Apple markets "ViP" program for tracking iAd metrics
updated 09:55 pm EDT, Wed May 5, 2010
Service measures conversion rates
Apple is quietly marketing a "ViP" program to help sell its iAd platform to App Store developers, according to an e-mail posted on TechCrunch. The message was reportedly sent to a developer by a sales rep from Quattro Wireless, the advertising company recently acquired by Apple. The program aims to provide a higher level of detail in advertising metrics.
ViP is geared for developers that take advantage of iPhone ads to market their own apps. Apple provides purchasing data, gleaned from direct links from the ad to the App Store, to help developers obtain accurate conversion rates of ad impressions to downloads.
AdMob also attempts to provide data regarding conversion rates, although Apple maintains secrecy over specific iTunes data. Developers must also utilize AdMob's SDK to integrate additional APIs for conversion tracking.
"No SDK or server-side integration -- this cannot be duplicated by any of our competitors," Quattro boasts in the ViP e-mail. The system also prevents users from being served with repeat ads after completing downloads.
A recent report suggests Apple may have reworked the SDK terms to give iAd a strategic advantage over other options such as AdMob. Certain clauses have been interpreted as a prohibition of communication between apps and third-party ad networks, effectively eliminating current methods used to track advertising performance. Apple's iAd platform is also rumored to be the focus of an antitrust probe spearheaded by the FTC and DoJ.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2008
Woohoo! The competition is going to be
howling to the Feds over this, too. Apple is going to be charging for everything. Apple is rolling out surprise after surprise. Apple's mobile platform is going to be so tightly controlled that no competitor is going to gain access. If I was a developer I'd love to have that sort of information at my fingertips. Google is going to blow a fuse over this move.