Apple is adding a new ad format that will allow advertisers to share their own articles alongside regular news content in Apple News, says a report from Business Insider citing a developer specification document (PDF). The sponsored posts will show in the news feed like any other editorial story that users open the app to find.
More opportunities for advertisers
The only difference between sponsored posts and normal posts will be a small label saying “Sponsored” beneath the preview. Already some publishers are allowed to place ads inside their editorial stories. The iPhone maker also allows publishers to share sponsored stories as long as they are clearly marked.
Such stories will disappear quickly though because of the flood of new articles that get published later. On the other hand, publishers will not have the same problem with the new ad unit as it will let sponsored stories be clearly marked and likely remain standing in the app’s feed. Apple’s ad marketplace will probably place the sponsored posts so that they can be made accessible to smaller publishers.
The document shared by Business Insider features different ad types within Apple News, including a new “Native Banners” feature. These ads can appear right in the news feed with Apple News articles.
“Native ads display directly in the content feeds, inline with News articles, and are intended to blend in with their surrounding. They will be set in the default font used in News,” the document reads.
How Apple to monetize Apple News?
Apple also appears determined to allow publishers to make money by using Apple News. Publishers will probably be allowed to place articles behind a paywall eventually, and if readers want to read the articles, they will need a subscription, reported Reuters in July. The publications that currently work with the iPhone maker can either share their articles for free or share excerpts of their articles, which direct readers to log into their websites to read the rest of them, the report says.
The main point is that the iPhone maker will make money when publishers make money as it charges a cut in subscriptions, and, in some cases, a cut of ad revenues. As of now, there have been no comments from Apple about the new ad format.
