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Apple Selling Ads on iTunes?

This is not the first time that there have been rumors of Apple incorporating ads into iTunes. An AdAge article from April 2006 indicated that Apple was looking into publishing ads while users listen to podcasts:
Apple's [April 2006] plans call for the ads to appear only in the lower-left corner of the iTunes library while users listen to podcasts from their computers rather than from portable devices.
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This is the kind of thing is that Apple should avoid. I for one would not appreciate ads popping up when I listen to a podcast. Good grief, we are already bombarded by advertising all day long. Sure the best ads can be amusing, but overall they are just plain obnoxious and intrusive.

I also wonder, how much more profit do the fatcats need? These corporate tycoons are already raking in millions and billions of dollars. Then they want to reward faithful customers with annoying ads just so they can squeeze a few more dollars out of us?

Think twice about this. Apple customers do not enjoy being exploited.
 
Bah, they already have plenty of advertisements by putting up featured music/albums/etc. Hopefully they don't put up random things like ads for eharmony.com or something. You don't walk into Border's and see stuff like that. I don't want it on iTunes either. Just let me download my media in peace, lol.
 
Ads should only be for Windows version.

The ads should only be for the Windows version. That way it will hit most of the customers (good revenue) but remain loyal to Mac users. :D

Besides they could use it for "Get a Mac" ads right in iTunes down the line.
 
Ads in any shape or form, while raking in millions for Apple will suck. It will taint the user experience. The iTunes store doesnt need to be suppported by advertising. We are paying for the music, so whats the point?

I'll go back to buying cd's if this happens. Just to make a point.
 
Google will buy Apple

Ok, lets get this right. Apple will sell-out to Google. It's now just a matter of time and we are seeing the early signs.

I'm not too excited about this but the facts are clear. Google is swimming in money (more than Apple) and they want to take down Microsoft. The best way to do this is via; hardware, advertising, online products, digital content and delivery methods. Apple provides the platform for most this. In particular the stuff Google doesn't have time to develop.

The new Apple board member from Google just sets this process going. Steve Jobs' clearly isn't going to last for ever - he's had health issues, owns most of Disney and is a family guy, maybe he feels there is more to life than just Apple, but maybe he also wants the name to live on after he has gone... His leagacy.

I'll give it 3 years at the most!
 
airamerica said:
Ok, lets get this right. Apple will sell-out to Google. It's now just a matter of time and we are seeing the early signs.

I'm not too excited about this but the facts are clear. Google is swimming in money (more than Apple) and they want to take down Microsoft. The best way to do this is via; hardware, advertising, online products, digital content and delivery methods. Apple provides the platform for most this. In particular the stuff Google doesn't have time to develop.

The new Apple board member from Google just sets this process going. Steve Jobs' clearly isn't going to last for ever - he's had health issues, owns most of Disney and is a family guy, maybe he feels there is more to life than just Apple, but maybe he also wants the name to live on after he has gone... His leagacy.

I'll give it 3 years at the most!
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You have this all wrong. Forget Schmidt and Google. Al Gore joined the board first. The federal government will be taking over Apple.

Oh yeah, Jobs doesn't own most of Disney. He is he single largest shareholder with 7%.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
rdowns said:
You have this all wrong. Forget Schmidt and Google. Al Gore joined the board first. The federal government will be taking over Apple.

Oh yeah, Jobs doesn't own most of Disney. He is he single largest shareholder with 7%.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
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Well, you've got me on the Disney thing but the rest will play out - I mean it all makes sense if you think about it.

BTW isn't Gore to busy saving the planet to care?!?
 
If it helps keep down the cost of content and it's tasteful, I'm all for it. It would be a good opportunity for sponsorship -- say, a free download of last week's episode of "Studio 60," sponsored by Toyota.
 
Apple and Google have one thing in common - they are very targetted in how and where they make their money.

Apple make their money from hardware, everything else they do is just to sell more hardware (eg the iTunes store makes little money but results in more iPods being sold).

Google make their money from advertising, everything else they do is just to sell more advertising (eg gmail is free but results in more advertising space to sell).

If Apple want an advertising partner then Google would be a good choice, but Google don't know much more than simple text adverts and any advertising built in to iTunes would need to be a lot better than that.
 
Ugh

Apple stands to make hundreds of millions on this. They have built a reputation as the go to place for music and now movies. I am afraid taking advantage of that for ad revenue will cheapen the entire experience. iTunes is like holy ground just let it be what it is. I really, really hope this is not true. Don't abuse the power we have given you Apple. We love you because you don't sell out like this.
 
supermacdesign said:
Apple stands to make hundreds of millions on this. They have built a reputation as the go to place for music and now movies. I am afraid taking advantage of that for ad revenue will cheapen the entire experience. iTunes is like holy ground just let it be what it is. I really, really hope this is not true. Don't abuse the power we have given you Apple. We love you because you don't sell out like this.
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The iTunes shop is just one big advertisement though, albeit for music, video and podcasts which are all sold within the shop. I doubt ads for other things would be a problem if it was all in keeping and tasteful.
 
It's like when you go to a store and they ask for your phone number. They want to track what you buy so they can sell it to some company. Why is it not enough that your giving these companies your money? Greedy bastards.

Not that it matters, I don't buy music any way. DRM is going to kill the industry.
 
iSee said:
Oh, good!

That means I'll be getting my songs and videos for free, now...

Right?

Right!?!

RIGHT???!?!!?
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Of course!

It's like when you go to a movie theater and sit through 15 minutes of local PowerPoint style ads, a couple of car commercials, a jingle or two for Coke and M&Ms, and then 7 or 8 trailers for upcoming films (all in all, about 60 minutes worth of ads), you get to see the movie for free!

Oh, wait a minute...
 
I think ads are okay in the parts where the content is free (podcasts), but other parts should stay ad-free.
 
ads..

I'll throw my mac out the window and never buy one again if ads are all over itunes. Did Steve get drunk one night with Billy when he thought of this? Apple makes enough money. We dont want any ads on our media platform.
 
Leverage the ads

Dear Steve,

Rumors are you are about to sell ads on the itunes store. Here is an idea of how to leverage it.

Instead of just pocketing the revenue, link it back to purchases from itunes.
Example: if you sell one ad for $100,000 take that money and spread it out over purchases made while that ad is displayed. The first 200,000 songs purchased with that ad on the window get $.50 applied from the advertiser towards the song for seeing their ad. The buyer gets the song for $.49 and the record companies get the same!

The ad would continue of course for its normal life after the freebes.
The $.50 credit for 200,000 songs is only a guess. It could be $.10 for a million songs, OR, let them sponser one song/album of their choice such that its free to the first 100,000 buyers! That would go over big! "The newest song from U2 free on iTunes thanks to eHarmony." (or whatever)
Multiply this by many advertisers and you could end up with a store where everything is free!
Song sales will go way up as users buy more.

Win-Win-Win
The Record companies still get their pound of flesh. -More sales too.
Users will get more songs for less.
The ad will actually get more attention as users watch for new ones.
The Itunes store locks up even larger percentage of the market.

It would change the world of music (again.)
 
Apple wouldn't really be this stupid, would they? I don't want to see "sponsored picks" or whatever. I don't want real estate taken up by ads. I don't want them to take the radio/record store model of displaying things more prominently if they're subsidized. I don't want ads for cars with iPod integration. I don't want movie trailers to autostart. And I certainly don't want to suffer Apple supplied ads on anything I download. I want to go to the store and browse...

If a podcaster sticks an ad in their file, I'll make an individual decision as to whether the content is worth the hassle. If all of them have adds prepended I'll probably give up on the concept and avoid it the same way I have with television and radio...
 
babyj said:
The iTunes shop is just one big advertisement though, albeit for music, video and podcasts which are all sold within the shop. I doubt ads for other things would be a problem if it was all in keeping and tasteful.
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No, it's not an advertisement, it's a display case. There's a big difference in my mind, and adding paid advertising to the site is distasteful by definition.
 
dbook99 said:
Multiply this by many advertisers and you could end up with a store where everything is free!
Song sales will go way up as users buy more.
Click to expand...

That's a neat idea.

I'm not sure it would work though. If I get cheap or free music, I'm happy, but I'm not sure I'll show any particular loyalty to the company that sponsored it.

I got a free download of the Lost season finale two nights ago, courtesy of the ABC promotion. Do I intend to specifically watch next season's Lost on ABC? No, I'll flip through my satellite guide and find whichever channel I see first that's playing it.

If Toyota sponsored a song I liked, I'll be happy for a cheap download but I don't know that it would influence my buying decisions next time I'm looking for a car.

Then again, neither would a banner ad.

Actually, I'd be more likely to be irritated by a banner ad than buy a subsidized song download.

Your idea is starting to look better and better :D
 
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