Apple Sells Its Own Ads on Apple News for the First Time

Apple's internal advertising activity is growing. The company recently began selling its own ads for Apple News, a major shift in its news advertising strategy, according to a new report.

Apple Grows In-House Ad Efforts with News Expansion

Sarah Fisher writes for Axios:

Apple has begun selling its own ad inventory for Apple News, two sources familiar with the project tell Axios. The company is offering new ad units that it hopes will maximize revenue for it and its publisher partners.

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Apple is offering marketers new ad units in the Apple News feed and in individual stories within Apple News, Axios has learned. Starting next year, Apple will sell premium sponsorships of editorially curated content for relevant events like the Met Gala, the U.S. Open and more. In addition to premium sponsorships, the Apple News team is also offering banner and video ads in 17 different formats, including carousel ads that showcase different products.

Fisher notes that publishers are expected to receive 70% of the revenue from ads sold by Apple, which is presumably an increase over ads sold by Apple's third-party partners like Taboola.

This recent partnership with Taboola isn't ending, but Apple will continue to offer unsold ad opportunities through Taboola and potentially other new partners.

9to5Mac's Take

Apple News recently received some recognition for its Election Night experience in the US, and it appears that Apple may focus more on special event coverage in the future, creating not only a compelling user experience but also unique sponsorship opportunities.

Apple already sells its own ads on the App Store, but the company's internal advertising efforts have otherwise been fairly limited. Various employees have hinted at a possible level of Apple TV+ advertising in the future, but so far nothing has come of it.

Hopefully, Apple's ad teams can create a better advertising experience inside Apple News. Either way, for a company that's always looking to grow its service revenue, this move makes a lot of sense.

What do you think of Apple's expanding advertising efforts? Let us know in the comments.