From the coming weeks, the browsing experience inside the App Store will change: users will face a greater presence of sponsored content.
Apple has officially confirmed the expansion of its advertising program Search Ads, a move that is sure to spark discussion among both the developer community and the broad audience of consumers who regularly download apps on their devices.
More advertising on the App Store, Apple opens new placements
nUntil now, Cupertino’s advertising policy regarding search results had been fairly conservative and linear.
Users were accustomed to seeing a single ad placed at the top of the list of results, clearly distinguished from the rest. However, the new directive changes the cards on the table. As initially announced at the end of last year, Apple has decided to go beyond the single privileged placement.
The new format provides that sponsored apps may appear also while scrolling down the list of search results.
This means that ads will no longer be confined to the first position, but will be integrated into the flow of organic results.
For the end user, this will translate into an interface where paid-for suggested apps will mix more frequently with those found naturally by the algorithm based on the keywords typed, while presumably maintaining (it is assumed) the labels necessary to distinguish them from non-sponsored content.
When will the change be official?
The roadmap for this implementation has already been defined precisely by Cupertino. The official green light is set for March 3, a date on which the novelty will debut in two key markets: The United Kingdom and Japan.
However, this will not be a limited experiment; Apple’s intention is to swiftly move toward global coverage. The plans foresee that, by the end of the same month, the new system of multiple ads will be extended to all markets where the Apple Ads service is active.
From a technical standpoint, the server-side update will still require an updated software base on users’ devices.
To view the new ad placements, you will need an iPhone equipped with iOS 16.2 or later. Similarly, for tablets, the minimum requirement will be iPadOS 16.2 or newer.
Impact on developers and the auction mechanism
For advertisers and developers investing in promoting their apps, the change is substantial. One of the most interesting features of this evolution is the automation Apple has decided to implement. No manual intervention or special procedures from advertisers will be required to access these new visual spaces.
The system will automatically manage existing campaigns, distributing them not only at the top of the page but also in subsequent slots along the results list.
It is essential to note that advertisers will not have the ability to bid for a specific position. For example, it will not be possible to pay more to secure exclusively the second or third slot.
It will be Apple’s proprietary algorithm to decide the ordering and placement of ads, presumably based on relevance criteria and conversion probability.
This approach simplifies campaign management for developers, but takes away some granular control over the exact positioning of their brand.
The expansion of ad spaces responds to the need to offer more inventory to a growing number of developers seeking visibility in a saturated market.
By increasing touchpoints between sponsored apps and users, Apple aims to further increase the revenue of the Services segment, consolidating advertising as one of its most powerful growth levers for the near future.
