Update October 26 3:31 p.m.: In a statement shared with MacRumors today, Apple said it has suspended gambling ads on App Store app pages, without further details:
We’ve suspended ads related to gambling and a few other categories on App Store product pages.
The original story from October 25 follows.
Apple today rolled out new App Store ad placements on iPhone, allowing developers to advertise their apps in more places, including the main Today tab and in the ” You might also like” at the bottom of individual app listings.
Hours later, several top developers complained about nasty advertisements for gambling apps appearing in their own App Store listings beyond their control, including Marco Armament, Simon Stovring, and others. The issue was also highlighted in a tweet shared by MacStories chief editor Federico Viticci.
Now my app’s product page is showing gambling ads, which I really don’t like. Apple shouldn’t agree either. The App Store has corrupted such a big company so deeply. They earn so much from gambling and manipulative IAPs that they don’t even see the problem anymore. https://t.co/MnNlf7k0kT—Marco Arment (@marcoarment) October 25, 2022
With Apple’s recent changes to App Store ads, your product pages can now display ads for gambling apps. One of my product pages just did 😞 pic.twitter.com/CjbrXpajX0
— Simon B. Støvring (@simonbs) October 25, 2022
“Now my app’s product page is showing gambling ads which is really not good for me,” Arment tweeted. “Apple shouldn’t agree either.”
As Arment noted, Apple offers advertisers the choice to display their ad in different app categories than their own app’s category, allowing ads for gambling ads to appear in listings. unrelated apps like the Overcast podcast app.
The presence of gambling ads in the App Store as a whole has drawn some criticism, with some accusing Apple of being greedy and straying from the policies the company maintained under former CEO Steve Jobs. . Apple earns revenue both from ad placements and from its 15% to 30% reduction in in-app purchases in gambling apps.
I’m really sad that Apple has to start taking Casino Game Ad Money in order to up its shareholder line. When Steve introduced iAds and the whole talk was, “These ads aren’t garbage, you’ll like these ads.” This department should not exist at all, IMHO https://t.co/VHOeryW5Ro — Cabel (@cabel) October 25, 2022
Can you imagine having $48.2 billion in cash and STILL thinking “oh yeah, those House of Fun Casino ads will boost our bottom line, let’s do it” pic.twitter.com/j1k6WT8i2H
— Federico Viticci (@viticci) October 26, 2022
Beyond antagonizing some developers, Apple allowing apps to serve ads in other apps’ listings has already led to the company being accused of anti-competitive behavior. In a tweet last week, a legal expert Florian Muller argued that ads are “another way to increase the effective tax rate on apps, forcing developers to buy ads on their own app pages to prevent others from hijacking them.” clients”.
Apple just sent an email to all developers stating that “today’s tab and product page campaigns start October 25.” It’s another way to increase the effective tax rate on apps, forcing developers to buy ads on their own app pages to prevent others from turning customers away from them. — Florian Mueller (@FOSSpatents) October 21, 2022
In August, BloombergMark Gurman said Apple wants to nearly triple its current ad revenue to at least $10 billion a year in the future. Gurman said keyword-based search results ads will come to the Apple Maps app starting next year.
We reached out to Apple for comment and asked if the company would consider tightening its rules around ads. We’ll update this story if we hear back.
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