Apple is taking a step back from iAd, the company's six-year old advertising platform. Apple is eyeing on automating iAd and phasing out the dedicated sales team for the business.
Launched in 2010, iAd will no longer have sales people from Apple calling advertisers according to a new report, which cites sources familiar with the matter. However, the service will not become defunct as the company is allegedly poised to turn over the platform to publishers who will self-serve and manage everything as part of the strategy move.
"Six years after launching iAd, Apple is stepping back from it. Multiple sources familiar with the company's plans tell BuzzFeed News that Apple is getting out of the advertising-sales business and shifting to a more automated platform," reveals BuzzFeed.
So once Apple dissolves its current sales team for iAd, it will reconfigure the advertising platform to become an automated service. The creation of ads, management and sales will then become the jurisdiction of the publishers. The ad firms and marketers will gain access to iAd through an API.
The revenue generated from the content will be kept by the publishers themselves and Apple will no longer be charging its 30 percent fee.
So why has Apple decided to disband its iAd sales team and step back from the service? It has realized that the service is not something it is good at.
Since the launch of the service in 2010, iAd did not pick up per the company's expectations and did not garner much adoption. In 2014, CEO Tim Cook admitted that the iAd platform contributed to a marginal part of Apple's business.
According to analytics firm eMarketer, Apple accounted for only 5 percent of the mobile ad business in 2015.
Since the service never took off as anticipated, the decision according to sources was a "long time coming" and they were surprised that "it didn't happen sooner - it should have."
A contributing factor to the lack of success for the iAd platform was the strict control exercised by Apple. This attitude coupled with the aggressive stance of Apple sales people is believed to have put off several potential advertisers as well. Moreover, the control Apple wanted over how the adverts would look and feel did not go down well with advertisers. Another nail to the coffin was Apple's reluctance to share analytics data with its advertisers.
With iAd set to be free from Apple's control, market experts in the publishing industry are optimistic of the alleged move to make the platform automated. Those familiar with the plans opine that the opportunity will be "great for publishers" as it will not only offer them direct access to consumers, but make the management of things simpler in theory.
