Apple has something different up its sleeve: an advertising platform that will deliver personalized ads to the iPhone, iPod Touch and the soon-to-ship iPad, to be announced shortly after consumers first lay hands on the iPad on April 7.
According to unnamed “executives familiar with the plan" who apparently told Online Media Daily about this, Apple expects this new ad platform to have as significant an impact on its business as its iTunes, iPod, iPhone and iPad launches, and Steve Jobs apparently referred to these mobile ads as the company's “next big thing."
The report referred to the new platform as “iAd," although that may not be the actual name of the initiative. Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said the company does not comment on rumor or speculation.
So, why is Apple getting into advertising, assuming this report is accurate? Well, why not?
Mobile devices, with their extensive knowledge of where you are and what you're doing, hold great potential for advertisers, ever-eager to put their wares in front of a specific slice of the general population.
Do you suspect that women aged 18 to 30 who are sitting in hair salons on sunny Saturday afternoons would be particularly likely to appreciate your company's moisturizer? Mobile ads are capable of targeting them in ways that print magazines were not, and can even slice demographics with more precision than websites, which generally don't know that people are sitting in hair salons.
According to unnamed “executives familiar with the plan" who apparently told Online Media Daily about this, Apple expects this new ad platform to have as significant an impact on its business as its iTunes, iPod, iPhone and iPad launches, and Steve Jobs apparently referred to these mobile ads as the company's “next big thing."
The report referred to the new platform as “iAd," although that may not be the actual name of the initiative. Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said the company does not comment on rumor or speculation.
So, why is Apple getting into advertising, assuming this report is accurate? Well, why not?
Mobile devices, with their extensive knowledge of where you are and what you're doing, hold great potential for advertisers, ever-eager to put their wares in front of a specific slice of the general population.
Do you suspect that women aged 18 to 30 who are sitting in hair salons on sunny Saturday afternoons would be particularly likely to appreciate your company's moisturizer? Mobile ads are capable of targeting them in ways that print magazines were not, and can even slice demographics with more precision than websites, which generally don't know that people are sitting in hair salons.
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