Around the Net
Is Apple Outlawing Location-Based Ads?
- ReadWriteWeb, Friday, February 5, 2010 1:54 PM
Threatening marketers' ability to target consumers by locality, Apple is warning iPhone app developers not to user location data "primarily" for targeting ads. "Many mobile developers are
planning on monetizing their apps precisely through location-based advertising," notes ReadWriteWeb. What's more, "There's no clear criteria for how much advertising is too much, and perhaps Apple
will exercise discretion in recognizing advertisements as merely supplemental to other features in many apps, but the language used by the company is wholly disconcerting and is another great example
of the perils of developing on a closed platform like the iPhone."
The warnings come at a time of rapid growth for location-based information services thanks to the proliferation of
GPS-ready smartphones, and consumers' taste for location-based social networks like Foursquare.
