Some subscription app developers suspect Apple is buying Google ads that send users to their apps in the App Store, to protect its cut by decreasing web signups
Apple is secretly buying Google ads for high-value apps to collect potentially millions of dollars in subscription revenue, multiple app publishers have told me.
Context & Ripple Effects
The allegation fits a longer App Store push toward recurring revenue: Apple had previously encouraged developers to adopt subscriptions and paired in-app subscriptions with a more favorable 85/15 split after a year.
That model also concentrates conversion and payment inside Apple’s storefront. Concerns over Apple’s ad-tracking limits had already highlighted how a shift from external acquisition toward in-app purchases could increase Apple’s subscription commissions.
First-order effects
- Publishers that say their branded Google ads are being intercepted face more App Store-originated subscriptions, placing the transaction—and Apple’s commission—inside Apple’s billing system rather than on the publisher’s web checkout.
- Apple gains a potential acquisition channel for high-value subscription apps while retaining control over the App Store destination and associated subscription revenue.
Second-order effects
- Affected developers have a stronger incentive to distinguish web conversions from App Store conversions and to reassess whether search spending is actually bringing incremental customers.
- Google ad inventory for app-related searches becomes a contested acquisition channel when the platform that controls the destination is also alleged to be bidding for the same users.
Third-order effects
- The episode sharpens the platform-conflict question: an app-store operator can influence discovery, checkout, and its own take from subscriptions in the same customer journey.
- If this approach is sustained, subscription developers may have less ability to build direct billing relationships even as Apple’s earlier subscription-focused developer outreach continues to shape app business models.
The trend: Mobile subscription economics are increasingly shaped by the app-store operator’s control of both user acquisition paths and in-app payment rails.