That’s a thing with advertising in manufacturer’s own apps. You can find them quite frequently with providers such as Xiaomi and Huawei, while Apple places advertising in a very targeted and manageable manner. But that could change.
The iPhones belong to the premium segment of the currently available smartphones. Buyers often pay significantly more than 1000 euros for a new model. So far, Apple has comparatively spared the owners of the devices from advertising. Only a few native apps, such as “Aktien” or “News”, contain one or two thematically appropriate ads and suggestions for content from the Apple Store. But Apple apparently has plans to increase its advertising-generated revenue – and that should also bring changes for iPhone users.
This is how the advertising on the iPhone could look like
Mark Gurman addresses in his current Bloomberg newsletter on the topic. The reason is a statement by the Vice President responsible for advertising at Apple, Todd Teresi. According to him, Apple currently generates around 4 billion US dollars in sales a year with its advertising business. However, he would like to increase the total to a two-digit number. A high goal that can probably only be achieved with more advertising on the iPhone, iPad and Co.
Gurman already has a clear idea of what the whole thing could look like. He believes that Apple will not only expand the ads to apps like Maps, but may also include them on the Home pages of Books and Podcasts on the iPhone. According to Gurman, Apple TV+ could also generate more advertising than before on several levels.
Apple has even analyzed purchased and prioritized ads in the search within its Maps app. They should look similar to those embedded in the App Store. For example, a restaurant might pay money to appear at the top of local listings when searching for “sushi.” In turn, in apps like Books and Podcasts, publishers could pay to have their work appear higher in the results — or in ads that appear in the apps, Gurman said.
Also read: Why do you get personalized advertising on websites?
Apparently no third-party advertising planned
In the end, the plans mean that Apple could advertise more of its own content on the iPhone in the future. However, what is not supposed to exist – at least according to Gurman’s testimony – is third-party advertising. Ads for shoes, fast food, the latest fashion items or beauty products will probably not appear on the iPhone. Apple had previously failed with such an advertising concept.
But Apple’s new possible advertising strategy has not yet been officially confirmed. In the past, Steve Jobs had spoken out vehemently against advertising in Apple services. Because advertising always means collecting data. Apple introduced a function called App Tracking Transparency (ATT) last year with the update to iOS 14.5 so that users have more insight and a say in which providers are tapping usage data. If advertisers want to track user activities in apps and on websites, they must first explicitly ask for permission.
However, personalized advertising can also be deactivated in the menu under “Privacy and security”. But even then, the iOS system still tracks data such as the user’s provider and device type; the records then end up with Apple. With regard to the new advertising strategy, it remains questionable what happens to this data, which is quite valuable for Apple.