Apple’s News app in iOS 9 will have ads
When the News app was first unveiled in the WWDC 2015 keynote, there was a bit of uncertainty about whether publishers would want their content to be consumed in that format. Since Cupertino did not immediately talk about advertising, we just weren’t sure how many publishers would turn their content over to the Apple News Format, rather than the ways they normally generate revenue on their sites. A recently added support document, however, sheds new light on this subject.
Publishers will be able to earn money from their content using iAd, Apple’s advertising platform. They can choose to sell their own ads, allow iAd to sell advertisements for them, or use a combination of both. Regardless of which option is chosen, the content producers will be able to earn revenue from ad impressions and take advantage of iAd’s robust targeting capabilities to maximize relevance and delivery. The targeting built into iAd is accurate and scalable, and is based on registration data from hundreds of millions of validated Apple users.
If publishers sell their own advertisements, they will keep 100 percent of the revenue generated. On the other hand, if content producers choose to allow iAd sell ads for them, they will retain 70 percent of the revenue. Publishers can also earn revenue from ads sold by iAd that appear in Apple-curated topic feeds, like Fashion or Technology.
It’s great to see that publishers will have the opportunity to monetize their content, as annoying as ads might be. Content producers need revenue to survive, and ensuring those earnings will make the Apple News Format appealing to more publishers to provide their articles for our consumption.
