Apple on Friday announced plans to cease iAd App Network operations at the end of June, ending one facet of the company's six-year play at the mobile advertising market.
While Apple is no longer accepting apps into the ad network, developers with existing campaigns will continue to generate revenue until the June 30 end date, the company said in a post to its developer website. Content creation via iAd Workbench is now limited to currently active campaigns.
The news is in line with a report on Wednesday that said Apple plans to exit the ad selling business, but will retain iAd's scaffolding to support advertisements created, managed and monetized by publishers. Apple will no longer take a 30 percent cut of generated ad revenue as part of the deal.
It should be noted that today's announcement makes no mention of a complete iAd platform shutdown. Instead, Apple appears to be closing down the mechanism by which developers buy ad space to market their own App Store products.
In a discussion about the iOS 9 News app earlier this week, SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue said Apple is developing a self-service ad-buying tool for publishers expected to launch in the next two months.
Apple launched iAd in 2010 as an in-house advertising platform designed to leverage the iOS platform's massive installed customer base. Some analysts had high hopes for iAd, saying it was a billion dollar opportunity, but initially high ad slot pricing and heavy-handed restrictions prompted a lukewarm response from would-be advertisers.