• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, May 25, 2012

Coinciding with the rise of mobile, media brands are increasingly relying on apps to reach consumers. Giving some publishers a leg up, Apple has introduced “Editors’ choice” and a free “App of the week” on its Mac App Store and iTunes. “Apparently we weren't the only ones excited about the release of Cobook, as today Apple began promoting the intelligent contact manager on the Mac App Store with its new ‘editors' choice’ branding,” The Verge reports.

“This marks the first instance of the labeling, which has also been extended to Facebook Camera,Extreme Skater, Air Mail, and Sketchbook Ink for iOS. As The Verge notes, competing services like the Amazon Appstore regularly offer apps for free or at a heavy discount, promotional pricing for iOS and Mac apps have historically been left to developers or publishers to decide.

It’s not yet entirely clear who covers the discount for each promoted app, but Apple is clearly taking on some of the financial responsibility to promote its app platforms. Adds The Verge: “The company is also offering Cut the Rope: Experiments as a free download for a limited time as part of its ongoing ‘app of the week’ series, making it the first paid app to be discounted completely as part of a standalone Apple promotion.”