Not entirely sure what to make of it but I am seeing an significant number of empty Apple ad units: "Test Advertisement: This confirms that test ads are running correctly". It also (potentially) confirms that iAds is lacking advertiser supply? It is strange to see big, black, empty ad units across popular apps... particularly with a bold Apple logo beside each. You would think that, at a minimum, Apple would not display an ad unit or would run default ads to iTunes (and deliver a rev share). This strikes me as a bizarre user experience and a very public reflection of the iAds business:
iOS5: Apple's Web 'Reader' is Awesome. But Also a Trojan Horse for Ads?
It's been a year of chess moves between Google, Apple, Facebook and Twitter. For example, look at the last few weeks alone:- Google+ launches as Google's social effort (and its good) - iOS5 is announced with Twitter as a key integration - Facebook is rumored to be working on an HTML5 app store of sorts And is this yet another? One of iOS5's little-discussed features is the web "Reader" tool. When clicked, it converts a webpage to an optimized, stripped page for easier reading... think iBooks for the web. It's great and I find myself using it all the time.
The obvious thought is that it is a way to better integrate the web with iBooks and iTunes. But the next thought is: this is a way to boost iAds throughout the mobile web. They have stripped everything but the text / images and have created a clean reading experience with plenty of room for ad units. Strikes me as another chess move... this time directed at Google and Facebook's ad businesses.
regular page:
and using Reader:
