Apple is doing it again. Earlier this month, Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, announced that his company is currently developing a new way for advertisers to reach Apple users through an in-app platform called “iAd.” As many people know, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users represent a large segment of the market, so the iAd platform can offer companies a new way to effectively reach a great number of these iFanatics. Today’s businesses are constantly scrambling to keep up with mobile technology in order to reach a large market of these mobile app users, so this new option may be the answer advertisers have been waiting for.
Disappointed with today’s forms of mobile marketing, Jobs said that the development of iAd is an attempt to “change the quality of advertising on mobile devices.” The iAd banners will work like iPhone apps, and companies will be allowed to create more engaging and interactive ads using HTML5 technology. The in-app banners can launch maps, games and videos without taking the user to a separate place. In other words, users will not have to close one program in order to launch the iPhone app’s iAd advertisement. The new platform will be built into the new iPhone operating system, OS 4, which should be released this summer, and it is projected to be available on the iTouch and iPad by next Fall. Apple is hoping that this will help make mobile ads more engaging to consumers.
According to Apple’s statistics, the average user spends 30 minutes a day using iTouch and iPhone apps, so there is a lot of potential with this new form of advertising for mobile devices. Unfortunately, Apple has not released any information on how ads will be sold, tracked or measured. If this new platform is successful, existing mobile advertising providers and networks, such as AdMob and Millenial Media, will probably find a way to monetize their products more effectively using Apple’s platform in order to keep their companies afloat.
Although there are plenty of questions still left unanswered, it sounds like the launch of the iAd can revolutionize advertising for mobile devices. I think I speak for all of us when I say that I can’t wait to see these iAds in action.
Written by Jacquelynn M.