Mikey Campbell
Apple in an email blast on Wednesday reminded developers of the impending iAd App Network shutdown that will bring an end to monetization revenues and app promotion on June 30, as scheduled.
In the message, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider, Apple thanks developers who utilized the iAd App Network and related services, adding that the service will be discontinued next month. The email stands as written notice that Apple intends to terminate all Developer Advertising Services Agreements on June 30, 2016, at 11:59 a.m. Pacific.
Apple announced the impending network closure in January, but a poorly worded explainer caused confusion as to what, exactly, was shutting down. Some reports claimed the closure was limited to the iAd App Network, the mechanism by which developers buy ad space to market their own apps, while others said the entire platform would be discontinued.
An Apple support webpage notes developers should remove the deprecated iAd.Framework classes from their respective apps as no ads will be served starting July 1. Inclusion of deprecated assets shouldn't cause app crashes, but will likely result in Xcode error messages.
With the deprecation of iAd related APIs and the iAd SDK, it seems Apple is indeed terminating the monetization network — banner ads, interstitials and pre-rolls — for third party developers. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.
Apple's support document says revenues generated through iAd advertising are expected for payout by Sept. 30, 2016, while campaign performance reports will be available on iAd Workbench until December 31, 2016.
With the iAd network closing down, developers reliant on the service must move to third-party ad publishing networks and direct ad sales.
Apple's iAd platform launched in 2010 as a means of leveraging the company's massive installed customer base. While investors had high hoped for the service, a series of strategic fumbles, from expensive pricing tiers to burdensome restrictions, drove potential advertisers to competitors. In January, shortly before Apple announced the iAd App Network closure, BuzzFeed reported that the company planned to exit the ad selling business, and would dramatically scale back iAd operations.
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Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
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6 Comments
We better click on all the iAds while we can.
Apple sucks at services & apps lately:
iCloud file management is a bad copy of Dropbox and still wants us to store files in 'app folders' by default. Syncing status is unclear.
iTunes is a mess. Ow and it's called Music on iOS. I guess. It requires iTunes Match to sync downloaded files, and mixes my library with streamed music. Over-complex.
Mail hasn't been innovated on since iOS1.
Their pro apps are being neglected and/or abandoned. Roadmap entirely unclear.
Hey, but Photos for OSX is actually quite good.
And here's yet another service that Apple rolled out to huge fanfare... and is now folding.
Glad iAd is going away!!! You know what I hate is FREE App's. Or should I say so called FREE App's with In-App purchases. I'd rather pay for the game up front and have a full working game without the limitations and whatnot, basically forcing a person to pay a bunch of money. So I generally won't download anything that has In-App purchases anymore. Part of the problem is APPLE and how they do things which helped create this type of system. Because you can't just download a DEMO version of a program and then pay for a full version. Best they can do is a free version posted and a Paid version posted. So you're downloading again if you want the paid version. The other issue is no Upgrade path. Say you paid for Tweetbot 2, then Tweetbot 3 comes out. You can't pay a upgrade price, so you are forced to pay FULL PRICE just like any new users. The Developers have to set a lower new user price, in the hope it's low enough that others with a older version will upgrade. This is a big problem for Developers where it's just free upgrades forever, or you have to post a new version and everyone pays again full price for it if they want it. Siri needs to open up and same goes with NFC with API's.