Johannesburg – Apple’s internal testing and executive reorganisation point to ads expanding into more standard iOS apps like Maps, Books and Podcasts after killing the competition with App Tracking Transparency.
Apple is looking to expand its advertising reach to its services that were previously ad-free, according to a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Apple currently displays ads inside its News and Stocks apps, as well as its App Store.
Instead of generic web adverts, the App Store has ‘boosted’ or ‘recommended’ results from app developers who have paid for the top spot.
This is in line with how competitor Google runs their own Play Store and Search rankings.
One can get a good idea of how Maps advertising may be implemented by looking at Google Maps, which has long supported similar features.
Venue and business owners will likely be able to pay for top spots for certain search phrases, like “plant nursery”, or to be prioritised in a geographic area for searches like “bars near me”.
Gurman believes ads are likely to come to the Books and Podcasts apps as well.
Apple’s potential expansion comes after significantly disrupting the advertising ecosystem across its iOS devices in September last year. Apple introduced its App Tracking Transparency policy, which enabled users to opt out of Personalised Ads.
Turning personalised tracking off stops developers and advertisers from tracking you across different apps and websites. This information stream forms the backbone of most current web advertising, allowing advertisers to target specific users and price ads efficiently.
Apple’s introduction of this policy has cost other social media platforms operating on its devices up to $9.85 billion, according to an estimate by The Financial Times in 2021.
This policy move came after long-simmering public sentiment around digital privacy and various big-tech data scandals, such as Cambridge Analytica in 2018.
While allowing users to opt out of Personalised Ads is certainly a step towards user privacy, it also seems to have been an effective consolidation of Apple’s power over its iOS platform.
Apple’s own advertising can still track you and deliver targeted ads. Apple states that its system “does not follow you across apps and websites owned by other companies”, which is what App Tracking Transparency is meant to prevent.
Since Apple owns most of the in-built apps that most iOS users use, they can still gather your data from across its range of services. With this advantage over its now hamstrung competitors, it is unsurprising that Apple is looking to expand its advertising surface area.
IOL Tech