Apple To Roll Out Video iAds

Apple announced that it is rolling out new video iAds this year that will automatically play full-screen within iPhone and iPad apps. At present, mobile users need to click on a brand’s mobile banner for the iAd to be activated, whereas the new ads are “interstitials,” and will likely feature at moments of transition – between different levels of a game, for instance. Because the system is so new, it remains unclear how Apple intends to sell these ads; it has been rumored that Apple wants to launch an ad exchange, but details are scarce. iAds have been a contentious feature for Apple since their inception, and the price-per-unit has dropped over the years from $1 million to $100,000. Apple is surely looking enviously at Google’s $243 million in ad revenue in 2012, as compared to their own $125 million; it’s not a quick fix however, as advertisers will likely look to test into the medium slowly but surely. Nonetheless, this represents a big step forward for mobile ads in perhaps the most coveted space of digital advertising.