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Wow, "iAd" - Apple's new mobile advertising offering - is Apple's first foray into advertising, isn't it? Being able to keep the user in the app while showing

Wow, "iAd" - Apple's new mobile advertising offering - is Apple's first foray into advertising, isn't it? Being able to keep the user in the app while showing them high-quality ads is a huge advantage. And most likely the source of the recent, supposed kerfuffles between Apple and Google executives.

tvon 17y ago
He mentions a 60/40 split on ads, can anyone speak to how this compares to other services? (edit, the ads are basically mini-apps, apparently in HTML5)
- aditya 17y ago
  Google, the 800 lb gorilla in this space, keeps the split completely secret probably cuz it's not a percentage but a value that changes over time. Admob, the iPhone advertising platform that Google bought had the same split as iAd, 60/40 for CPC and 50/50 for CPM on banners. There are others that pay higher, more here: http://mobiforge.com/running/story/mobile-advertising-how-monetize-your-mobile-site http://mobiforge.com/running/story/mobile-advertising-how-mo...
DannoHung 17y ago
These do look ridiculously sticky. Now if they can figure out how to target this stuff AND deliver high quality... damn.
gr366 17y ago
Given that Apple knows a lot about people's buying history and demographics from the iTunes store (music, apps, etc.), I expect they're going to be able to target these ads pretty effectively. I predict you'll see Apple being pretty selective about which advertisers get into the iAds program — they want high quality brands that will be of real interest to users.
- jackowayed 17y ago
  From engadget's live blog: >Q: Will there be an ad approval process? A: (Jobs... super long pause) Um... well there's going to be some process... but these people are paying to run ads. So, I'm not sure it'll be anything other than a light touch. So that implies that they won't be too selective about the advertisers, though they might just charge enough to ensure that most advertisers are high quality.
adamhowell 17y ago
Great question by Gruber: "There's got to be a developer kit for making these HTML5 iAds, right?" (http://twitter.com/gruber/statuses/11835821330 http://twitter.com/gruber/statuses/11835821330) Even before this I started thinking that an online app that made HTML5 banner creation cheap & easy would be huge. Now, jeez, seems like a no-brainer.
- wallflower 17y ago
  You've got a couple months before OS4.0 goes live. Hope you go for it! Quick idea: quick-start ad templates that can be created and shared and sold. But not outright community sourcing, invite required. Threadless mashed with iStockPhoto. Also, thumbs up/thumbs down to allow consumer vote on the iAd
  - adamhowell 17y ago
    +1 on templates. Plus: pay extra for hosting, stats, A/B testing, etc. We brainstormed this idea a couple months ago but put it on the backburner because of still poor HTML5 support across browsers, etc. Fall is a ridiculous deadline... but, admittedly, also an inspiring one ;)
    - bkudria 17y ago
      Actually, Apple hosts the ads. I guess that might limit your ability to do A/B testing, too. It all depends on how Apple structures the ad submission process. From Steve's pause before responding to the "will ads need to be approved?" question, I am going to guess they haven't entirely fleshed it all out, yet.
- xsmasher 17y ago
  This is a problem for HTML5 content in general, isn't it? There's nothing on par with the Flash editor for creating HTML5. Adobe is the company I'd expect to create a visual HTML5 editor, but they're not going to give up the Flash war.
  - 17y ago
jsz0 17y ago
It'll be interesting to see if they offer iAd outside of the Apple platforms. These little HTML5 apps they demoed look mobile specific (location, shake, etc) but you could do something very similar for desktop browsers.
MikeCapone 17y ago
It kinds of put the Steve Jobs quote about Google going into multi-touch phones but Apple "not going into search" in perspective. They're now competing in Google's main cash cow market.
- rbanffy 17y ago
  Mobile ads are a tiny fraction of Google's business.
  - blazamos 17y ago
    But a rapidly growing fraction of Google's business.
    - rbanffy 17y ago
      It's not that easy to grow 1000% when you start little... Mobile advertising is growing, but that doesn't make it a big part.
  - illumin8 17y ago
    Mobile ads are going to be near 100% of future online advertising business. If you think most computer users want to be tied down to a desk all day, you're kidding yourself. The future of small, handheld computing devices is coming.
    - pg 17y ago
      What matters is not whether people want to be tied to a desk but whether they are.
    - alex1 17y ago
      100%? I doubt it... What about advertising in the social space?
    - rbanffy 17y ago
      Is iAd going to compete with AdSense presented on notebooks? I don't think so. It's not whether or not you are tethered to a desk, but what OS you run and what your relationship to your computer is. I have been using notebooks for the past 5 years and I would not call me mobile in any but the most literal sense.
jsm386 17y ago
iAd - or Apps as ads are great for national brands, but not for everyone else. Google owns online advertising b/c it is point, click, type, done (not done for optimizing, etc, but for building and deploying). Perhaps Apple is aiming to be a boutique ad net like the Deck or Federated. Also - The FTC seems poised to block the Google/AdMob deal (http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=0&pz=1&um=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=google+admob+ftc&oq=google+admob http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=0&pz=1&um=1&#3...). Conjecture on conjecture, but if this happens, it would indicate a much more aggressive regulatory environment (makes sense given changing administration), so Apple might face issues of its own. As they said during their presentation, they control ~60% of the mobile browser market....
- tptacek 17y ago
  They control less than 15% of the smart phone market. They are in no danger at all of antitrust enforcement.
  - jsm386 17y ago
    True - but the statistic I am talking about is Apple's slide today http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/04/iphone-os-4-0096-rm-eng.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/04/iphone... 10:11AM "iPhone has a 64% mobile browser use share... everything else added together is half the iPhone."
    - tptacek 17y ago
      Those are usage stats, not market stats. They don't mean anything.
      - pchristensen 17y ago
        Usage is the relevant metric when you're talking about advertising.
        tptacek 17y ago

tvon 17y ago

He mentions a 60/40 split on ads, can anyone speak to how this compares to other services? (edit, the ads are basically mini-apps, apparently in HTML5)

aditya 17y ago
Google, the 800 lb gorilla in this space, keeps the split completely secret probably cuz it's not a percentage but a value that changes over time. Admob, the iPhone advertising platform that Google bought had the same split as iAd, 60/40 for CPC and 50/50 for CPM on banners. There are others that pay higher, more here: http://mobiforge.com/running/story/mobile-advertising-how-monetize-your-mobile-site http://mobiforge.com/running/story/mobile-advertising-how-mo...

DannoHung 17y ago

These do look ridiculously sticky. Now if they can figure out how to target this stuff AND deliver high quality... damn.

gr366 17y ago

Given that Apple knows a lot about people's buying history and demographics from the iTunes store (music, apps, etc.), I expect they're going to be able to target these ads pretty effectively. I predict you'll see Apple being pretty selective about which advertisers get into the iAds program — they want high quality brands that will be of real interest to users.

jackowayed 17y ago
From engadget's live blog: >Q: Will there be an ad approval process? A: (Jobs... super long pause) Um... well there's going to be some process... but these people are paying to run ads. So, I'm not sure it'll be anything other than a light touch. So that implies that they won't be too selective about the advertisers, though they might just charge enough to ensure that most advertisers are high quality.

adamhowell 17y ago

Great question by Gruber: "There's got to be a developer kit for making these HTML5 iAds, right?" (http://twitter.com/gruber/statuses/11835821330 http://twitter.com/gruber/statuses/11835821330) Even before this I started thinking that an online app that made HTML5 banner creation cheap & easy would be huge. Now, jeez, seems like a no-brainer.

wallflower 17y ago
You've got a couple months before OS4.0 goes live. Hope you go for it! Quick idea: quick-start ad templates that can be created and shared and sold. But not outright community sourcing, invite required. Threadless mashed with iStockPhoto. Also, thumbs up/thumbs down to allow consumer vote on the iAd
- adamhowell 17y ago
  +1 on templates. Plus: pay extra for hosting, stats, A/B testing, etc. We brainstormed this idea a couple months ago but put it on the backburner because of still poor HTML5 support across browsers, etc. Fall is a ridiculous deadline... but, admittedly, also an inspiring one ;)
  - bkudria 17y ago
    Actually, Apple hosts the ads. I guess that might limit your ability to do A/B testing, too. It all depends on how Apple structures the ad submission process. From Steve's pause before responding to the "will ads need to be approved?" question, I am going to guess they haven't entirely fleshed it all out, yet.
xsmasher 17y ago
This is a problem for HTML5 content in general, isn't it? There's nothing on par with the Flash editor for creating HTML5. Adobe is the company I'd expect to create a visual HTML5 editor, but they're not going to give up the Flash war.
- 17y ago

jsz0 17y ago

It'll be interesting to see if they offer iAd outside of the Apple platforms. These little HTML5 apps they demoed look mobile specific (location, shake, etc) but you could do something very similar for desktop browsers.

MikeCapone 17y ago

It kinds of put the Steve Jobs quote about Google going into multi-touch phones but Apple "not going into search" in perspective. They're now competing in Google's main cash cow market.

rbanffy 17y ago
Mobile ads are a tiny fraction of Google's business.
- blazamos 17y ago
  But a rapidly growing fraction of Google's business.
  - rbanffy 17y ago
    It's not that easy to grow 1000% when you start little... Mobile advertising is growing, but that doesn't make it a big part.
- illumin8 17y ago
  Mobile ads are going to be near 100% of future online advertising business. If you think most computer users want to be tied down to a desk all day, you're kidding yourself. The future of small, handheld computing devices is coming.
  - pg 17y ago
    What matters is not whether people want to be tied to a desk but whether they are.
  - alex1 17y ago
    100%? I doubt it... What about advertising in the social space?
  - rbanffy 17y ago
    Is iAd going to compete with AdSense presented on notebooks? I don't think so. It's not whether or not you are tethered to a desk, but what OS you run and what your relationship to your computer is. I have been using notebooks for the past 5 years and I would not call me mobile in any but the most literal sense.

jsm386 17y ago

iAd - or Apps as ads are great for national brands, but not for everyone else. Google owns online advertising b/c it is point, click, type, done (not done for optimizing, etc, but for building and deploying). Perhaps Apple is aiming to be a boutique ad net like the Deck or Federated. Also - The FTC seems poised to block the Google/AdMob deal (http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=0&pz=1&um=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=google+admob+ftc&oq=google+admob http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=0&pz=1&um=1&#3...). Conjecture on conjecture, but if this happens, it would indicate a much more aggressive regulatory environment (makes sense given changing administration), so Apple might face issues of its own. As they said during their presentation, they control ~60% of the mobile browser market....

tptacek 17y ago
They control less than 15% of the smart phone market. They are in no danger at all of antitrust enforcement.
- jsm386 17y ago
  True - but the statistic I am talking about is Apple's slide today http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/04/iphone-os-4-0096-rm-eng.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/04/iphone... 10:11AM "iPhone has a 64% mobile browser use share... everything else added together is half the iPhone."
  - tptacek 17y ago
    Those are usage stats, not market stats. They don't mean anything.
    - pchristensen 17y ago
      Usage is the relevant metric when you're talking about advertising.
      - tptacek 17y ago