Apple is opening its iAd Workbench to anyone with an Apple ID, and plans to allow users who create mobile ads to start including video. These video ads are expected to behave like “interstitial” online ads, meaning that they will play full-screen without a prompt by the user. Currently, mobile ads usually do not launch videos unless a user clicks a banner.
The addition of full-screen video ads to more iOS apps could eventually lead to a significant increase in mobile video traffic. The open nature of Apple’s iAd Workbench platform is not unlike Google’s YouTube, in that anyone with an account can post a video.
According to AdAge, Apple wants to expand its roster of advertisers to include major consumer brands. Right now, many of Apple’s advertisers are app developers. If Apple starts to become a force in mobile video advertising, the hardware giant could enter the realm of “over-the-top” players like Google and Facebook, currently the two largest providers of mobile video ads.
eMarketer estimates that Apple’s mobile ad revenue hit $260 million last year, and should almost double this year. Apple is still a tiny player in the mobile ad space compared to Google. But the company has a built-in advantage with advertisers: mobile shoppers using iOS devices are known to spend more than Android users.
The size of the overall mobile ad market in 2013 was $9.6 billion, according to eMarketer, while the value of ads viewed on personal computers was an estimated $32.08 billion. By 2017, mobile ads are expected to overtake PC ads, reaching $35.62 billion while the value of the PC ad market falls to $27.12 billion.
Reports that Apple is ordering 4.7-inch displays for its next-generation iPhone support the idea that the company wants to ensure a competitive user experience when it comes to video. Apple may be anticipating more mobile video ads, or just acknowledging the reality that smartphones have become mini-TV sets for many users.
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