Rumor: iAds To Come To iBooks
August 26, 2010
If you listen to the The Wall Street Journal this week, iAds, Apple's advertisement program might be heading to the iBooks app. The reason: consumers are pushing the prices of e-reader books downward, which is killing profits for the publishers:
“The historically staid and technology-averse publishing ecosystem has been ripped apart and transformed,” the WSJ reports. Just as iAds help financially aid developers, the arrival of digital ad placement within iBooks could be a valuable and viable tool to help new and previously unpublished independent authors turn a profit on their hard work."In some respects, this wouldn't be surprising. After all, the introduction of e-magazines hasn't changed the fact that magazines continue to be chocked full of ads. However, ads within e-books causes me the same queasiness I get when going to the movies. After buying movie tickets and overpriced popcorn, I am forced to view commercials before my movie even begins. If I buy an e-book, why do I need to view an ad before turning to the next page? Didn't I just buy the right to view the book when paying for it in iBooks? Apparently not. It will be interesting to see how Apple implements ads into the iBooks app if they do. Plus, I can't wait to see the reactions from consumers. No word on whether Amazon's more popular Kindle app has similar plans however.
