Apple Tweaks iAds to Keep Big Clients Happy
Back in February, Apple cut the minimum buy for its iAd mobile advertising platform in half in the hopes of ginning up new business, as AllThingsD first reported. But evidently that reduction — to $500,000 from $1 million — didn’t chum in as many new clients as the company had hoped. So Apple has begun rolling out further incentives.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is offering a new deal to ad agencies willing to make large upfront iAd buys. Commit to spending more than $1 million on iAds and Apple will allow that total buy to be parceled out to agency clients in packages starting at about $300,000.
An interesting shift in strategy. By maintaining that $1 million minimum, Apple also maintains iAd’s original value proposition. But by allowing that $1 million spend to be divided into in smaller, less expensive increments it makes the platform more attractive to high-profile clients who might otherwise have balked at iAd’s $500,000 minimum buy and taken their business to rivals like Millennial Media and AdMob.
[This post has been updated to reflect new details on Apple’s iAd incentives]