Apple plans to show more advertisements within its first-party apps

Apple is said to be looking into expanding the number of ads across its first-party apps on iOS, iPadOS and MacOS. According to a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is already testing a new ad model internally in Apple Maps which displays search-based recommendations. Currently, Apple shows ads across its App Store, News and Stocks apps as well as its TV+ platform. Developers can pay Apple to have their app show up as promoted on specific search pages in the App Store. Ads inside the News and Stocks apps show up as full banners similar to websites.

Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, which launched alongside iOS 14.5, significantly affected advertising earnings for developers of social media platforms. ATT gives users the option to opt-out of tracking tools used by developers to display targeted ads. According to a Financial Times report from earlier this year, ATT cost social media platforms nearly $10 billion. Based on data from market research firm Omdia, Apple’s revenue earning grew to $3.7 billion in 2021.