Apple has admitted that it buys ads from third-party apps
Those Ads are for promoting products via the App store
Apple has stated that it runs ads for third-party apps, saying that this is standard industry practice. According to reports, Apple buys ads through Google for high-value subscriptions in order to pocket app developer revenue. Apple has defended itself, claiming that the charges are inaccurate representations of what the company is doing. It has also been highlighted that the advertising is tagged as coming from the App Store, in contrast to the article, which indicated that the origin of the ads is not mentioned, potentially deceiving the audience.
“Apple is trying to maximize the money they’re making by driving in-app purchases that people buy through the Apple Store,” a source told Forbes. “Apple has figured out that they can make more money off these developers if they push people to the App Store to purchase there versus a web flow.” The report alleged that Apple was buying ads secretly and that the ads do not disclose they are from Apple. It also noted that most observers would not be able to find out if the ads were from Apple as they look like ads from brands and app publishers themselves. The report further noted that these ads have similar tracking links that indicate that one agency is placing all of them.
According to sources, this also affects the companies of developers. The impacted firms include Tinder, Plenty of Fish, and Bumble dating app brands, media company HBO, education and learning publisher Masterclass, and language learning provider Babbel. Apple later revealed that it is running advertisements supporting over 100 third-party apps across networks such as Google, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter. Apple refuted the allegations and noted that it was not secretly running the ads as the original report claimed.
