In The News: Apple Changing Adverts

June 11, 2010 in In The News - Viewed 51 times.

The advert world is undoubtedly changing… check this out:

“You and Your Applications may not collect, use, or disclose to any third party, user or device data without prior user consent, and then only under the following conditions: The collection, use or disclosure is necessary in order to provide a service or function that is directly relevant to the use of the Application.”

For example, without Apple’s prior written consent, You may not use third party analytics software in Your Application to collect and send device data to a third party for aggregation, processing, or analysis.

The collection, use or disclosure is for the purpose of serving advertising to Your Application; is provided to an independent advertising service provider whose primary business is serving mobile ads (for example, an advertising service provider owned by or affiliated with a developer or distributor of mobile devices, mobile operating systems or development environments other than Apple would not qualify as independent); and the disclosure is limited to UDID, user location data, and other data specifically designated by Apple as available for advertising purposes.”

The above comes from Apple’s new policy about mobile advertising (http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20100608/apple-makes-good-on-steve-jobs-promise-invites-other-advertisers/?reflink=ATD_yahoo_ticker%3Cbr%20/%3E).

Some call it an attack against Google… I think such analysis is bit short sighted.

… I think it is an attack against the mentality of the current advert community that it should be okay for them to surreptitiously “acquire” data about you and me so they can sell it, and subsequently force us to have to opt out of all kinds of spam emailed adverts, and presentation of all kinds of adverts presented through browser applications and social media interfaces. And since the advert community, including the big search engines, have created an interesting revenue stream out of something that does not close the loop and prove its value (the best that I’ve heard and seen is that companies acknowledge that on-line adverts complement a more comprehensive advert strategy), I applaud Apple’s step into this space in a way that seems to more aggressively establish terms coming from a consumer’s point of view. Solely ad-based revenue models are vestiges of “the new economy” which crashed and burned for most early in this decade.

Do I mind if Apple makes money from this service, or is the advert gateway in the middle? Not at all. Apple shows a bit more common sense than most in my view. While the AppStore is not perfect in the set of apps it approves or disapproves, it’s getting better. And it seems to be conscious of at least some definition of “decent”.

So … just what happens to revenue models based on advertising infrastructure that do not show (with audit-able proof) that users agreed to receipt of adverts and sharing personal information?

What happens to the companies that try to track where you go to infer what is of interest to you?

What happens if Apple’s model for advertising takes off and spreads beyond mobile?

Or what happens if mobile eclipses the desktop browser experience such that whatever happens on the desktop is minuscule in comparison?

It seems that the solely advert-based revenue model is called into serious question.

Interestingly, Apple’s model takes advert serving infrastructure to the OS level, too. That is pretty nice. I can see my preferences for opting in to receipt of adverts, even selection of which types I am willing or not to receive, having a home now … possibly sync-able through iTunes or mobile sync programs. Ownership may well rest with me, as it should. It is on my device, where I can proactively agree to share data or not.

What may even be more interesting is that this advert infrastructure will be available to both browser-based and fat clients. That should send a few shockwaves … I just might be able to plug into the on-line space without a browser by taking a more service-oriented point of view.

The advert world is changing … maybe in consumers’ favor.