLE!"

...and CNN, and ESPN, and the New York Times, and Fox News, and the Wall Street Journal...
 
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