Apple Announces More Ads Coming to App Store Starting Next Week

In an email to developers this week, Apple announced that app-related ads will 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 starting Tuesday, October 25, in all countries except China. All ads in the App Store have a blue background and an "Ad" icon.

new app store ads today tab
"With a Today tab ad, your app can appear prominently on the front page of the App Store — making it some of the first content users see when they begin their App Store visit," says a page on Apple's website about App Store ad placements.

This marks the first time that developers will be able to run ads in the Today tab, which until now has only displayed content handpicked from the App Store's editorial staff, without any paid placement. And with the "You Might Also Like" section, developers will now be able to promote their apps on other apps' pages.

In a tweet, legal expert Florian Mueller argued the "You Might Also Like" ads are "another means of increasing the effective app tax rate, forcing developers to buy ads on their own app pages in order to avoid that others steer customers away from there."

App Store ads were previously limited to search results based on keywords and the "Suggested" section of the Search tab. With ads in the Today tab and the "You Might Also Like" section, the App Store will now offer four advertising options in total. Apple first announced plans to expand its App Store ad placement offerings in July.

In August, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple wanted to nearly triple its current advertising revenue to at least $10 billion per year in the future. In addition to the App Store, Gurman said Apple plans to launch search result ads in Apple Maps next year, while traditional banner ads are already displayed in Apple's News and Stocks apps.

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device. Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple Expected to Launch 20+ Products This Year: Here's the Full List

Friday January 17, 2025 5:30 am PST by
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year. Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Major Thermal Design Upgrade

Friday January 17, 2025 4:33 am PST by
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report. The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader. Vapor chamber technology is already used...

Top Rated Comments

geordie8t1 Avatar
29 months ago
and this is why apple made SUCH a fuss over 3rd party advertising, it had NOTHING to do with privacy concerns, it was merely so apple could implement their own ads services on its customers, quite frankly that is anti competitive and so they should be sued to high heaven
Score: 90 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ProfessionalFan Avatar
29 months ago
Apple finding little ways to pad profit margins in a big way, that is Tim's #1 job after all.

Ads, not including chargers and/or cables with some products. It all adds up to a lot of extra profit overall. They lied and fooled people that it was for the environment with the cables/chargers. I wonder if they can somehow spin this as something admirable and get those same fools to fall for this as well.

Edit: For those disliking this without bothering to comment back, please answer one simple question. If it is not being done for profit reasons, why wouldn't Apple just include a voucher in the box for a free cable/charger if needed?
Score: 84 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kar98 Avatar
29 months ago
Yay, ads on my $1,000 phone!
Score: 77 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MastersoftMobile Avatar
29 months ago
I am so excited about seeing even more advertising.
Score: 77 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JanoschR Avatar
29 months ago
I don’t like that direction ?
Score: 75 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Beautiful Opinion Avatar
29 months ago
iAd Pro Max
Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)