Apple generally doesn’t release flops but it’s clear that its iAd in-app advertising program hasn’t been as successful as it would like and it is reportedly changing its stance to gain traction.
Apple’s iAd was introduced alongside iOS 4.0 and it was supposed to be the next generation of mobile advertising. The hook for iAd was that it was capable of doing anything an app could do including playing video, using the gyroscope and more. It also fit into the design aesthetic of programs in the App Store and some predicted it could up-end the mobile space.
It’s clear that hasn’t happened and Apple doesn’t want to fall further behind Google, which has said its mobile services are already generating $1 billion and the iPhone is a major contributor to that. Some companies complained that iAd had too expensive of a minimum bye in and that Apple wanted to exert too much control over the creative process of the ads and the report says it will be softening its position on both those things.
I still think there’s a future for what iAd is trying to do, as many people live within apps and there’s much more potential in advertising than just text banners. More than anything, the Wall Street Journal says that Apple is still learning that the online and mobile advertising worlds are much different than television ads.
[Via The Wall Street Journal]