- Apple launched a new ad format, Search Tab Ads, earlier this month.
- The ads appear atop the list of “suggested apps” on the App Store search tab.
- Advertisers told Insider that so far the ads are expensive and haven’t delivered meaningful results.
Apple earlier this month launched a new type of ad within the App Store to help developers drive awareness of their apps – but advertisers and mobile ad experts told Insider the new format is expensive and that performance has been underwhelming so far.
Apple’s “search tab campaigns” launched on May 5, just a few days after Apple began rolling out a major privacy update, requiring app owners to get users’ permission in order to track them across other apps and websites.
Early indications have suggested that user opt-in rates for the so-called AppTrackingTransparency pop-ups have been fairly low, making it more difficult for advertisers to precision-target audiences and measure the results of their campaigns. Some experts have predicted that if in-app ads becomes less effective as a result of the privacy changes, advertisers will shift spending to other forms of advertising.