iAd

Apple is Trying to Make iAd More Attractive to Advertisers

Apple has continued to lose ground to Google in online advertising after the launch of iAd. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is trying to make its iAd platform more attractive to potential advertisers.

Having originally asked marketers to commit to spend at least $1 million—an amount later dropped to $500,000—Apple is now discussing ad deals with a minimum commitment of just $400,000, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Apple has also introduced more flexibility to a pricing structure that had befuddled advertisers, ad executives say. Instead of charging marketers every time a user taps on an ad—a policy which often led to ad budgets quickly being exhausted—Apple is willing to put a cap on what it charges for the taps, according to the person. Advertisers pay $10 every time an ad is viewed a thousand times and $2 every time it is tapped on.

This new pricing structure will hopefully give iAd a fighting chance against Google's AdMob service.

Apple’s iAd Struggles to Gain Traction, Prices Slashed

Apple's iAd mobile advertising platform is currently struggling to gain traction, with cut price deals now available, according to reports.

Launched back in April 2010, iAd was dubbed 'mobile ads with emotion' by Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs, just before he slapped a minimum ad buy-in price of $1 million on the service.

Now though, it seems Apple has lowered its targets for iAd considerably, with the original $1 million price a distant memory...

Apple no Longer Serving iAds to Kids, Seriously Impacts Some Developers

I'm sure everyone is familiar with iAds by now. The service that Apple launched last year promised to change the way customers interact with advertisements. As with a lot of new ventures, the mobile ad platform got off to a rocky start.

Advertisers didn't like the mandatory $1,000,000 buy-in on top of several other complaints. Finally, Apple compromised and made some serious adjustments to iAds, in favor of its partners. They cut the buy-in in half and even created an app showcasing iAds, but did the changes stop there?

Will Apple’s iBooks Get iAds?

The Wall Street Journal has an article about the possibility of advertisements hitting the pages of iBooks. This annoying idea is purely speculation but nevertheless worth a thought considering Apple's newest creation, iAds.

Books as an advertising platform would have much more influence than movies or television since readers typically reread a novel over the course of many years. iBooks would be around as long as the buyer decides to keep them on their devices, and that could be a long time considering the limited amount of space they take up.

The iPhone Hosts 55% of All Smartphone Ads

Millennial Media reports that Apple's iOS is the platform of choice when it comes to advertisers. What is even more profitable is the fact that the iPhone leads all smartphones with 55% of the market on its screens.

Who says ads aren't exciting? Including all devices, Apple products sport 35% of the pie while Samsung comes in 2nd with 17%, RIM with 10% and Motorola in 4th with 9%. Let's get back to smartphones which are defined by the study as products running a recognizable operating system.

Apple Slowing Up the iAd Process

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple's "revolutionary" advertising service iAd is off to a slow start due to Apple's demand for having creative control. This doesn't surprise this author since everything Apple does usually has to have their "unique" stamp of approval.

According to executives, advertisers aren't typically used to having the outsourcer having such a 'say-so' when it comes to the implementation and design of such ads. This process has left the building of the advertisements to take 8-10 weeks time, from brainstorming to completion. The delay is said to rest in Apple's hands, which partners say is taking 2 weeks longer than usual.

Want to Get Rid of iAds? There’s An App for That

We saw before that it is possible to opt out of targeted iAds. But what if you don't want to have any iAd at all on your iPhone? You guessed it, there's an app for that...

Don't even waste your time looking in the App Store because you won't find anything there. However, if your iPhone is jailbroken, head over to Cydia and add the following repo: http://apt.macosmovil.com/

When you're done, search for iAdKiller on Cydia and install the app. Finally, reboot your iPhone or iPod Touch, and voila!

Obviously, iAdKiller is for iOS 4.X and will only work on jailbroken iDevices. Now enjoy your iAd free iPhone!

Thanks Ydro for the tip.

How to Opt Out of iPhone Targeted iAds

One of the big features of iOS 4 is iAd, a new advertising platform created by Apple, supposedly so developers can make more money and keep their app prices on the cheap.

Like anyone who enters the ad business, Apple had to update their privacy policy, which you agreed to by installing iOS 4.

Gizmodo were the first this morning to bring light on this part of Apple's privacy policy:

To provide location-based services on Apple products, Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of your Apple computer or device. This location data is collected anonymously in a form that does not personally identify you and is used by Apple and our partners and licensees to provide and improve location-based products and services. For example, we may share geographic location with application providers when you opt in to their location services.

Unfortunately there is no way to opt out of this tracking. No matter what, Apple will still track what you do and where you. Yes, that sucks!

However, you can opt out of Apple's targeted ads by navigating to https://oo.apple.com/ from your iOS device and voila. I guess Apple could have made this more obvious.