Brace yourself because these ads are now all over the App Store, noticed 9to5Mac, starting with the Today Home tab, but they can also appear on any individual app page in the You Might Also Like section. The ad allows developers to promote their own apps and Apple its own stuff, as it sees fit under its own privacy rules.
The visible ads will be labeled as such and Apple will not target users under the age of eighteen for personalized ads, and it will not apply granular targeting by using your sensitive data, like the other two ad giants Facebook and Google. That’s all part of Apple’s privacy and transparency policy, as it said in a special statement:
Apple Search Ads gives developers of all sizes the opportunity to grow their business. Like our other ad offerings, these new ad placements are built on the same foundation: they only contain content from apps’ approved App Store product pages and adhere to the same strict privacy standards.
App Store developers are also happy with the ad development, as Ron Schneidermann of the AllTrails app states that “Apple Search Ads has helped us attract new, more engaged customers in a variety of markets. We rely on Apple Search Ads for cost-effective customer acquisition – it’s an essential part of our growth strategy. As they become available, we plan to invest in new placements to reach even more customers in the App Store and continue to drive our business growth.”
As for when the new App Store ads will take place in earnest, Apple just said the ad locations are now in their alpha state and it will begin rolling out the testing phase “soon”, so don’t be surprised if ads show up on your iPhone application store in tabs where none of those pesky little nuggets existed before Apple’s move.
