“Coming soon to iTunes: ads. Apple — a brand that prides itself on the purity of the user experience — will soon put up billboards on its popular iTunes service, according to content partners who have been briefed on the plan. The introduction of visual ads could be the first step to allowing ads in other content areas or on iPods,” Abbey Klaassen reports for Advertising Age. “Apple’s current plans call for the ads to appear only in the lower-left corner of the iTunes library while users listen to podcasts from their computers rather than from portable devices. But it’s a big step for the service, which has so far limited ad intrusions to audio spots embedded in some of the podcasts offered via iTunes. ESPN Radio, which supplies some of iTunes’ most popular ad-supported sports podcasts, is working with the service on the new advertising offering.”
“Apple executives wouldn’t comment. But CEO Steve Jobs has supported the idea of ad-supported podcasts, so adding a visual component to the existing audio ads isn’t much of a stretch. What’s more compelling is what it might mean for other iTunes content, and specifically whether Apple might allow advertising in its premium content, for which it charges users,” Klaassen reports.
Full article here.
Advertisements:
• Get the new iMac with Intel Core Duo for as low as $31 A MONTH with Free shipping!
• Get the MacBook Pro with Intel Core Duo for as low as $47 A MONTH with Free Shipping!
• Apple’s new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping.
• Apple’s brand new iPod Hi-Fi speaker system. Home stereo. Reinvented. Available now for $349 with free shipping.
• iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
Beginning of the end.
Surely this is just the same as adding artwork to a podcast at a specific point, like a chapter. Some podcasts do this already, I know that when Digg mention their sponsors they show the corresponding logo. Not sure if this is only on the video version but I can’t see it being any harder to do on an audio version.
rather “end to the begining”… as in a new begining and an end to the old. I think it’s a smart move… it’s not regular advertising… as in “pop-ups”… it’s just a natural extension to the emerging “pod-casting” in iTunes.
Move along…
rather; emerging market of “podcasting” I read there will be paid-for “podcasting” so it just seems natural that they would advertise within iTunes
Shot across Google’s bow? Is Apple even getting a cut from the ad revenues?
This really stinks!
But if it’s going to help them keep the business model, no problem, I can live with it.
end of the beginning
It’s ads from the PODCAST!
If you want the pocast maker to lose money, complain to them, not Apple. Or pick a different podcast without ads.
Or should Apple ban podcasts that have ads? Heck, I’d rather have a visual ad than an audio ad any day, and some podcasts have had audio ads for a long time.
Oh, but it’s so much more fun to blame Apple
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
look at you fools getting your knickers in a twist!!!
so what?!
people making podcasts will now be able to support the making of those podcasts with adverts in the ‘album art’ corner when they are being played!
big deal! it was inevitable!
mdn word: probably – as in, probably a slow news day…
All you ad complainers forget that it is ad revenue that enables you to enjoy these resources for free. People gotta’ eat folks and cannot devote time and resources forever without getting something in return. We have a symbiotic relationship where both advertisers and readers benefit from the system. Kill the ads, kill the revenue, kill the site. It works in that order, so be careful what you wish for. Remember that iTMS is just a conduit for these Free podcasts. The infrastructure and bandwidth to deliver this content costs money. If some advertisers are willing to pick up the tab so I don’t have to, I for one see that as a good bargain.
Who knows, maybe this profit will spawn a whole new higher quality of podcasts, which are still essentially free.
I’m sure Apple will implement this in a way that doesn’t interfere much with the currently good UI.
practically hear the drolling by the advertisers.
Ads on podcasts from commercial sources are one thing. Small billboard ads in iTunes for said podcast is OK. But these bastards are already dreaming of putting fucking commercials in the TV shows.
“We are looking at new technology that will provide a much richer advertising experience and hope to roll that out very soon.”
Is “richer advertising experience” a euphemism for “longer, louder, and more intrustive”?
Article is complete BS. This functionality has been present in iTunes since the day podcasting support was added. If a podcast chooses to use it for ads, Apple does not care.
Prolly still won’t promote Macs in there, you know? That one seems to be soooooo off limits. Drives me nuts. :sigh:
of the network/label hegemony as we know it, ron? Because if you meant the iTunes experience. . .
wonder if they’ll let us collapse the window containing the ad, or of course just the whole app? I’m not bothered by this, kind of a no brainer.
Regarding putting ads, audible or visual or both, into premium content:
You put ads into premium content I no pay for premium content. But then maybe that’s what they have in mind, no more paying for prem. content, they’ll make their money from ads. If that’s the plan then I think its kind of sad, but I’ll still use the service, I just won’t pay-per-view for content that’s got ads in it.
I’ll tell you what’s been happening in Cupertino lately.
You see the TV show people didn’t flock to iTMS and the $1.99 downloads per show and do you know why?
Advertising makes more money.
You see there is this big lie in advertising, newspapers, magazines, TV networks, websites and radio stations all do it.
They misrepresent/lie about the actual viewer/listener/readership. There isn’t a true way to accuraly gauge how many eyeballs has really seen your ad.
Companies are in competition with each other and thus willing to spend big bucks on advertising which they try to pass on in higher prices for products we want/need.
Look at Napster 2 that was spending more money in advertising to get one customer than they were getting out of them in subscription services!
This “experiment” Steve jobs was mentioning was exactly this, will people buy TV shows to avoid the ads?
The answer was no, except for a few very popular shows like Lost. So now advertising is going to sneak it’s way onto iTMS.
I remember Real Player used to have ads as well…
In conclusion, since people don’t want to spend their hard earned money. TV shows on iTMS may become free, like one is already, suported by advertising, so to increase viewership.
So much for the experiment.
wannabe is correct. There has always existed the ability to display static images from an audio podcast. At intervals within the podcast, a link could be specified to display a graphic, which persists until the next graphic is specified, or the end of the podcast.
The podcasts are free genuises. I am in favor of the ads as long as the ads aren’t Chevrolet, NBC, etc. Let the little man have his show and advertise it, too.
I don’t have a problem with ads in created Podcasts. After all, Podcasts are the radio of the future. Why not start the money making model now? Who needs a radio broadcast company? Create your own Podcast shows supported by ads like radio stations. You control content. You control the ads.
I do have a problem with ads appearing inside iTunes program, pop-ups, or ads in downloaded TV shows like Lost. Keep those free from ads or else I won’t buy.
My desktop belongs to me. Ads anywhere on my desktop is where I draw the line. If it cannot be turned off I will not be updating my software to include this ‘feature’. I can get along fine WITHOUT iTunes if it comes to this.
Madison Avenue has not figured out that we have been shilled by advertising to the point of anger. Naming rights for publicly owned stadiums. Floating Java sh*it on the internet. Magazines with 60 pages of ads at the front of the magazines. Magazines with pages numbers intentionally buried to force you to wade through ads to see the content you paid for. Electronically placed ads on TV sports, those damned ‘super’ tags and promos that crawl on the screen during shows and the ever increasing ad content on TV have overpopulated until they are tuned out by everybody.
Intrusive ads do not make me want to buy anything– they make me want to avoid the offender like the plague. The GD greed that demands ever increasing revenue throughout our economy pisses me off. If media would cut the ads by half they would easily have twice the impact. They are nothing more than annoying background noise.
Enough already.
I subscribe to 126 podcasts. If the ads are unobtrusive I don’t mind them. When they start interfering with the content repeatedly such as with Inside Mac or Slashdot Review I get my information elsewhere. Visual ads will be the same thing, unobtrusive will be tolerated, obtrusive will be cause not to subscribe.