Apple preventing 3rd parties from using location based ads. Saving the spoils of visual nuisances for themselves?

Ads. Consumers hate them with a passion, though they’re a necessary evil. Consumers like free stuff. Developers, producers, and manufacturers like money. Advertisements help to bridge the gap between the two, giving end users free or greatly reduced access to products and services while those making said products/services still get paid.

With the big push to the mobile internet, manufacturers and developers are struggling to find ways of making money on this new medium. Again, ads swoop in to save the day. In the instance of the iPhone and App Store, mobile advertisements allow apps to bare it all for low cost/free while still bringing in some moola for the devs. Geolocation makes mobile advertising even more effective as it allows ads to more specifically cater to the end user which in turn increases click-thru. Well, it used to anyway.

On rumors that Apple is planning to launch their own mobile advertising service, the California based fruit company has begun sending out notices to developers warning them not to use location based advertising and to instead use the embedded GPS chip for “useful content”. If the rumors turn out to be true and Apple is simply kicking out competition so they can have the whole mobile advertising realm to themselves, “the pot calling kettle black” is hardly strong enough.

To be clear however, it’s all speculation for now as Apple — in true Apple fashion — is tight lipped about any upcoming mobile advertising plans (if any). Think they’re pushing out the competition to better their own position?

MacNN

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Author: Mike Norris

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Gadget lover, smartphone collector, and beer connoisseur. I've been writing about gadgets for three years now and loving every minute of it. Outside of the digital landscape, I enjoy being active outdoors. I'm always up for a good conversation, so feel free to drop me a line!