Apple News is a great way to stay informed about breaking news stories worldwide. There is a lot of free content, and you can manually enter your favourite websites, so your feed is full of appealing articles. Apple is starting to populate the free tier of Apple News with direct advertisements, and they are also reaching out to major brands to encourage them to advertise.
According to Axios, “Apple has been selling its ad inventory in search and within its App Store for some time. Previously, it relied on third-party vendors to sell Apple News ads, limiting its revenue potential and the thousands of publishers distributing content on the free version of Apple News.”
Next year, Apple will offer premium advertisements for editorially curated content during relevant events like the Met Gala, the U.S. Open, and more. In addition to premium sponsorships, the Apple News team is pitching banner placements and video ads in 17 formats, including carousel ads featuring other products. Advertisers will also have the option to sponsor specific feeds within Apple News, allowing them to contextualize content with particular topics.
Publishers will receive 70% of the ad revenue from Apple-sold ads within their articles and a percentage of feed ad revenue based on content engagement. They will continue to keep 100% of revenue from ads they sell directly.
As hardware sales slow, it’s natural for Apple to manage its advertising directly instead of relying on third parties. They are currently hiring hundreds of advertising personnel to build the team. Apple News is prominent in North America, the UK, and Australia.