Will Apple Still Wrap Its Iron Fist Around iAd Creation?

Since Apple had shunned Adobe’s Flash plugin on its mobile platform, opting instead for HTML5 and subsequently launching its interactive ad protocol called iAds for its iOS devices, the online mobile advertising solution that Apple had created has received mixed reactions. Few of the committed clients and partners have launched advertising campaigns using iAd, which promises an interactive, informative experience to entice consumers to click on an ad. However, for those that have launched their advertising with Apple, the results were great. In fact, Nissan and Unilever were both impressed with iAd despite the process in which many others have described as slow.

For Nissan, which had employed iAd as one platform and medium to advertise its Leaf electric vehicle, consumers clicked on the ads and spent more time on the ad than on other platforms. The results were impressive considering that many users find mobile ads intrusive. Not so for Nissan, which found users are 5 times more likely to click on an iAd for Leaf than for regular online ads and spent 10 times longer interacting with the advertising–an average of 90 seconds.

However, despite early successes, many advertisers are still upset with Apple in the process of creating iAd spots. Rather than relinquishing control of the ad creation to advertisers and to clients, Apple is retaining creative control. According to the Wall Street Journal, “That has made the creation of the mobile ads laborious, taking about eight to 10 weeks from brainstorm to completion–longer than normal for most mobile ads, executives said. The building of the actual ad, handled by Apple, in some cases is taking two weeks longer than expected, one person added.”

Apple has long been criticized of wanting too much control, especially in its App Store approval process, but its control and hold on advertisers is something new. Additionally, by mandating HTML5 ads, scaling may be an issue. What iAd does have going for it is a large audience of committed iOS developers and users, and the promise of full integration with iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads.

It’s still too early to see how Apple will shape the iAd experience for the future. In general, rival Google’s Admob clients are more conservative with their spending while advertisers on Apple’s iAd have more money to spend. We’ll have to probably wait a few years before any meaningful results are known about how Google and Apple are shaping advertising on the mobile space.

Filed in Apple >Top Stories..

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