If I try to search for Mastodon on the App Store the ad at the top of the search results is Truth Social. I cant wait for the second and third results to be X and Threads
/s
2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results
151–160 of 286 posts
Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results
#152Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results
#153"increase opportunity in search results" - what a bunch of bollocks
Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
Meh. Context: we're migrating to MS cloud services at work from Google so everyone is setting up accounts, authenticators etc. Pretty seamless migration overall btw, guess our admins worked like dogs. So I post this screenshot in a work chat as a warning (that's why i still have it). All my Android using colleagues tell me "it's the same in the Play Store, watch what you click."
So it really is normal, wherever you go. We're not even surprised about it, let alone outraged. We've lost.
Or maybe Apple lost. I haven't used their store for application discovery since i had an iPad 1 and it was the latest model.
Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s not just money left on the table, it’s a way to differentiate from the competition. When someone is trying to decide iPhones vs Android for their next purchase, being able to say “our OS doesn’t have ads” is big. I hear people complain about ads more than just about anything else. I think users should have 0 tolerance for ads in the OS. It’s the broken window theory. Once they start, if the users don’t revolt, t…
Well, my Androids do not have ads because I can install Firefox with uBO and Blockada to block ads even inside apps. I don't know if uBO works in Safari and I don't know if iOS allows for something like Blockada. In doubt (and for other reasons,) I'm on Android. However I'm not the typical user. The typical buyers just want an iPhone or do not want one, like they want one brand of shoes or a brand of bags, no technic…
There's ublock for safari but it's sad compared to Firefox on Android. Also Safari is a dumpster fire on its own
Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results
#156Google Play is plagued with these ads and they are just scams most of the times. You search for an app and get ads from similarly names apps, apps with visually similar icons, ebooks to use the app you searched, etc. They prey on the less tech savvy to install this spam. There's zero user value in them.
Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Apple managed to become the most valuable company in the world without ads. Yeah, but what about next quarter? Jokes aside, they're not the most valuable company anymore. Nvidia is ahead, I think MS has jockeyed with them on that position a few times and is still on their heels, and Google is ascendant (even ahead of MS as of end of close) after the antitrust clouds started to recede and Gemini started to match Cla…
What will happen to nvidia when their market becomes saturated? That seems inevitable.
Don't you worry - there are many, many ways for GPUs to inject ads :)
Of course you'll first have to dismiss the ad injected by your monitor manufacturer, but before that you'll have to dismiss the ad injected by your mouse manufacturer (or keyboard if you prefer that). Whoops, looks like your OS ads refreshed - drink another verification can! Just in time for your ISP to inject ads. But to dismiss them, first you have to dismiss the ad injected by your mouse manufacturer.
Oh look, another GPU ad! I feel lucky that all these companies want to provide me with the best information about new products and services.
Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results
#158I’m really not a fan of this direction for Apple. One of the differentiators between iOS and Google was a lack of ads, which make the experience feel more premium. Increasing ads, or having them at all, really erodes the user experience. Apple managed to become the most valuable company in the world without ads. Adding them after hitting that milestone feels either greedy or desperate, maybe a little of both. I know…
> One of the differentiators between iOS and Google was a lack of ads Newsflash: the first slot in an app store search is an ad that is not marked as such. Your extra $100 are already wasted. Here's a nice ad I ran into recently: https://imgur.com/a/sq1HFHK I was trying to install microsoft authenticator and the first "result"... I don't want to know what that is. If they add more ads at the top I suppose I'll have t…
This is the same experience on Play Store. 100% of the time, the top result when I search is NOT what I want but something completely irrelevant or downright fraudulent and/or misleading. And Google is complicit in this fraud by even selling no 1. search results.
Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results
#159> Search is the way most people find and download apps on the App Store, with nearly 65 percent of downloads happening directly after a search This is misleading - does it mean people are searching for an app that they already know about and want to download - chatgpt, samsung, gmail etc. Or searching for a topic or problem and see what apps are available - LLM, camera, running etc. I rarely do the latter - using web…
Just to add yo this, the way the AppStore is set up, if you know you want to download the app “MyLocalCoffePlaces7thAppThisYear” and you search for it with the exact name. The first “Hit” will most often be an add for that exact app. And you’ll click it, despite the “natural search result” 5 rows below. This of cause is exactly the intention because the add click means apple gets to charge the app owner for the interaction because it wasn’t just a search it was an add.
Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
> One of the differentiators between iOS and Google was a lack of ads Newsflash: the first slot in an app store search is an ad that is not marked as such. Your extra $100 are already wasted. Here's a nice ad I ran into recently: https://imgur.com/a/sq1HFHK I was trying to install microsoft authenticator and the first "result"... I don't want to know what that is. If they add more ads at the top I suppose I'll have t…
This is the same experience on Play Store. 100% of the time, the top result when I search is NOT what I want but something completely irrelevant or downright fraudulent and/or misleading. And Google is complicit in this fraud by even selling no 1. search results.
[dead]