Apple’s iAd advertising platform has never exactly set the world on fire, and the company seems to be finally ready to admit they need to make some changes. BuzzFeed reports an inside source at the Cupertino firm has told them the company will end its direct involvement with the advertising platform and turn it over to the publishers.
BuzzFeed’s John Paczkowski writes:
While iAd itself isn’t going anywhere, Apple’s direct involvement in the selling and creation of iAd units is ending. “It’s just not something we’re good at,” one source told BuzzFeed News. And so Apple is leaving the creation, selling, and management of iAds to the folks who do it best: the publishers.
Publishers will be able to directly create and sell advertising content, and will keep 100% of the revenue that they generate. (Apple currently wets their beak to the tune of 30% of revenue.)
Advertising industry sources familiar with Apple’s new plan for iAds seem intrigued by it. “I think this is going to be great for publishers,” said one. “It gives them direct dialogue with their customers as opposed to forcing them to go through an Apple middleman. Access will be more plentiful and easier to manage — theoretically.”
Apple took the first faltering steps toward iAd automation back in September when it updated iAd Workbench, adding tools to allow publishers to sell ads themselves in Apple news. While Apple news publishers can sell their own ads or have iAd take care of it for them, developers have been forced to rely entirely on iAd to do it for them. The Apple News model will be expanded to other platforms.
