Apple plans to bring in more ad revenue in various iPhone and iPad apps by expanding the range of ads that appear in the App Store, Apple Maps, Apple Books, and more, according to a new report.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gorman stated that Apple will expand its advertising business significantly over time. The trusted analyst believes that the Cupertino tech giant will bring search ads to Apple Maps, where they have already been said to have been explored. It will allow companies to pay to be more visible in search results.
Apple Books and Apple Podcasts can also get the advertising treatment, allowing publishers to pay for their work to be more visible in searches and throughout the app. The use of cross-app advertising is nothing new, with users already seeing display ads in Apple News and Stock apps, the former giving publishers a portion of the advertising revenue.
Not to mention the App Store. Here, iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps are promoted if developers pay to display their apps prominently. The question is: If Apple has already spotted ads around its suite of apps, why does it need to expand? As Gorman points out, it’s about big revenue with all kinds of companies, and Apple wants to increase its advertising revenue to (a billion dollars) in double digits.
Application tracking is Apple’s retreat
Last year, Apple introduced app tracking transparency, allowing iPhones and iPads to block ad tracking across other companies’ apps and websites. It is a privacy feature that allows users to opt out of their data being collected by different apps, which has been a huge hit with users. In fact, Gurman stated that 78% of iOS 15 users have disabled ads personalization. (By the way, here’s how to find out which apps are tracking you on your iPhone.)
However, you can still be tracked in Apple apps. As the report notes, the app tracking feature “does not follow you across apps and websites owned by other companies,” Apple says. However, advertising revenue is a huge commitment that Apple wants to pursue, and there is some kind of restructuring. The Vice President of Ad Platforms, Todd Teresi, reported back to Apple’s head of services Eddy Cue, as Teresi previously reported to Cue before 2016 when iAd was a thing (now a deprecated mobile ad platform).
Teresi aims to increase ad revenue annually from $4 billion to something double digit, thereby increasing advertising across iPhone and iPad. On the earnings call, CEO Tim Cook still described the state of its ad business as “fantastic,” but there are plenty of pain points that Apple needs to resolve to increase its ad revenue without upsetting customers.
The good news is that Gurman doesn’t expect Apple to place ads inside third-party apps at this time, but more ads are coming. Is it fair to put ads in apps on the iPhone that could cost around $1,000? Let us know your thoughts about Twitter and Facebook.
We may not see that transition anytime soon, but we’ll see the iPhone 14 lineup perhaps as soon as September, and it looks like the Pro models could get a $100 price increase.