14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has just announced plans to expand its iAd mobile advertising network to the UK and France this December, with Germany to follow in January. The European iAds rollout will feature content from the likes of L’Oréal, Renault, Louis Vuitton, Nespresso, Perrier, Unilever, Citi, Evian, LG Display, AB InBev, Turkish Airlines and Absolute Radio.
According to Apple’s official announcement iAd has emerged as a powerful new way for advertisers to reach millions of iPhone and iPod touch users right in their favorite apps, since its US launch in July.
Apple claims that the revolutionary advertising platform provides a significant new revenue stream for developers, although many analysts beg to differ.
Nevertheless, the Mac maker upholds that iAd has signed on over half of the top 25 leading US national advertisers in just four months, with a projected 21 percent share of US mobile display advertising revenue for 2010 according to research firm IDC.
The platform is built into iOS 4, the latest major version of Apple’s mobile operating system.
What makes iAd unique is that users can stay within their current app while engaging with the ad. This applies across a variety of activities from watching a video, to playing a game, or even using in-ad purchase to download an app or buy iTunes content.
“With user engagement times averaging more than 60 seconds per visit, iAds combine the narrative quality of TV ads with the interactivity of digital for something entirely new,” the Cupertino-based company explains.
“We’re thrilled to add leading global brands to the iAd Network in Europe and create even more great opportunities for developers,” said Andy Miller, Apple’s vice president of iAd. “In just four months, we’ve doubled the number of advertisers on the network and thousands of developers now have a valuable new source of revenue.”
“As the world leader in the beauty business, L’Oréal aims to create the most meaningful connections between its brands and its customers, so iAd was a natural choice,” said Marc Menesguen, L’Oréal’s Head of strategic marketing.
“We’re thrilled by the quality, the interactivity and the depth of iAd’s user experience, giving us an unparalleled opportunity to reach and serve the most engaged and discerning customers at the digital forefront of beauty, hence our choice of Lancôme to lead our iAd campaign,” Menesguen added.
Apple encourages advertisers can to head over to its web site to learn more about how they can profit by signing with the company to have some iAds created for them.
Those who write code for the App Store can also profit from the iAd platform. To incorporate ads in their apps, devs can join the iAd Network that Apple has specifically set up for them.
According to the terms imposed by the company, “Developers will receive an industry standard 60 percent of the iAd Network revenue, which is paid via iTunes Connect.”