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2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results

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Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results

#161

Post by merelysounds »

crapple8430 wrote: post #71
hhoorzad wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I’d rather pay an extra $100 for the phone than have ads all over it. In all likelihood, we will pay an extra $100 AND have ads.

The only way to avoid that is if that $100 buys you actual ownership, like the ability to have your own secure boot keys and modify the software. So long as Apple still owns your phone, they can alter the deal, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Perhaps not even that is completely safe long term, as companies can introduce a locked down dependency, reverse policies (see Google's recent sideloading stance), or find some other workarounds.

Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results

#162

Post by ulrikrasmussen »

al_borland wrote: post #3

I’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…

This is the result of effectively having a duopoly on the smartphone OS market and the extremely hostile environment for post-market operating systems. Apple just has to make sure that they are marginally less shitty than Google, and Google can keep increasing how obnoxious their ads are once Apple catches up.

Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results

#163

Post by ulrikrasmussen »

audunw wrote: post #123
nottorp wrote: post #58

Earlier 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…

You say it's not marked as an ad, but in that image there's a clear blue "Ad" label. Are there cases where that label is not present?

It's not clearly labeled, it is a very small label with white text on a pale blue background in an already very busy UI. It is clearly made to look like a real search result and not an ad. On top of this, the screenshots are clearly made to mislead the user into thinking that this is the officiel Microsoft authenticator app by having a large text saying "Authenticator for Microsoft" and a second screenshot with a "Microsoft" TOTP entry.

This is an example of a company whose financial incentives are in direct conflict with the interests of their users, and so they choose to be complicit in borderline fraudulent auctivities.

Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results

#164

Post by willis936 »

Towaway69 wrote: post #33
al_borland wrote: post #3

I’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…

How does market capitalism work again? Shareholders what higher ROI each quarter. Where does that come from? Profits. Where do profits come from? Selling data, innovation, selling hardware, etc. Biggest profit margins come from selling stuff you have to multiple buyers that costs you nothing to duplicate/produce. My data can be sold to multiple buyers, multiple times to make that magic profit that shareholders want.…

Where do profits fall? In several quarters when users vote with their wallet and let you know about your decisions to disrespect them and reduce their trust in you. It isn't about maximizing profits, otherwise they wouldn't make shortsighted choices. It's cashing in on goodwill that took decades to build. We are a far cry from "only the paranoid survive".

Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results

#165

Post by noname120 »

pmontra wrote: post #124
al_borland wrote: post #94

Earlier 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…

AdGuard works great, it has a native Safari extension and I don’t see a single ad on there.

Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results

#166

Post by noname120 »

nottorp wrote: post #58
al_borland wrote: post #3

I’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…

I hate so much the fact that you can’t disable app store search ads. Like shove ads down users’ throat if you want, but at least give the chance to the ones who can’t tolerate them to opt out. It’s hostile on people with attentional dysregulation such as ADHD people.

Re: 2026 Apple introducing more ads to increase opportunity in search results

#170

Post by FabHK »

sgentle wrote: post #19

Only time I've ever been successfully phished was the App Store. I have an Android phone but I wanted to try the ChatGPT app on my iPad and naively clicked the first result, which was of course a scummy clone. I have since wised up and understand the App Store search results to be roughly torrent search levels of trustworthy. I guess the bar for user trust has now dropped enough across the board to sell more off with…

> App Store search results to be roughly torrent search levels of trustworthy

Well put. So it is a combination of a walled garden and a torrent search; just not sure whether it's the best of both worlds or the worst.

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