After Apple rolls out its new App Store ad units, prominent developers complain about gambling ads appearing in their app listings with no way to stop them

Apple today rolled out new ad placements in the App Store on the iPhone, allowing developers to advertise their apps in more places …

MacRumors 2022-10-26 Joe Rossignol

Context & Ripple Effects

Apple had already moved App Store advertising beyond search, first with Search tab campaigns and then with a planned expansion into the Today tab and product-page recommendations. The new placements put ads next to developers’ own listings, where developers say they lack control over which categories appear.

The developer backlash quickly produced a pause on gambling and certain other product-page ads, showing that inventory expansion created an immediate brand-safety and placement-governance problem for Apple.

First-order effects

Prominent developers must contend with gambling promotions appearing beside their listings while Apple, rather than the listing owner, controls category eligibility and placement.
Apple’s new product-page ad inventory faces an immediate constraint after complaints prompted it to pause gambling-related ads in those placements.

Second-order effects

App advertisers lose access to gambling-category placements on product pages, while Apple must distinguish more carefully between sellable inventory and categories likely to trigger developer objections.
Developers evaluating the expanded App Store ad program gain evidence that public complaints can influence Apple’s category rules, making placement controls a central issue alongside campaign reach.

Third-order effects

As Apple adds ad surfaces across the App Store, its role shifts further from marketplace operator to curator of ads displayed beside third-party products, increasing the importance of transparent category and brand-safety controls.
The pattern points to App Store advertising growth being bounded not only by advertiser demand but by developers’ tolerance for ads that affect the presentation of their own listings.

The trend: App Store monetization is expanding from search-led ads into broader discovery surfaces, forcing Apple to formalize governance over which advertisers can appear beside developer listings.

Discussion

@simonbs Simon B. Støvring on x
With Apple's recent changes to ads on the App Store, your product pages may now show ads for gambling apps. One of my product pages just did that 😞 https://twitter.com/...
@viticci Federico Viticci on x
Can you imagine having $48.2 billion cash on hand and YET still thinking “ah yes, those House of Fun Casino ads will grow our bottom line, let's do it” https://twitter.com/...
@basicappleguy Basic Apple Guy on x
These App Store ads are something... Reading? You might also like: Adult Video Chat In Therapy for Addictions? You might also like: Gambling Streaming Disney? You might also like: California Psychics Improving your Marriage? You might also like: Hinge Dating https://twitter.com/.…
@cabel @cabel on x
It is really sad to me that Apple needs to start taking Casino Game Ad Money in order to make their line go up for the shareholders. When Steve introduced iAds and the whole pitch was, “These ads aren't garbage, you'll like these ads.” This department shouldn't exist at all, imho…
@wolfiechristl Wolfie Christl on x
iOS devs are not happy with paid recommendations (aka 'ads') Apple shows alongside their app listings, which includes gambling ads shown alongside app listings for children's education and gambling addiction recovery apps (see responses). h/t @publictorsten https://twitter.com/..…
@marcoarment Marco Arment on x
Now my app's product page shows gambling ads, which I'm really not OK with. Apple shouldn't be OK with it, either. The App Store has corrupted such a great company so deeply. They make so much from gambling and manipulative IAPs that they don't even see the problem anymore. https…
@hot_doggin_jon @hot_doggin_jon on x
@marcoarment They're on the bottom of listings for gambling addiction recovery apps! https://twitter.com/...
@hot_doggin_jon @hot_doggin_jon on x
What's this? Ads for gambling at the bottom of a listing for a gambling addiction recovery app. How could this possibly go wrong? #Apple #appstore https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@gruber John Gruber on x
Holy moly the source code leaked for Apple's App Store user profiles for “personalized” ads: if currentDay.endsWith('y') { yourPersonalizedCategory = “Fuckin' Casinos”; } else { yourPersonalizedCategory = “More Fuckin' Casinos”; }
@simonbs Simon B. Støvring on x
Just visited my the product page for Runestone, one of my apps, 10 times. 3/10 times the product page showed an ad for online gambling. https://twitter.com/...
@fromedome Dan Frommer on x
@cabel And then, a year later, while introducing iCloud/MobileMe Mail: “No ads. We build products that we want for ourselves, too, and we just don't want ads.” https://twitter.com/...
@jasoneccles Jason Eccles on x
@marcoarment You know what's worse than having to pay hundreds of $$$ to try out Apple's new ad scheme? Seeing that they're advertising online gambling on @OvercastFM's page on the App Store. https://twitter.com/...
@stroughtonsmith Steve Troughton-Smith on x
The first item under the Today tab's pinned iOS 16 feature is an ad. It's remarkable how quickly Apple's ideals were corrupted by greedy execs eyeing services revenue, meanwhile its OSes are stumbling out the gate https://twitter.com/...
@mr_james_c @mr_james_c on x
If you kill the devil you become the devil. Sorry. https://twitter.com/...
@eshumarneedi @eshumarneedi on x
@marcoarment I have a question: why are gambling ads approved in the first place? For a company that prides itself on stringent guidelines for the App Store, this is a big 👎👎👎
@pt Parker on x
Apple is just Facebook but terrible at it. https://twitter.com/...
@gergelyorosz Gergely Orosz on x
Time and time again we see that publicly traded companies are not “good” or “bad”, but for-profit. Apple didn't roll out ATT b/c they are “good”: they did it as now that it's more expensive for eg gambling apps to buy users outside the App Store, they spend more money w Apple. ht…
@alexeheath Alex Heath on x
Apple is growing its own ads business rapidly right now, having just rolled out a new ad placement in the App Store. Morgan Stanley recently estimated that overall App Store rev is dropping, which suggests a need for Apple to crank up its ad inventory https://www.cnbc.com/... htt…
@apollozac Zac Hall on x
Makes the gambling ads during Friday Night Baseball look classy https://twitter.com/...
@fahim_al_mahmud Fahim Al Mahmud Ashik on x
“We see you're interested in the magicplan app (LiDar scanner for room planning). You might also be interested in political propaganda outlet, PragerU.” 🤦‍♂️ “We see you're interested in the Apple Support app. You might also be interested in making some money.” 🤣 https://twitter.…
@marcoarment Marco Arment on x
“Stringent guidelines for the App Store” is a myth. They're strict about the 30%. Nearly every other “rule” is poorly, inconsistently, unevenly, or insufficiently enforced. They've shown this over and over again. Again, actions speak louder than words.
@gruber John Gruber on x
@chucker ... Recall Tim Cook's 2014 retort at Apple's shareholder meeting: “I don't consider the bloody ROI.” https://www.forbes.com/...
@stalman Tyler Stalman on x
The App Store takes a step towards looking like a second rate torrent website https://twitter.com/...
@simonbs Simon B. Støvring on x
I went to Apple's “Our Favorite Kids' Apps” section of the App Store, selected an app, and got presented with an ad for gambling. Not okay, Apple. https://twitter.com/...
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
The nasty side of all the app store ads is legit developers now have to pay in order to make sure their stuff isn't buried beneath the junk.
@bzamayo Benjamin Mayo on x
@stroughtonsmith Funny related quote from The Information report a month ago: When the Today tab launched, customers assumed that apps had paid for placement there. https://twitter.com/...
@cabel @cabel on x
Somebody at Apple really woke up and said “yeah, that's money we need for sure. we don't have quite enough” https://twitter.com/...
@krausefx Felix Krause on x
I can't comprehend this: The iPhone is a premium smartphone, and Apple decides to clutter their OS with ads with no way to opt-out? This really hurts smaller app devs, and will cause bigger legal consequences the next years At least no one really opens the App Store app anymore h…
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
These garbage ads are even (surprisingly) showing up on Apple's own listings! https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@rsgnl Joe Rossignol on x
This is such a stupid decision by Apple. I can understand ads in the Today tab of the App Store... kind of felt inevitable. But allowing one app to advertise on another app's page... really? Apple is just asking for criticism + antitrust concerns here lol. https://twitter.com/...
@keleftheriou Kosta Eleftheriou on x
“No ads. We build products that we want for ourselves, too, and we just don't want ads.” https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@jesslynnrose Jessica Rose on x
This is what's so wild to me about businesses rn, folks are making record breaking profits all over the place and can't just make nice things and enjoy the money. There's this weird rush for more, more, more and it just seems so weird. https://twitter.com/...
@pdparticle Parth Dhebar on x
@sdw ... They have been building out the Ads team for years now. Unfortunately, too late to go back now...
@johnbalestrieri Mr. John on x
Same here: A gambling ad on one of my product pages. 🤮 I've never discussed my family's history with gambling, but I saw the pain and damage it did and vowed to have nothing to do with it. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@drbarnard David Barnard on x
Truth. The iPhone 14 Pro, Apple Watch Ultra, and M1 MacBook Pros are just so far and away the best products of their kind and the best Apple has ever made. I even seem to be running into fewer software bugs than I used to. (Though maybe my software expectations have been lowered)…
@drbarnard David Barnard on x
After retweeting tweets critical of the new App Store ads, I should clarify: I'm not generally opposed to ads, even on the App Store. But the product page ads do bug me. Wish Apple would allow apps to opt out. Or at least be more selective in which apps can advertise there.
@antumbral Katelyn Gadd on x
Apple's gatekeeping and 30% cut are PrOtEcTiNg YoU from the evil wilderness of open markets!!! Think of all the horrible things that could happen without the walled garden, like Apple not getting a massive cut of filthy gacha and casino revenue!!!!! https://twitter.com/...
@uzmabarlaskar Uzma on x
Apple: Ads are bad. Also, Apple: Here's a gambling ad from Apple on your product page on the App store. https://twitter.com/...
@viticci Federico Viticci on x
i guess what i'm saying is that i miss the days when you opened the App Store and there was the app for farts, the one with the glass of beer, and, somehow, OmniFocus
@radiantav @radiantav on x
Apple destroyed lots of its brand value among developers in the past decade. App Store ridiculous policies around gate keeping and pricing models were the main culprit. It's only fitting App Store will do the same in consumer eyes too. Way more slowly but eventually it will. http…
@reinholdkesler Reinhold Kesler on x
It is interesting to see so many tweets the last few days showing the “new” user experience on Apple's app store. This was one of my concerns raised about the increase in ads and ads spots in last week's WIRED piece, which may hurt Apple's renowned image and product design. https…
@marcoarment Marco Arment on x
I'm sure Apple would be totally OK with salespeople hanging out in Apple Stores, next to all of the nice Apple products, wearing sandwich boards and yelling at customers about their online casino gambling app as they try to shop there. https://twitter.com/...
@asallen Andy Allen on x
Thoughts & prayers for the App Store 🙏🏼 https://twitter.com/...
@gruber John Gruber on x
If these App Store ads were in our email inboxes, we'd all flag every one of them as spam. https://twitter.com/...
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
I know it's not as easily quantifiable, but Apple is utterly annihilating brand value, trust and goodwill with these ads. How is the revenue possibly worth it? As a developer, this sucks. As a user, it sucks. As someone who cares about Apple products it's just profoundly sad. htt…

Chronicles