Double-eyed apple defected? APP Store implants advertisements

As we all know, today's smartphone market is divided into two camps: Android and iOS. For many fruit powders, the refreshing and smooth iOS system and the A-series bionic chip leading the Android generation are important reference options for purchasing iPhone. However, no one may have expected that the "thick eyebrows and big eyes" iOS system has also begun to go upstream and follow the footsteps of Android.

Recently, the author found that in the APP Store, the word "advertisement" appeared in blue near the icons of many applications such as Detective, Galaxy Battleship, the glory of the king and Moore Manor. It was only after I clicked on it that I found that Apple had given a detailed explanation.

The explanation given by Apple is: Apple will recommend relevant advertisements to users according to their search contents, and will display advertisements by using relevant information such as the language setting, operating system version, mobile operator and network connection type of the mobile phone keyboard. In other words, although Apple informed in advance that it would not provide users' personal data to third parties, it is quite suspicious to read personal user information in an all-round way to display advertisements.

Then, when Android manufacturers are trying their best to reduce system advertisements, why should the independent iOS go upstream? What kind of profit model and strategic choice is revealed behind this?

In fact, this ASA advertisement (Apple search advertisement) appearing in the APP Store was launched by Apple as early as 20 16. The operating mode is roughly that developers pay Apple fees and put advertisements in the App Store, so that the app has the opportunity to display at the top of the search results and attract users to download first. Similar to Baidu and 360 search's bidding promotion business model in China.

Previously, this ASA advertisement had already been launched in Russian and North American market application stores, and the bidding promotion plan in Chinese mainland was officially launched in June this year because it required relevant departments to submit documents, audit accounts and other steps. At present, domestic users' search advertising display is only in the first two positions on the page of recommendation and search results for you.

It is worth mentioning that Apple has painstakingly introduced special regulations for ASA advertising. For example, in order to attract more developers to pay for advertising, suggest the highest installation cost to developers and stop flexibility at any time. In other words, after the user clicks on the advertisement but does not download the app, Apple will not collect money from the advertiser.

At the same time, in order to avoid causing users' resentment, Apple provided a "personalized advertisement" switching window. Users only need to click Settings-Privacy -App Advertisement once; Or click the personalized recommendation switch button in the APP Store account settings to close the recommended advertisement.

Moreover, Apple released the ASA Chinese mainland release specification in official website, and app applications such as adult content, vulgar content, controlled substances, personal offensive pornographic information, gambling, medical advertisements, debt collection and marriage agencies are not allowed to be put on the shelves. Compared with Baidu, Apple eats much better.

This dispersion of application rights greatly limits the reading of users' consumer personal data by the application app, but it also directly brings 20% revenue decline to advertisers, which in turn affects Apple's advertising profit income.

The direct reason why Apple put ASA ads on shelves in Chinese mainland is to increase advertising revenue and strive for more profits. However, considering the users' resistance to Android advertising and the switch of "system tool advertising" made by MIUI 1 1 system, Apple chose a more eclectic way to test the reaction of users in Chinese mainland.

As mentioned above, although the Android brand in the smart phone industry has advantages over the iPhone in terms of battery life, images, system operation, etc., many users still insist on becoming iPhone fans because of their good impression on the fluency, security and stability of the iOS system and the lack of built-in system advertisements. ASA advertising will become another double-edged sword for Apple's development. Although it will reap revenue profits from the capital level, it will also hit the user experience. Compared with Android phones, Apple users no longer have the refreshing and clean system advantages, but have created the negative effect of driving backwards.

We know that because the Android system is more open, the restrictions on application developers are not strict, and the Android platform does not have a reliable application sales channel like Apple APP Store, so many third-party Android application developers choose the way of free installation+advertising implantation to make a profit.

As a result, application screen opening, news information, and app main menu have become the hardest hit areas for advertisements, without even providing closing windows or confusing wrong buttons to induce users to click, browse, and download pushed content, which will affect the visual experience and even lead to the mobile phone system being stuck. Even the built-in applications of many brands of mobile phones, such as weather, calendar and negative one-screen function page, can't escape the fate of advertising.

In contrast, the iOS system maintains the advantages of purity, refreshment and smoothness of the system by closing the source, and it is precisely because it does not need to be harassed by advertisements that many users choose to start with iPhone products. However, contrary to expectations, Apple chose to stand on the same starting line with Android this time, * * * taking traffic as the king and profit as the supreme marketing realization mode, and took the exposure and communication effect brought by a huge user audience as a resource to attract application developers to advertise, in an attempt to cut another leek in addition to hardware products.

As mentioned above, Apple's ASA advertising model is essentially similar to the keyword search bidding promotion model advocated by Baidu and 360 search engines. The difference is that Apple chooses a more direct and accurate way to deliver advertisements directly to its fans. Although Apple has formulated a series of rules and regulations for this purpose, advertisements such as pornographic information, gambling, medical advertisements, debt collection, marriage agencies and so on. Are rejected, and provide personalized recommendation switch buttons for users to choose, but users will still download unnecessary applications by mistake, wasting time and traffic, and the mobile phone system will be stuck. Although it is much better than Android advertising, it will damage the user experience in essence. Who will pay for it?

It is foreseeable that Apple APP Store advertising will not be a case. Driven by capital interests, Apple will further increase the coverage of advertisements to obtain more advertising profits. This is definitely not good news for users. If it continues to develop, it may become the next Android with a flood of advertisements. Generally speaking, both Android and Apple need users to establish a perfect supervision system and administrative punishment system, so that users can participate in supervision and coordinate with each other to create a healthy and standardized application environment.

Of course, for Internet companies including Apple, the profit of advertising revenue is important, but the user experience should be put in the first place. Without the support of users, who will look at putting the cart before the horse?