Apple
Front-End Developer2013Client work through BYND
Through the agency BYND, I worked on iAd, Apple's mobile advertising platform, on Apple's Cupertino campus.
The drive down to Cupertino. A badge scan at the door. Then the room where iAd was being built.
That room is where I worked on Apple's mobile advertising platform.
Context#
Apple previewed iAd on April 8, 2010, as part of iPhone OS 4. The problem it addressed was specific. Tapping a mobile ad usually pulled people out of their app and into a browser, and getting back to where they had been was often difficult. iAd kept them in place: full-screen video and interactive content opened inside the app, and people could return whenever they chose. Apple sold and served the ads itself, and developers received 60 percent of the revenue.
iAd went live on July 1, 2010, on iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 4. It launched with campaigns from AT&T, Chanel, Citi, Nissan, Target, Unilever, The Walt Disney Studios and others, and more than $60 million in commitments for 2010. The ads were built on the web stack. iAd Producer, released that December, assembled the HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript behind rich, motion-driven ad units.
For Apple it was an unusual move. The company that made the device also designed, sold and served the advertising that ran inside its apps.
The work#
I worked on iAd from inside Apple, on its Cupertino campus. In those years Apple's headquarters was Infinite Loop, and Apple Park would not open to employees until 2017.
My role at BYND was front-end development with a focus on mobile web: building and testing responsive interfaces across phones, tablets and desktop.
Where it went#
The original model, premium campaigns for a small set of large brands, did not hold. Apple lowered its minimum commitment several times (timeline), and in June 2013 introduced iAd Workbench, a self-serve tool that let developers create, target and buy app campaigns from $50. In April 2014 Apple opened Workbench to anyone with an Apple ID, added video ads and CPM pricing, and committed to the self-serve approach.
In January 2016 Apple announced that the iAd App Network would be discontinued on June 30, 2016. The Verge reported that the company was disbanding the iAd sales team and moving toward an automated, self-service platform. That June, ahead of WWDC, Apple introduced Search Ads: one clearly labeled sponsored result at the top of App Store search, sold by auction with no minimums.
Advertising at Apple moved from the canvas inside apps to the App Store itself.