Apple plans to show ads in the App Store’s Today tab and on individual app pages. The two new ad placements will expand upon the ads you can already see in the App Store’s search tab and search results.
Ads in the Today tab will appear in the larger card format used by other content in that tab, but you’ll see a small blue box with the word “Ad” inside it under the app’s name. Ads in individual app pages will appear under the “You Might Also Like” header that suggests apps related to the one you’re looking at. Like in App Store search, ads on app pages will be highlighted in blue to distinguish them from other recommendations. Ad buyers won’t be able to target specific applications for these ads, but the ads will be relevant to the app they’re shown under.
“Apple Search Ads provides opportunities for developers of all sizes to grow their business,” Apple said. “Like our other advertising offerings, these new ad placements are built upon the same foundation—they will only contain content from apps’ approved product pages and adhere to the same rigorous privacy standards.” The company plans to start testing the new ads soon. Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Apple first started showing ads in App Store search results in 2016 and began asking users for their permission to enable Personalized Ads in September. The new ad spots indicate that Apple is exploring new ways to make money from the App Store and that ads could become a more critical pillar for the company as it continues to grow its services business. Unfortunately for us, though, the new ads mean we’ll have to sift through more annoying blue boxes.
An app marketplace or store is a digital allocation platform for computer software applications, often in a mobile context. Apps supply a specific set of functions that, by definition, do not include the computer’s running. So, for example, complex software designed on a personal computer may have a related app designed for use on a mobile device. Today apps are typically designed to run on a typical operating system—such as the current Windows, iOS, macOS, or Android—but in the past mobile carriers had their portals for apps and related media content.
An app store is any digital storefront planned to allow electronic search and review of software titles or other media proposed for sale. Critically, the application storefront delivers a secure, uniform experience that automates the electronic decryption, purchase, and installation of software applications or various digital media.
App stores typically organize the apps they suggest based on: the function(s) delivered by the app (including multimedia, games, or productivity), the device for which the app was created, and the operating system on which the app will operate.
App stores commonly take the form of an online store, where users can scan through these different app classes, view information about each app, and obtain the app. The selected app is offered an automatic download, after which the app installs. Some app stores may also contain a system to automatically remove an installed program from devices under specific conditions, to protect the user against malicious software.
App stores typically supply a way for users to give reviews and ratings. Those assessments are helpful for other users, developers, and owners. For example, users can choose the best apps based on ratings; developers get feedback on what features are praised or disliked. Finally, app store owners can witness bad apps and malicious developers by automatically analyzing the reviews with data mining approaches.
Many app stores are curated by their proprietors, mandating that submissions of prospective apps go through an approval procedure. These apps are inspected for compliance with detailed guidelines, including the requirement that a commission is collected on each paid app sale. In addition, some app stores provide feedback to developers: number of installations, problems in the field (crash, latency, etc.).
Researchers have suggested new features for app stores. For instance, the app store can provide a unique diversified version of the app for security. It can also stage monitoring and bug fixing to notice and repair application crashes.
Due to its favor, the term “app store” has frequently been used as a generic trademark to refer to other allocation platforms of a similar nature. Apple asserted trademark declarations over the phrase and filed a trademark registration for “App Store” in 2008. In 2011, Apple sued Amazon.com and GetJar for trademark infringement and false advertising using the term “app store” to direct to their services. Microsoft buffed multiple objections against Apple’s attempt to register the name as a trademark, considering it already a generic term.
In January 2013, a US district court rejected Apple’s trademark assertions against Amazon. The magistrate ruled that Apple had presented no evidence that Amazon had attempted “to mimic Apple’s website or advertising” or communicated that its service “possesses the characteristics and rates that the public has come to anticipate from the Apple APP STORE and Apple products.”