Apple to launch iAd network in Europe in December

Apple on Thursday announced that it will formally launch its iAd mobile advertising network in the United Kingdom and France this December, with Germany to follow in January.

iAd will launch in Europe with iAds from L'Oréal, Renault, Louis Vuitton, Nespresso, Perrier, Unilever, Citi, Evian, LG Display, AB InBev, Turkish Airlines and Absolute Radio, Apple said.

"We're thrilled to add leading global brands to the iAd Network in Europe and create even more great opportunities for developers," said Andy Miller, Apple's vice president of iAd. "In just four months, we’ve doubled the number of advertisers on the network and thousands of developers now have a valuable new source of revenue."

Apple boasted that iAd has signed over half of the top 25 leading U.S. national advertisers in just four months. The company projects that it will carry a 21 percent share of the U.S. mobile display advertising revenue in 2010, based on figures from IDC.

"As the world leader in the beauty business, L'Oréal aims to create the most meaningful connections between its brands and its customers, so iAd was a natural choice," said Marc Menesguen, L'Oréal’s Head of strategic marketing.

"We’re thrilled by the quality, the interactivity and the depth of iAd's user experience, giving us an unparalleled opportunity to reach and serve the most engaged and discerning customers at the digital forefront of beauty, hence our choice of Lancôme to lead our iAd campaign."

iAd is built into iOS 4, which allows users to stay within their current application without launching a browser when selecting an advertisement. Apple said users spend, on average, more than 60 seconds viewing an iAd after it has been selected.

"iAds combine the narrative quality of TV ads with the interactivity of digital for something entirely new," the company said.

Earlier this week, a report from the Financial Times correctly stated that Apple would announce its plans for iAd this week. Users in the U.K. and France will need to wait a few more weeks, until December, for its launch.

iAds launched in America in April, and earlier this month Apple announced that it had partnered with Dentsu to expand the network to Japan starting in early 2011.