Heralded as a revolution in the way companies advertised their products in-app, iAds has instead ended up being a bit of a dud, with Apple struggling to fill advertising spaces even as developers clamor to embrace the service.
To rectify the situation, Apple’s just rolled out an uncharacteristic drop in asking price: they’ve cut the minimum required spending for iAds from a heady $1 million to a more reasonable $500,000.
The move is meant to attract smaller business to iAds who couldn’t otherwise afford it. It should be a good thing, although once Apple starts allowing business to spend smaller, I wonder if iAd’s perfect 100% ad renewal rate will hold up.
What does this mean to you as an end user? Not a thing, except maybe you’ll be seeing an influx of new iAds to replace the tired old ones you’ve already seen to death.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
5 responses to “Apple Cuts Minimum iAd Buy In Half To Raise Fill Rates”
In one sentence, this writer inserts his “wonder” of an OPINION while adroitly glossing over a FACT (100% ad renewal rate).
Even if the iAd slots aren’t yet full, how in the world can such a renewal rate be ignored? Why shouldn’t Apple have gone in “high” with commensurately high expectations? Even though a 50% discount is significant, if $500K proves to be a relative sweet spot, such a yet hefy amount can hardly be construed as “groveling.”
Imagine the uproar if Apple had gone in low and then tried to later up the ante!
And why should we care whether this guy has a “charming girlfriend”?
it’s his bio…?
Interesting and useful post