Apple to expand iAd options with full-screen video ads this year - report

Advertisers may soon gain a new way to reach users with Apple's iAd service, as the iPhone maker is reportedly poised to make a new full-screen "interstitial" advertising option available later this year.

Apple will make the new units available through its recently-launched real-time ad exchange, according to Advertising Age. If true, the move would mark the first expansion of iAd's in-app advertising inventory since the service's launch in 2010.

Widely deployed on the web, interstitials are designed to appear in between user actions, such as clicking from one article to another on a news site. Some third-party mobile networks such as Google's AdMob have already given app developers the option of including interstitials in mobile apps, but their use on mobile devices is less widespread.

Interstitial advertisements tend to command a premium over more pervasive banner ads because they are displayed automatically, rather than by a tap or click, and command the subject's attention. There is no word on just how much more Apple would ask advertisers to pay, nor is there a definitive timetable for their implementation.

Neeraj Kochar, an executive at ad buyer Magna Global, told the publication that the idea of full-screen interstitial in-app iAds is "compelling," but that advertisers would likely approach the new units with caution. "Advertisers will test into it, potentially as part of bigger deals with Apple," Kochar predicted.

38 Comments

tallest skil 43086 comments · 14 Years

About 10 years ago

Full screen, eh? That probably means 1920x1080 ads.

OH HEY LOOK VIDEO IADS FOR THE APPLE TV JUST LIKE I SAID.

solipsismx 19562 comments · 13 Years

I wonder if this is for Apple TV ads.

gatorguy 24609 comments · 13 Years

[quote name="SolipsismX" url="/t/162585/apple-to-expand-iad-options-with-full-screen-video-ads-this-year-report#post_2482024"]I wonder if this is for Apple TV ads.[/quote] According to those "in the know" it's TV-like ads but delivered to iPhones and iPads.

[quote name="Gatorguy" url="/t/162585/apple-to-expand-iad-options-with-full-screen-video-ads-this-year-report#post_2482028"] According to those "in the know" it's TV-like ads but delivered to iPhones and iPads.[/quote] 1) Could be. I can see a use case in the manner previously mentioned, but I think the Apple TV is a more important avenue for this delivery method. 2) This still doesn't make it feel as dirty as how Ad Sense target's users since the ads will still be isolated to a specific app, and not an aggregate of all your internet usage as you search and visit different sites.

[quote name="SolipsismX" url="/t/162585/apple-to-expand-iad-options-with-full-screen-video-ads-this-year-report#post_2482029"] 1) Could be. I can see a use case in the manner previously mentioned, but I think the Apple TV is a more important avenue for this delivery method. 2) This still doesn't make it feel as dirty as how Ad Sense target's users since the ads will still be isolated to a specific app, and not an aggregate of all your internet usage as you search and visit different sites.[/quote] Apple doesn't have it's own search engine yet.