The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Apple is aiming to charge close to US$1 million for premium advertising slots on its new iAd platform. According to sources, Apple has indicated it could charge as much as US$10 million to be part of a handful of marketers at the launch. Ad executives say they are used to paying between US$100,000 and US$200,000 for similar mobile deals. Ads are likely to start appearing in applications on its iPhone and iPod Touch devices in June, and its iPad later in the year, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Apple says app developers will receive 60 percent of the revenue with Apple getting the other 40 percent.
Overall, 85 million iPhones and iPod touches have been sold to date worldwide, and Apple estimates users spend 30 minutes a day using applications. So, it’s still a large audience made up mostly of the types of affluent consumers marketers like to reach. Whether it’s worth as much Apple says is the $1 million (or $10 million) question.
A survey released by mobile ad network Millennial Media last November found that one-third of ad agencies expect to spend between $100,000 and $250,000 on mobile advertising in 2010, up 22% from a year ago, and 15% plan to devote more than $1 million to mobile efforts.
