"There was once a time where first-party apps and experiences on Apple devices were exempt from advertisements. Other app marketplaces might happily show you ads, but not the App Store. Most news sites place ads in between every other paragraph, but Apple News was an ad-free experience. Say what you wanted about Apple and its products, but you certainly dealt with far fewer ads than on other platforms. Unfortunately, that's no longer the case."
"Apple has slowly made ads a part of its business model in order to boost revenue. You might have noticed them already while scrolling through stories in News, or when looking for a new game on the App Store. Even the Wallet app has blasted users with notifications when Apple TV has a new movie out. It's an odd dichotomy: At a time when Apple's MacBooks have never been an better overall value, the company's software is beginning to feel less user-first than ever."
"If so, it seems the company will start with Apple Maps. Gurman says Apple will let restaurants and businesses pay a premium to float their results to the top of search. If you've searched for an app in Apple's App Store lately, you should be familiar with this experience: When I open the search tab, for example, I see Instagram at the top of the page, with an "Ad" label beneath it, on top of two other non-advertised apps."
Apple has transitioned from an ad-free first-party ecosystem to embedding ads across core apps and experiences. Ads now appear in Apple News, App Store search results, Wallet notifications, and other places. Apple plans to expand ad placements further, potentially deploying paid prominence for businesses in Apple Maps. The company intends to use AI to target more relevant ads to users. Search ad examples include App Store results showing promoted apps labeled "Ad" above organic listings. The expansion aims to boost revenue but raises concerns about software feeling less user-first despite strong hardware value.
Read at Lifehacker
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