D8 Video: Steve Jobs Explains His iAds Restrictions (And Blames Flurry)
Does Steve Jobs really want to shut out other ad networks from the iPhone and the iPad? No, says the Apple CEO. But he is very intent on locking out third-party analytics firms.
Blame Flurry, Jobs said at D8 on Tuesday night. That’s the analytics company that sent Apple (AAPL) “through the roof” when its software helped it peer into Apple’s iPad testing operations in January. So now, Jobs says, he’s cutting out Flurry and everyone who wants to track his customers’ gadgets by transmitting device-specific information. (Jobs was responding, by the way, to a question from First Round Capital’s Chris Fralic, a Flurry investor. Ouch.)
Jobs did make a point of saying that he will allow other ad networks besides Apple’s own iAds platform on his iPads and iPhones. And he said that he would allow outside advertisers to track their ads’ performance. But the devil will be in the details; it will be interesting to watch what rival ad networks like Google’s (GOOG) AdMob make of his comments. It will also be interesting to hear what federal regulators, who were poking into the issue, have to say.
Fralic, Flurry and other analytics outfits may still have a ray of hope. Jobs said that at some point, when his cloud of anger has passed, Apple will be “willing to talk to those analytics firms. But not today.”
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