Image credit – 9to5Mac
We have known for some time that Apple is interested in getting into publishing, or at least some form of it, when they acquired Texture, a magazine subscription service. There are rumors that Apple has plans to launch a new news and magazine subscription service next month, but it seems that there are some doubts as to whether or not it could be successful.
This is according to a recent survey conducted by Digiday (via AppleInsider) which apparently seems to suggest that publishers aren’t thrilled with the way Apple News is at the moment. They cite Apple’s commitment to user privacy which has resulted in ads that are limited in functionality as Apple is limiting user targeting (unlike Facebook where ads can target all kinds of users and demographics).
They are also complaining that there aren’t enough readers/viewers which means that despite ads being offered at a rate of $3-4 per thousand clicks, there aren’t enough clicks to make it profitable. Like we said, some of these complaints and concerns suggests that if and when Apple’s upcoming subscription service is launched, it is unclear how many publishers plan to stick around for it, which in turn creates a vicious cycle where users might opt out of subscribing due to a lack of news or magazines.
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