Even with apps being as easy as they are to deliver to consumers, being a developer in the App Store is a stressful endeavor. Sure, having a piece of code out there is fun, but getting it to rise to the top of the heap is no easy undertaking.

The thing that most developers find fairly quickly is that it is very hard to get any good exposure. Traditional media (TV, anything print) ads are far too expensive for most app developers, so they tend to gravitate towards app sites like 148Apps. We offer our own advertising and write reviews and articles, but there are just too many apps out there to cover them all, so we have to make snap judgements on first impressions.

To many developers delight, Apple is rolling out iAd For Developers so that they can “promote (their) app(s) to millions of (built in) users across the iAd Network”. According to BusinessInsider, Apple will be initially charging 25 cents per click for iAd for Developers.” rather than their million dollar contract spots on their current iAd’s, so the system will be rather affordable.

Maybe now the developers will feel that they can market their apps on the cheap without hiring a PR firm. Will anybody click on the ads/will we start to resent companies for invading our screen with advertisements? Maybe, but as they say, “any press is good press”.

[ Via BusinessInsider ]

Apple’s new iAd mobile advertising platform looks to be gearing up for its launch on July 1st with test ads and spaces for iAds appearing in apps on the App Store.

iAd offers a way for developers to make money from free applications by including advertising spaces within their apps that are then filled by Apple’s new service. iAd looks to deliver more engaging advertising by comparison the traditional mobile ads that Steve Jobs seems particularly averse to.

iLounge points to a selection of applications from Avantar that are currently showing spaces for iAd adverts and, at one point, included “iAd integration” in release notes before changing the information to “minor bug fixes”. Whether or not Apple had a hand in this change is unclear although the big space within the app interfaces reading “Test Advertisement” next to the Apple logo would be a dead giveaway if they were going for some secrecy.

[ via iLounge ]

A lot of attention has been given to section 3.3.1 in Apple’s that developer agreement. That clause forbids apps in the app store that are developed with intermediary programing environments. There is another update in the developer agreement that has the potential to be far more limiting to app developers.

Section 3.3.9 states in part that:

…the use of third party software in Your Application to collect and send Device Data to a third party for processing or analysis is expressly prohibited.

This section states that an application may not include a third party library in your application that collects device data and sends it to another party for processing. The key to this is the “Device Data” in that clause. We can hopefully assume that device data would mean things that relate to a device and not an app. For instance you can’t collect the UDID, a unique device identification number, the OS or device version number, and maybe even the location. You are still free to collect and send to be processed app usage data, that the user launches your app at 9am and uses it for 4 minutes for example. What features they use on your app, etc.

While this is restrictive, it does not specifically lock out all analytics and advertising companies. But it does put them at a distinct disadvantage.

Peter Farago, VP of Marketing for Flurry, a leading mobile app analytics company, has had a chance to read over this clause and is looking for further clarification from Apple: “We are seeking clarification from Apple directly. The move appears directed at ad networks, analytics providers and others. The language, as written, would cause Flurry to modify some of what it collects. However, there is no way to understand this fully without working with Apple.”

All mobile advertising companies collect data. They collect demographic and usage data to target ads. They also collect data to determine what ads are clicked on. And they collect data about what ads are served. If Apple decides to enforce section 3.3.9 in it’s strictest form, this will not allow ad companies to operate in a way that would allow them to be competitive with iAd since iAd doesn’t have to abide by these restrictions.

Developer Mark Johnson comments, “Targeting ads raises click through rates – that makes the ad network look like better to it’s clients and it allows them to maximize revenue from publisher ad space. Apple is going to launch it’s own ad network, that’s why they are banning third parties from gathering app usage data – to keep compeating ad networks from using that data for targetting.”

This clause seems to create a scenario where Apple has a distinct advantage over other mobile ad platforms. That advantage has the potential to make a huge difference to developers trying to monetize their applications with ads.