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Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

9to5mac.com

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Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#241

Post by akimbostrawman »

supermatt wrote: post #239

How do you test for ad effectiveness vs annoyance? Especially so for a captive audience where they can’t leave and go elsewhere? It seems like every market leader that gets ads eventually “optimises” towards making them look like not ads. Obviously they will be more effective if people don’t realise what they are, so how do they account for annoyance (and the other negatives a user experiences) while doing these a/b…

>How do you test for ad effectiveness vs annoyance?

In a walled garden like apple? You simply don't, just make the test gradual and long enough until people get used to it.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#242

Post by raincole »

mvdtnz wrote: post #178
rgovostes wrote: post #104

This makes no difference, because I can’t remember the last time I installed an app other than for the occasional airline. From 2008-12 it was genuinely exciting to see what new apps were being released every day. Mobile games from that era had cultural impact. I bought $2 apps without a thought. But Apple incentivized monetization above all else and killed that excitement. Now you can’t find a tip calculator that do…

I get where you're coming from and your examples are egregiously expensive, but do we really want to live in a world where software is valued at a $2 one-time payment? We shouldn't be engaging in a race to the bottom like that.

No, but I want to live in a world where software can be 'done.' With very occasional security updates perhaps. I don't want to justify why my pomodoro timer needs a subscription model with constant updates.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#245

Post by anthk »

eastbound wrote: post #103
rudedogg wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is part of what is supposed to justify the premium prices, is that they can have a different business model. But it seems Tim Cook can’t leave anything on the table. I’m really going to be irritated if we end up with a premium Siri. It’s going to undermine the privacy aspect, the hardware innovation, and everything else they have going for themselves despite missing the boat on AI

Even the CPU. Windows users lose probably 25% of their machine power to ads, telemetry and OEM spyware and spamware, back to Oracle’s Ask Bar in 2005.

I'd say Windows 98 with IE bundled in Explorer and Active Desktop.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#247

Post by nottorp »

andsoitis wrote: post #154
aucisson_masque wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's shocking that Apple hasn't done this trick yet when everyone else started doing it years ago. I pay Apple premium price for their phones. If they become as bad as the other, what’s the point to pay so much ?

You don’t think the hardware and software ecosystem are superior to the competition?

What software ecosystem?

Due to the previous idiot's brilliant idea of not allowing major version paid upgrades, everything is either a subscription or an IAP fest.

The "App Store" should be called the "Gacha Store".

This new idiot it just ruining whatever was left to be ruined, software wise.

Too bad about the hardware.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#248

Post by willtemperley »

It still says AD in big blue letters on the new version. Not really a big deal from my point of view.

Still there does seem to be a pattern of ignoring their hardcore fanbase: using Gemini, making ads less obvious, making free apps part of paid bundles. I suspect Apple are getting a lot of pressure from shareholders, given their recent growth has been far lower than e.g. Google.

This is not a trend I like and I'm definitely looking for a Linux boat to jump on, to future proof app distribution, but there just doesn't seem to be an obvious candidate right now.

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#249

Post by Terr_ »

mdasen wrote: post #21

This is what basically everyone else has done over the past decade. Google used to put a different background behind ads in its search ( https://www.fsedigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Google... ). It made it really easy to tell what was an ad and skip over it quickly. Now it's a lot harder to quickly notice what's an ad and what isn't. Sites used to have banner ads. Now they show posts that look exactly like t…

Found a series of Google screenshots over time, although some of the search terms are questionable. :p

https://blog.scaledon.com/p/the-evolution-of-google-ads

Re: Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

#250

Post by x0x0 »

atonse wrote: post #8

More and more evidence that the a-holes with spreadsheets are taking over at Apple and they’re completely devoid of any ideas on the software side. I heard someone randomly say that they should replace Tim Cook with Scott Forstall. I chuckled at the idea but this might be a great idea. Apple is having its Ballmer moment. Google did too before AI lit the fire under their feet. Who is going to be Apple’s next Nadella?…

> they’re completely devoid of any ideas on the software side.

Nah, they're full of ideas. Mostly around sucking out every dollar from anyone foolish enough to build on their OS.

They've seen which way the wind is blowing and their extortionate payment processing fees are going to get limited by most governments. The plan flatly is to extort companies for money in the app store to make up for it.

eg allowing companies to advertise against other companies' names: just like google, they plan to extort companies on navigation (ie direct product/company name) queries.

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