SubscribeLocation-finding applications that give iPhone users information about weather, restaurants or traffic are fine. But if they give information to third parties for targeted advertising, the deal is off.
That’s the message Apple sent to developers this week. The computer giant posted a message on its Developer Connection blog encouraging its partners to use the core location framework, but only for programs that provide “beneficial information,” such as the weather forecast or where to find ATMs.
Back to the Drawing Board
“If your app uses location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user’s location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the App Store,” Apple warned.
The company didn’t explain its position, and a call to Apple’s media-relations center was not returned by publication time.
“My internal optimist says they are trying to protect the users,” says Jeff Burstein, program manager for Florida-based developer Mobile Applications. “My pessimistic side feels that Apple could be working on their own ad-delivery system for the mobile platform. Time will tell if altruism is their true motivation or just a way of keeping out the competition.”
Applications and advertising are increasingly joined at the hip, said Joe Berkowitz, founder of Interactive Moxie, a digital strategy and incubation company, and a consultant to media companies building and launching mobile apps.
“Out of the three billion apps that have been downloaded from the App Store, the bulk of them are free. [The developers] are making money either by getting you to upgrade to the paid version or, in other cases, using AdMob to be able to market their other apps.”
But Berkowitz said it appears Apple’s new developer policy is intended less for commercial gain than to screen out apps solely intended to…
Via NewsFactor
Shedeep
Yacine.org: Apple Bans Location-Based Ads for iPhone Apps http://yacine.org/2010/02/05/apple-bans-location-based-ads-for-iphone-apps/
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