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Yet another Twitter thread without any supporting evidence for the numbers. The claim here is that Apple "surpassed" $3.5 billion in annual revenue from the ad

by malshe 4y ago

Yet another Twitter thread without any supporting evidence for the numbers. The claim here is that Apple "surpassed" $3.5 billion in annual revenue from the ad network. This is the headline so obviously I would like to know how the author got this number. However, all we get is irrelevant information. Below m3at has linked to the original article. It says Apple's ad revenue in 2019 was $500 million. Source? It links to an article on another website, which linked to a 2018 AppleInsider article (https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/10/22/apple-looking-at-2-billion-from-search-ad-business-alone-by-2020 https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/10/22/apple-looking-at-...). That article states: "An analyst is predicting that Apple's Search Ad business will generate $500 million in fiscal year 2018 alone" Somehow this estimate from 2018 is now suddenly the actual ad revenue for Apple in 2019. Next, I checked where the $3.5 billion number comes from. The closest I could get to this number is from this Bloomberg article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-08-14/apple-aapl-set-to-expand-advertising-bringing-ads-to-maps-tv-and-books-apps-l6tdqqmg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-08-14/apple-... It claims: "It’s [Apple's ads group] generating about $4 billion in revenue annually" Again, there is no source for this information. So we are discussing a Twitter thread that's designed to generate outrage. The irony is that it did not get much traction on Twitter but found its audience at HN!

mrweasel 4y ago
Nice research. Exactly, without a source I seriously question if $3.5B is correct. $500M maybe, that not a much money as it once where. Given the places where ads are even a thing, $3.5B seems excessive.
- malshe 4y ago
  > Given the places where ads are even a thing, $3.5B seems excessive. I agree. I see the ads primarily in the News app and it is almost always the same 2-3 ads. Of course, I am not going to extrapolate that to all the Apple News readers. That's why I was curious to learn how the OP on Twitter found these numbers. In their 10-Qs and 10-Ks, Apple has been consolidating the revenue streams and expenses under larger items (e.g., advertising spending is now not disclosed separately but only as a part of SG&A expenses, iPhone sales by model are no longer disclosed). As such, finding out their ad business is not easy by any means.
nr2x 4y ago
Totally agree - these takes are fucking stupid. Apple is basically just enforcing GDPR and other laws on iOS. Most of the shit these privacy trolls talk about “mean old Apple” blocking revenue are already full-on illegal in many places
kornhole 4y ago
Almost any corporation can look like a saint by comparing themself to Facebook. Apple and Microsoft are playing the long game. They both collect a ton of data about everybody who uses their products and properties. They are definitely expanding their ad business behind the scenes. It is difficult to get exact advertising numbers since they obscure revenue by lumping it into 'services' like many data companies do. Direct sale of data to third parties is also classed as services.

by malshe 4y ago

mrweasel 4y ago

Nice research. Exactly, without a source I seriously question if $3.5B is correct. $500M maybe, that not a much money as it once where. Given the places where ads are even a thing, $3.5B seems excessive.

malshe 4y ago
> Given the places where ads are even a thing, $3.5B seems excessive. I agree. I see the ads primarily in the News app and it is almost always the same 2-3 ads. Of course, I am not going to extrapolate that to all the Apple News readers. That's why I was curious to learn how the OP on Twitter found these numbers. In their 10-Qs and 10-Ks, Apple has been consolidating the revenue streams and expenses under larger items (e.g., advertising spending is now not disclosed separately but only as a part of SG&A expenses, iPhone sales by model are no longer disclosed). As such, finding out their ad business is not easy by any means.

nr2x 4y ago

Totally agree - these takes are fucking stupid. Apple is basically just enforcing GDPR and other laws on iOS. Most of the shit these privacy trolls talk about “mean old Apple” blocking revenue are already full-on illegal in many places

kornhole 4y ago

Almost any corporation can look like a saint by comparing themself to Facebook. Apple and Microsoft are playing the long game. They both collect a ton of data about everybody who uses their products and properties. They are definitely expanding their ad business behind the scenes. It is difficult to get exact advertising numbers since they obscure revenue by lumping it into 'services' like many data companies do. Direct sale of data to third parties is also classed as services.