“Apple Inc.’s iAd mobile-advertising business has cut rates by as much as 70 percent as some marquee clients are using rival services, two people with knowledge of the matter said, signaling the company is struggling to parlay its technology leadership into success in the ad industry,” Adam Satariano reports for Bloomberg.
“When Apple rolled out iAd a year ago, companies such as Citigroup Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. were being charged $1 million or more to run ad campaigns,” Satariano reports. “Today those brands aren’t using iAd, and Apple is offering packages for as little as $300,000, said the people, who asked not to be named because the rates are private.”
Satariano reports, “Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California- based Apple, said the company continues to sign some of the world’s leading brands. ‘In its first year iAd has launched more than 100 campaigns in seven countries,’ she said. Apple also is taking steps to attract more advertising. In addition to offering lower prices, it hired a former ad agency executive, Carrie Frolich, who was the head of digital for WPP Plc’s MEC. And Apple added a new online design feature, called iAd Producer, to help agencies design ads more quickly.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The Bloomberg reporter, Adam Satariano, attempts to paint iAd as some sort of “failure,” however, as anyone can see from the related articles below, it seems to be anything but.
There is no proof that the service is “struggling.” Apple could simply be opening up the service to more advertisers by making it more affordable to reach some of the world’s most-discerning and well-heeled customers: iOS users. That some advertisers find iAd is not a good fit is no surprise, it’s simply par for the course in advertising. Perhaps iOS users just aren’t that interested in what some advertisers were selling. Did you ever think of that, Adam, before you rang up rival ad networks to collect their biased, and therefore meaningless, spin?
Shit reporting, Adam.
Contact Adam Satariano here: asatariano1@bloomberg.net
Related articles:
Apple iPhone, iPad yield 2x the click rate of Android devices; 5x BlackBerry phones – July 6, 2011
Nielsen: Apple’s iAd more than twice as effective as TV advertising – February 3, 2011
$1 million is chump change for Cheetos who no doubt will be pushing iAds to a new generation of AirPlay enabled iPad obsessed couch potatoes with yellow, stained fingers.
Advertising’s pretty much down across the board. I’m not surprised that Apple is dropping rates to attract new business.
They cut prices because clients were leaving and signing on with others. Apple hits most out of the park but not this one. But it’s Apple so they may still be the top dog eventually.
It’s limited to iOS devices only according to the article. Unless the demographics are highly targeted advertisers want as broad a brush as possible. iOS demographics are probably not different enough from other platforms to justify the $£€¥.
Although Mac demographics skew higher than the average, the mainstream popularity of the iPhone & iPad probably do not skew as high. Don’t have any numbers, but know that the bulk of iOS customers have a Windows PC- not a Mac. 54 million Macs vs 200 million iOS devices.
iAds even according to the latest metrics is at least twice more effective than any other advertisement system, so there is no way for it to “struggle”.
Too expensive for what the client gets. Geez MDN, a little honest journalism once in a while. Pass the kool-aid please!