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More iAds appearing on iPad
CNET reports that more iAds are starting to appear on the iPad platform. Apple released an iAd for the magical and revolutionary tablet last year featuring the Tron movie, but since then, we haven't seen a lot of traffic in iAd impressions on the platform. That's now changed; a new ad for Unilever features NCAA branding and offers video of basketball stars, daily March Madness schedules and even a trivia game to play. Apple has reportedly promised more iAds to come. It may seem silly to be so excited about an ad, but given the troubles that the iAd program has had lately, it's good to see Apple making some headway in providing its "premium mobile advertising platform." Looks like the recent changes to minimum buy, along with the rising popularity of the iPad and its second version, have seen business pick up a bit. [via MacStories]
Apple iAd minimum buy halved to $500,000
Apple is reportedly lowering the entrance fee for its iAd platform to US$500,000, a 50 percent reduction from its launch price of $1 million. This potential reduction would benefit smaller advertisers who can now afford to get their foot in the door of this mobile advertising platform. Mark Read, CEO of marketing agency WPP Digital, echoes this sentiment when he says, "This new minimum buy is a great step forward and a necessary one, I think. Lowering the minimum buy to $500,000 from $1 million will certainly make the platform more appealing." This rumored reduction may be tied to an earlier report that suggests Apple's iAd service is not performing up to Apple's expectations. The report claims Apple's iAd fill rate has fallen from 18 percent to a paltry 6 percent, primarily because advertisers are not willing to risk a minimum of $1 million on the nascent mobile advertising platform. A drop in the minimum buy rate would attract new advertisers, especially since the ads are reportedly performing well for those companies that have signed onto the platform.
Report: iAds surging against Android
In a new study from Medialets, Apple has grabbed the lead in mobile ad share from Android. There have been concerns that the Apple iOS ad system was faltering, but it seems to be getting a strong footing, at least for now. Most of the Apple gains are on the iPhone and the iPod touch, but the iPad share is starting to move as well. On the Android side, 35 percent of ad traffic comes from 3 phones, the Motorola Droid, the HTC Evo 4G and the Motorola Droid X. The Medialets report speculates that big holiday sales of iOS devices pushed the Apple share to this higher mark. Apple iOS devices had been trailing Android mobile ad share from September through December. How is this data gathered? It comes from the premium apps that have integrated Medialets rich media ad platform for mobile into their iPhone, iPad and Android apps. Medialets, launched in 2008, enables advertising for premium apps including CNN, Fandango, The New York Times, Pandora and The Weather Channel. [via Electronista]
Are Apple's iAds in trouble?
I probably could have told you this one based on the anecdotal data I've heard from developers lately, but "insiders" have told MobileCrunch that Apple's iAd service isn't doing quite as well as Apple had hoped. The fill rate -- which refers to actual ad space that's filled with a paid ad -- has dropped from 18 percent to 6 percent according to the rumors, which means that even though Apple has developers ready to show ads, it's having trouble actually finding advertisers to pay for them. As MobileCrunch notes, even if this is true, there could be a few reasons for this, from a bad economy to just a bad seasonal trend (that could pick back up as soon as a few months from now). But more likely, it seems, is that Apple just hasn't sold iAds well to advertisers. iAds, as Steve Jobs told us when they were first announced, are a premium product -- they are interactive, well-designed, and of course, the cost is premium as well. But advertisers may not be entirely sold on the power of mobile advertising quite yet, so Apple is likely having trouble finding advertisers both willing to take the risk and big enough to afford it. The silver lining on this so far is that despite having trouble selling the ads, everything we've heard so far is that the ads do pay off. Not only do they increase brand engagement, but they reach solid customers in exactly the right ways. Still, if Apple can't get advertisers to sign on the dotted line in the first place, it won't have any of those success stories to talk about.
iAds more effective than TV advertising, Nielsen finds
Nielsen is reporting, according to the results of a new survey, that Apple's iAds for Campbell's soup products were more than twice as effective as television advertising for the same product. Nielsen says that customers who saw ads for Campbell's in Apple's operating system were five times as likely to recall the brand name, and three times as likely to remember what the ad said. The iAd audience said they were likely to purchase the product five times more than the television audience. Now, Nielsen admits that there could simply be demographic differences here -- the average television audience just may not be as engaged in the brand as the average iAd audience. But either way, results like these are good news for Apple's advertising platform, which we've heard anecdotally has been struggling a bit. Not only are developers not seeing the returns they'd like from the platform, but Apple has missed out on a few big deals with advertisers as well. Results like these show that iAds definitely have a reason for their premium pricing, even if it is a matter of just making sure both audiences and advertisers are coming from the right angle. But premium priced products sold to a certain type of customer? Fortunately, Apple knows a little bit about how to do that.
Apple iAds Producer helps you produce iAds for iOS devices
We know how it is, you want to be a hotshot developer, but all that coding sounds like daunting work. Never mind, Apple's got your back with its new iAds producer, which automates all the HTML5 and CSS3 stuff into the background and leaves you to focus on the crucial task of picking out templates and components for your perfect iAd. To be fair to this new dev tool, it does more than merely dumb down the design process. It also includes "sophisticated" JavaScript editing and debugging, a built-in simulator for testing your creation, and a project validator that checks your code for common errors. Hit the source link to give it a try.
Firemint releases free, ad-supported Flight Control to App Store
Firemint confirmed today that it is launching a free, ad-supported version of its popular Flight Control game for the iPhone and iPod touch. The app has received the rubber stamp of approval from Apple and should appear on the App Store in the upcoming days. The free version has the same gameplay as the paid version but limits several salient features. Multiple maps are not available in the free version, but you can play on the original map without any time or score limits. Multiplayer, both local and online, are missing from the free version as well. The free version does support the iOS Game Center leaderboard and includes a limited number of achievements. If you choose not to use Game Center or are running an earlier version of iOS without Game Center, you can still post your achievements to Firemint's leaderboard. In the end, the free version is a nice alternative for those who want to try the game before they hand a dollar over to Apple and Firemint for the full version. It is also a chance for Firemint to compare two revenue models -- paid and ad-supported -- to see which generates the most cash.
First iAd for iPad features Tron Legacy
The first iPad iAd has been released today, and it's for Disney's upcoming film Tron Legacy. The iAd features video from the Tron movie, which leads to an interactive menu. The menu itself is designed to look like a light disc and allows the viewer to navigate to a photo gallery, movie trailer, theater finder, email notifier, story synopsis and a preview of the movie soundtrack. An Apple spokesperson told AdAge that the Tron Legacy iAd will be the only iAd to appear on the iPad this year. "The format, designed to maximize the ad potential of Apple's tablet computer, will be launched widely in early 2011 when other ads start flowing onto the platform," the spokesperson said. "Like its iPhone and iPod touch predecessors, the first iPad iAd is chock-full of the rich graphics, touch navigation and video native to apps." No word yet on which ad-supported apps are featuring the ad yet, but you can check out a demo of the ad in the video after the break. Tron Legacy opens on December 17th and is produced by Disney, which Steve Jobs just happens to serve as the largest shareholder. [via MacStories]
Renault to launch first European iAd for new Twizy EV
When Apple's mobile iAds launch in Europe this week, one of the companies with a campaign will be French automaker Renault. It's fitting that Renault will be promoting its new two-seat electric city car, the Twizy, with its iAd since its alliance partner Nissan was the first to use iAds earlier this year to plug the Leaf EV. Electric vehicles are certainly in the early adopter stage right now, and iPhone and iPad users are generally seen as more willing to try something new. Many of the coming wave of electric vehicles will also be relying on smartphone apps to help drivers find available charging stations and monitor the charging status of their cars. The new iAd will include content to try and counter some of the perceived myths about electric vehicles, including a calculator that allows users to determine how much they can charge their car while doing various tasks like grocery shopping. Check out a video preview of the iAd in the second part of the story.
iAd highlighted in new Apple video
Apple has updated its iAd advertising site with a show-reel showcasing some of the early advertisement adopters. Of course the best of the best have been selected, and all of the campaigns featured look great. We've only seen a few here at TUAW, like the Nissan Leaf ad at pictured at right, but those were memorable. Releasing this video is a good move on Apple's part, especially as iAd begins to launch internationally. It's an opportunity to show off some choice examples and gives a little reward to the program's early adopters. Apple has recently increased iAd's international reach, announcing plans for Europe and Japan. A look at this highlight reel should help get those new advertisers and developers excited.
Apple bringing iAds to Europe in December, nobody rejoices
If there's one benefit to living in the technological backwater that is Europe, it's that "innovations" like iAds take a little longer to filter though -- but filter through they eventually do, as evidenced by Apple's announcement that its mobile advertising platform is hitting the Old World this December. French and British iOS users will get to enjoy being pestered by L'Oreal, Renault, Louis Vuitton, Nespresso, Perrier, and Unilever next month, while their German counterparts will have their lives enriched in January. This follows on the heels of news that iAds is headed to Japan in early 2011 as well, covering the biggest developed markets with glorious promotional material. Advertisers don't seem to be shying away from the platform, either, as Apple boasts it has signed up half of the top 25 US ad buyers (as judged by Ad Age). Full press release follows after the break.
iAds helping all mobile advertising take off?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting on an interesting effect of Apple's iAd platform -- it seems to be helping the competition. Just a few months after being announced, iAds began appearing in the U.S., and a global launch began earlier this month. Meanwhile, Apple and the Denstu Group signed a deal to bring iAds to Japan. All of this activity has garnered a lot of attention for the mobile advertising space in general, and several providers are seeing greater sales. "...ad executives say Apple's entry into the market is giving them a boost," the Journal reports. "That's because iAds has gotten big marketers to pay attention to mobile advertising in the first place." Of course, the only evidence of a correlation is anecdotal. It's quite likely that Apple's high-profile entry into the space has generated interest, but we haven't seen empirical data to support that theory. Still, Apple does bring a bit of cachet and sexy to mobile marketing. The true test will be to see who's still standing in 5 years. [Via AppleInsider]
iAds begin to roll out globally
Hot on the heels of today news that Apple is building a New York City office for the iAd team, MacRumors is reporting that Apple has begun to deploy iAds on a global scale. Previously, iAds were limited to the North America and the United Kingdom, but now iAd impressions are appearing from other countries as well. MacRumors notes that of course this is only a good thing for developers who use iAds, as their ad revenue will grow from increased global impressions.
Report: Apple may have paid over $1M in iAd trademark settlement
This is interesting -- a consultant for Apple on the recent "iAd" trademark settlement accidentally disclosed some information about how much the payout was, and apparently it wasn't cheap. Consor says that it helped Innovate Media (the firm which has used the iAd trademark since 2006) pick up "a 7-figure settlement from Apple Computer [sic] in a trademark infringement case." That's probably over a million dollars, which actually sounds low, considering how solid a grip Innovate Media actually had on the mark. But when Apple comes calling, so does the big Apple wallet. What's interesting about this is that we've seen Apple "ignore" trademarks a few times before, only to pay out with what we'd presume is a large settlement. But we've never actually heard any numbers on this, so Consor's little release shows that Apple has been writing some pretty substantial checks each time the name issue comes around. Then again, with $51 billion in the bank Apple can afford to not be so picky when it comes to the trademarks on names they don't own.
iOS social apps attracting more eyes than top TV shows
In the battle for viewer eyes, Apple appears to be making some huge strides. How huge? Well, ad group Flurry says that socially aware iOS apps now have a larger audience share than some of the top TV shows. Flurry estimated that 19 million iOS device owners are connecting for more than 22 minutes -- the length of an average prime-time TV show, minus ads. That puts iOS viewing on a par with such popular shows as ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" and NBC's Sunday Night Football. Researchers at Flurry say that their study is simply an extrapolation, since only about 50,000 of the total 250,000+ apps in the App Store contain Flurry components. There are other ad platforms used in some wildly popular iOS apps, so the total number of viewers / users could top even the highest-rated TV shows such as American Idol. The point of the Flurry research seems to be that advertisers should take heed of mobile apps and spend more of their advertising budgets in that market, since that is where the eyes are moving. When you consider that the App Store has only been around for a little over two years and iOS apps are already competing with the decades-old entrenched television ad market, it's a sign that some very big changes are in store for the advertising industry.
Found Footage: AXA Equitable presents an innovative ad
AXA Insurance and Financial Services (a company that just hired my son this morning) has come up with a very creative iAd* to introduce an app for their Belgium based auto insurance division. Their advertising agency, Duval Guillaume of Antwerp, has created a story that integrates newspaper advertising with an iPhone. The video explains it quite well, but the gist is that you come upon an engaging picture in print and are asked to place your iPhone on a blank space on the page which brings the story to life, and keeps eyeballs on the iAd for a full minute. At the end of the ad, you are brought to a link to download the free app which doesn't seem to be for the American market. The app will allow you to handle car insurance claims. This is really thinking outside the box and embeds a fast moving story right into the presentation. I think the idea is quite impressive. What's your take? [via 9to5 Mac] *Hats off to semantics. While AXA touts their effort as an "i-Ad," it is obviously not a part of Apple's iAd platform (for example, it requires the user to open a website on their iPhone). We imagine that AXA's enthusiasm and recognition of Apple's love of the letter "I" prompted the misleading label. Our apologies.
Adidas kills $10M iAd deal
Business Insider is reporting that Adidas has dropped its plans for a $10 million iAds account. The reason? Apple's demand for near total control. Citing two unnamed inside sources, Business Insider claims that Apple rejected three consecutive proposals from Adidas. After the third rejection, the company pulled out. Intent on making the best mobile advertising experience possible, Apple oversees nearly every aspect of an advertiser's campaign, and even designs the ads. Adidas isn't the first to complain, but this story highlights the first big money pull out we've come across. In August, the Wall Street Journal reported that other potential advertisers had grown frustrated with Apple's hands-on approach. At that time, only four of the 17 partners revealed at the program's start -- Unilever PLC, J.C. Penny, Disney, and Nissan Co. -- had launched ads. Personally, I've only seen one ad for the Nissan Leaf. We think John Gruber's advice for potential advertisers is best: Get used to it. [Via AppleInsider]
Apple taking mobile ad share from Google, Yahoo, should have 21% by year end
Apple's iAd service is a relative newcomer to the mobile ads industry, which is probably why it's completely falling apart. No, sorry Carol, we're kidding -- Apple's service is doing extremely well, and it's already threatening established mobile advertising services like Google and Yahoo!. IDC claims that Apple will end the year with 21 percent of the market, which means that in less than a year's time, the company will have picked up almost a quarter of a rapidly growing and expanding industry. Google's share is dropping, and that's in addition to the AdMob purchase it made a while back as well. That is a phenomenal start for the iAd platform. And in fact, IDC is convinced that Apple's gigantic entry into the ads market has actually buoyed all ships -- even smaller advertisers like JumpTap and Millenial Media are growing, and even they cite Apple's entry into the industry as a marker for their popularity. Other cellphone and mobile platform creators are looking into their own advertising as well now, when before they would have just depended on a third-party service to run things for them. And yet despite the incredible growth, Steve Jobs is probably disappointed -- he said earlier this year that he wanted Apple to oversee half of all mobile advertising by the time 2011 started. That's unlikely to happen, but still, a quarter of a market that Apple entered less than a year ago is nothing to sniff at.
Yahoo! CEO: iAds 'going to fall apart' for Apple
Known for her salty language and accordian playing, Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz isn't your typical Internet executive. Along with other comments in a recent Reuters interview, Bartz stated that she felt Apple's iAd service was "going to fall apart for them," since "Apple wants total control over those ads." Apple, of course, is known for having total control over a number of things: the design of its products, content in the App Store, development of apps, ad infinitum. AAPL (at 10:46 AM EDT on September 16, 2010): 271.81 YHOO.O (at 10:46 AM EDT on September 16, 2010): 14.04 Need we say more? [via Business Insider]
iAd economics may not pay off for app sales
Apple is quick to advertise their new iAd platform for iOS devices as a way for App Store developers to get more exposure for their apps. In theory, it's a great way to set your app apart in a market saturated with more than 250,000 apps. In practice, the numbers tell a different story. David Smith, the founder and owner Cross Forward Consulting reported that the results of a recent ad campaign that they ran for their most popular app, Audiobooks Premium, were underwhelming and economically unsustainable. Cross Forward Consulting spent a total of $1251.75 ($0.25 cost per click) on iAds over the course of six days that displayed 2,052,929 ads, generated 5,007 clicks (a clickthrough rate of 0.24%) and a grand total of 84 in-ad sales. The cost per acquisition comes out to a staggering nearly $15; in other words, for a $0.99 app they paid around $14 for every sale.
