Apple Eliminating Its App and Radio Ads
The iAd App Network will be discontinued as of June 30, 2016. Although we are no longer accepting new apps into the network, advertising campaigns may continue to run and you can still earn advertising revenue until June 30.
When iAd launched, its biggest advocate among Apple’s leadership was Scott Forstall. In some ways I’m surprised it took this long for them to pull the plug. After Forstall, I don’t think anyone’s heart was in this.
iAd was always doomed to fail. Apple was unwilling to give advertisers the personal information they “needed”.
I was confused at first by Apple’s iAd announcement to developers. I read it as iAd completely shutting down, but apparently it’s just the “app network”.
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It seemed at odds with Apple’s focus as a product company, not to mention hypocritical for a company with ad-blocking APIs. Apple and third-party developers should be united in encouraging users to pay for apps; iAd is a distraction from that.
Apple has contacted users to inform them that the free, ad-supported version of iTunes Radio will be eliminated at the end of the month.
Apple has quietly continued to offer ad-supported iTunes Radio stations in the United States and Australia even after the launch of Apple Music, but with the end of its current iAd platform on the horizon, the feature will be limited to those who pay for Apple Music going forward.
Also, one of the main reasons I subscribed to iTunes Match was so I could listen to iTunes Radio ad-free. I don’t consider that a “perk,” but rather an integral part of the Match service.
So just like that, they are removing a feature that iTunes Match subscribers paid for? Nice going, Apple. The chances of me joining Apple Music just went from slim to zero, and perhaps I’ll cancel iTunes Match too.
Apple’s advertising page currently mentions ads in News, “offers” in Wallet, ads in apps, and ads in Apple Music. So, as far as regular ads, it sounds like this leaves only News.
Update (2016-01-20): At first I thought that “iAd App Network” meant Apple’s ads that are displayed in apps. Now I think it only refers to adds for apps. In other words, app developers will still be able to earn revenue from displaying iAds for various other products in their apps. They just won’t earn revenue from advertising other apps, and Apple won’t run ads promoting their app.
The announcement is confusingly worded, but it does not mean that all of iAd is being discontinued. Developers will still be able to show iAd banners in their application; it’s just that the inventory for App Store apps to advertise will no longer exist. This is a blessing and a curse — it won’t help iAd improve its fill-rates but the CPM on these type of ads was significantly lower as the buy-in from the publisher side was also lower.
Apple is only talking about the iAd App Network. These are the iAds you see advertising apps on the app store.
If so, that post is a masterclass in sowing fear and doubt about your own product, and frightening your business partners unnecessarily.
Update (2016-01-22): David Smith makes almost half of his living from iAd but doesn’t understand which parts of it Apple is shutting down.
Update (2016-03-07): Benjamin Mayo (via Becky Hansmeyer):
We have followed up with Apple numerous times since this original post for more clarification and have finally received a firm answer to explain the situation. The whole of the iAd network is going away — developers will not be able to include any ad banners in their apps after June 30. Developers will have to find a new ad company to continue monetizing their apps using ads, as iAd will no longer function.
