Some Publishers Concerned About Apple News+ Intercepting Traffic From Websites in iOS 14

[MacRumors]

Apple did not inform three large publishers about a change in iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur that directs users who tap on an Apple News+ story in Safari to the ‌Apple News‌ app instead of the publisher's website, according to Ad Age. The report claims that two of the publishers are evaluating whether to terminate their relationship with Apple News+ as a result of the change, but for now are taking a "wait-and-see approach."

From the report:

Two of the executives at the publishers told Ad Age they receive decent traffic through their deal with Apple, but are now questioning how it will impact their bottom line, as they each have greater monetization opportunities through their owned properties.

In a statement shared with The Verge's Dieter Bohn earlier this week, Apple said that the change provides publishers with "increased engagement and revenue opportunities on Apple News," adding that users have the option to adjust their preference. On iOS 14, the toggle switch can be found in Settings > News > Open Web Links in News. On macOS Big Sur, open the Apple News app and click on News > Preferences… in the menu bar.

Apple is committed to creating the best experience for Apple News+ subscribers. This change offers subscribers seamless access to the content that is part of their News+ subscription right in the News app or publisher app, as well as providing publishers with increased engagement and revenue opportunities on Apple News. News+ subscribers can set their link preference in their News settings.

Publisher reception to Apple News has been mixed. In June, The New York Times pulled out of Apple News, noting that the service does not "align with its strategy of building direct relationships with paying readers." To the contrary, The Wall Street Journal this week said that its Apple News‌ partnership provides the publication with a "significantly new audience," including more women and young people.

Article Link: Some Publishers Concerned About Apple News+ Intercepting Traffic From Websites in iOS 14

 

[Expos of 1969]

Apple doing something and not informing those who have a vested interest? It can't be!

 

[dannyyankou]

Apple needs to change this before public release. Lots of news websites depend on ad revenue from website traffic to survive.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Why is there so many controversies and conspiracy over this???

 

[DotCom2]

JEEEEZ. Everyday lately I read about Apple being a bully about something. Just stop it Apple.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I'm really irritated whenever I type in a search in Safari, it offers a result to a news article, and when I tap it, it opens in Apple News instead of the actual website with that article. Will this toggle fix that?

Is there a way to get the "go to website" button back in Apple News? Apple News is nice when it works, but it's not uncommon for special graphics or interactive charts to just vanish in Apple News, thus you need to go visit the proper website to use it. This is like being forced to use Reader Mode all the time in Safari - it's nice when it works, but sometimes it doesn't and you need to be able to turn it off.

 

[kc9hzn]

Apple needs to change this before public release. Lots of news websites depend on ad revenue from website traffic to survive.

That’s more the news sites’ problem than mine. I don’t use Apple News, but I use ad and tracking blocker apps. If I used Apple News and they let me read the articles in the News app, they’d actually get money from me. If they force me to visit their ad and tracker laden websites, with their unrelated overlay videos and distracting in-bound link units, I’m sorry, I’m going to use an ad blocker just to make your site usable. Offer a product good enough to get me to pay, then we’ll talk. I’m not opposed to paying for news, I’m just opposed to paying for low quality news or to dealing with ads on a site I pay to access.

 

[HQuest]

So Apple is acting as a news aggregator as Google does, not forwarding traffic to the original site and therefore do not creating hits for them, and they are wrong?

Context: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/goo...-news-without-paying-publishers-study-2051255

 

[dannyyankou]

That’s more the news sites’ problem than mine. I don’t use Apple News, but I use ad and tracking blocker apps. If I used Apple News and they let me read the articles in the News app, they’d actually get money from me. If they force me to visit their ad and tracker laden websites, with their unrelated overlay videos and distracting in-bound link units, I’m sorry, I’m going to use an ad blocker just to make your site usable. Offer a product good enough to get me to pay, then we’ll talk. I’m not opposed to paying for news, I’m just opposed to paying for low quality news or to dealing with ads on a site I pay to access.

Well that's your prerogative, but I've stopped using ad trackers a couple years ago because there are websites I support that have minimalist ads, and if I use an adblocker, I'm hurting the websites I support. If a website has so many ads that it's unusable, I just don't use it.

 

[PTLove]

So Apple is acting as a news aggregator as Google does, not forwarding traffic to the original site and therefore do not creating hits for them, and they are wrong?
View attachment 943772

Context: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/goo...-news-without-paying-publishers-study-2051255

No, this is quite different. Google gives synopsis of articles, however links to the original article on the original website. Apple is straight up by default not linking to those websites.

 

[I7guy]

Is this in production? Something Apple is planning and/or testing?

 

[rp2011]

I have no vested intrest other than caring that struggling news providers are fairly compensated and do not have to succumb to lowest denominator type clickbait.

But also, I dont want to be taken to Apple News. I dont like when Apple initiates actions on my behalf such opening Apple Music whenever it feels like it because I plugged into a bluetooth device.
No

 

[budselectjr]

Apple needs to change this before public release. Lots of news websites depend on ad revenue from website traffic to survive.

Sorry, things exist like session replay where every keystroke and mouse movement are recorded and cross site tracking that tracks your whole browser history besides that website and that information sold to god knows who. No thanks.

 

[newyorksole]

JEEEEZ. Everyday lately I read about Apple being a bully about something. Just stop it Apple.

Relax Lol. Apple may be a “nice” company, but they’re still a large global money-hungry corporation. I don’t agree with everything they do, but it is what it is.

 

[budselectjr]

Edit:duplicate post

 

[kc9hzn]

Well that's your prerogative, but I've stopped using ad trackers a couple years ago because there are websites I support that have minimalist ads, and if I use an adblocker, I'm hurting the websites I support. If a website has so many ads that it's unusable, I just don't use it.

Most ad blockers will let you allow minimalist ads. It’s not an all or nothing proposition. I choose to use an ad blocker because of page redirection ads (including ones that try to launch the App Store), the malware that gets inadvertently pedaled via the large networks, the fact that, beyond ads, many sites engage in questionable practices to promote engagement (if I’m on your site to read an article, and I’m using my phone, I don’t want the top third or half of the screen covered up by an unrelated video that hovers over the article, a tendency I’ve noticed on multiple sites recently). I’ll pay for a good user experience and good content, but while either of the two is lacking (let alone both), no, I won’t. An unobtrusive ad that doesn’t pose much threat to privacy? That’s okay by me, if I trust the ad network. I just feel like the biggest complainers are the ones with the most bloated websites (remember how, a few years ago, The Verge was talking about how mobile web browsing sucked and was super slow, all the while ignoring the elephant in the room that they were serving, like, 50 different trackers and ad servers, that they made their website suck in an attempt to make more money?). Plus, ads are hardly the only way to monetize a website and may even objectively be the worst way.

 

[Cosmosent]

Has AAPL released "Paid" Subscriber Numbers for their News+ service ?

If NOT, to those of you who have been following AND/OR using it, could you post your Best Guess Estimate as to what the Paid Subscriber Number currently is ?


IMO, AAPL clearly over-stepped its bounds with this iOS 14 move.

They will either need to change course on it ASAP, or risk losing News+ entirely.

A direct relationship with the customer is "The Top Priority" of most companies !

It is my personal opinion that AAPL's Upper Mgmt simply did NOT think this one through sufficiently enough !

Potential for significant Backlash against AAPL is high !

AAPL has a very favorable reputation with most people.

But things can change on a dime !

 

[kc9hzn]

A direct relationship with the customer is "The Top Priority" of most companies!

Too bad so many companies try to abuse that direct relationship (like collecting my email to sell the email list later) or engaging in questionable billing policies. That’s actually part of what I like about Apple, I trust them more than most companies because I know they only get money when I decide to buy a device or use a service. And Apple’s services, such as its billing or Apple News, thankfully removes the opportunity for most of this chicanery.

 

[317342]

So, if we follow the rubric...

Google does a thing.	Good; Applause; "Should have been done years ago!" or "Why isn't Apple doing this?!"; Insert cliché about Google Reader somewhere;
Apple does a thing.	Really Bad; No Good; E-Mail Tim Cook immediately; Fill every forum with FUD; Start or end at least three (3) sentences with the word "Finally."
Microsoft does a thing.	Why aren't you using Google? Start at least two (2) sentences with "Google has.." or "Google lets you..."

The only people that should (rightly) be concerned are publishers, not readers; the former relegate the latter to a litany of adverts with curious privacy implications, even on content behind paywalls (looking at you LA Times!).

 

[gnipgnop]

I'm not sure what the issue is if this only happens for people who:
A. Pay for an Apple News+ subscription
B. Click on material that has been made available through their Apple News+ subscription by the publisher

 

[threesixty360]

Apple just tries to protect its customers. That's the most important relationship it has. Everything else is secondary. Other companies try to protect their business relationships first and users are secondary. And it shows.

The funny thing is that people have so much "stockholm syndrome" in their lives that they always side with the companies that are exploiting them first. It's like a default reaction.

In my opinion, Microsoft and Google did irreparable damage to the psyche of the consumer. The average joe expects anti-virus software, ad tracking, OS fragmentation etc.. basically really sucky software experiences because the vendors that have had the lion share of the market for decades didn't care about the consumer.

And now we have customers complaining that apple wont let newspapers track the hell out of them and then go bust and sell all their data to someone they never even had contact with...

life eh...

 

[nt5672]

Nothing to see here. Just Apple being the arrogant and egotistical company we have all come to know and hate.

Don't worry Apple fans, Apple will throw enough money at this to make it seem to go away. Just bury you head and start chanting Apple is the best, Apple is perfect, Apple is good to us, Apple is our savior, etc. and all of the pain will go away and you will be at your happy place again.

 

[sdwaltz]

Good for Apple, honestly. These media companies are sharks and most are spreading misinformation anyway.

"In order to view this content, please turn off your adbl-"

*closes tab*

 

[Analog Kid]

Someone in an earlier thread suggested this only affects News+ subscribers and thus only people who have paid for the content through the aggregator and avoids the annoyance of the paywall for content you have access to through another route.

If true, this seems less bad— but if publishers and commenters here still see a problem with it, then it might still benefit from an opt-in model for both readers and publishers.

I don’t subscribe to News+, so don’t have a dog in this fight.

 

[Remy149]

Apple needs to change this before public release. Lots of news websites depend on ad revenue from website traffic to survive.

This only effects people who subscribe to news+. When you get sent to safari many news publications are behind a paywall that doesn’t know you pay for the Apple subscription.