Monday 24th October: Apple announces more ads coming to App Store next week

October 24, 2022

Good morning! Today's newsletter is brought to you by Peter.

In an email to developers Apple announced that, this week, app-related ads are to begin appearing in the App Store's main Today tab and in a "You Might Also Like" section at the bottom of individual app listings.

This will be the first time developers have been to run ads in the Today tab. Until now has only displayed content handpicked from the App Store's editorial staff, without any paid placement. The move chimes with a story run in August by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman that said Apple wanted to triple its current ad revenue.

This could be an opportunity for publishers to promote their apps, but the questions have started... is this the real reason Apple made such a fuss over third-party advertising? Was it not about privacy concerns after all, but so that Apple could run exclusive ad services on its platforms? It remains to be seen how iPhone owners respond to more ads on their $1,000 phones.

Facebook has upped the stakes in the battle over Canada's proposed online news legislation, which would force the platform to pay news publishers for their content. Team Zuck is warning that it could block Canadians from sharing or viewing news content out of frustration at what they call the government’s ‘misguided’ approach. Sorry Canada, but we agree with Facebook on this one.

Future Plc has acquired ShortList, the erstwhile men’s lifestyle magazine that is now focussed on product news and reviews monetised through an affiliate revenue model very familiar to Future. The acquisition brings ShortList Editor-in-Chief Marc Chacksfield back to Future, where he was previously in charge of content for Future’s consumer technology brand TechRadar.

Almost as big as the news that British PM Liz Truss lasted just 45 days in the job was the story of the lettuce pitched against her by the Daily Star. The vegetable's week-long live cam showdown with Truss 'captivated the nation' and made headlines across the world. Here, Press Gazette talks to the lettuce through Daily Star editor-in-chief Jon Clark about the stunt.

#Ad: If you’re looking for a new audio editing tool, we can recommend Hindenburg, a professional-grade audio editing system made for simplicity, speed and agility. It’s built for podcasts and audio storytelling, with lots of features like auto levelling which help streamline the process. This link will get you an extended three month trial of Hindenburg PRO for business.

New episode:

Our fifth episode of the season explores the year in newsletter trends, from worldwide readership to how creators are driving publisher strategies. We're joined by Mark Stenberg, Senior Media Reporter at AdWeek in New York, who has reported on some of the biggest newsletter-related media stories of the year.

Here's the latest from my Magazine Diaries newsletter on the Media Voices website. This issue I offered up some positive antidotes to help overcome the somewhat depressing fact that more and more people all over the world are avoiding the news because it’s having a negative impact on their mood.