Report Reveals Apple News Brings Publishers Much Higher Traffic But a Lot Less Ad Revenue

An extensive new report by Slate has revealed the challenges publishers are facing when it comes to profiting from Apple News despite the platform's growing readership.

According to the report, page views on Apple News have roughly tripled since September 2017, and the app has now surpassed Facebook as a driver of readership.

apple news midterm elections 2018
Unlike Google and Facebook however, Apple News hosts content within the app instead of sending readers to the original website, depriving publishers of ad revenue.

In a stark example, Slate revealed that it earns more money from an article that gets 50,000 page views on its own site than it does from 54 million views on Apple News.

Apple News has so far offered publishers few opportunities for generating ad revenue, although Apple recently added support for Google's industry standard ad-serving tool DoubleClick.

Still, Apple's privacy policy ensures limitations: Google's ad manager can serve traditional banner ads including animated GIF ads, but it can't yet be used to serve HTML5-based ads or pre-roll video ads.

Despite the struggle, publishers are reportedly continuing to embrace Apple News in the hope that things will eventually change and given the huge potential opportunities for exposure that the platform offers. The app now comes pre-installed on all new Macs and iOS devices in countries where Apple News is available.

Apple has also reportedly urged major U.S. newspapers about adding their content to the Texture magazine app that Apple purchased in March, with a view to eventually integrating the subscription-based service into Apple News.

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

18 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Wednesday November 27, 2024 5:05 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in early December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as...
iphone 16 pro models 1

12 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Friday November 29, 2024 5:17 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Rectangle Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Already Rumored to Have These 8 New Features

Wednesday November 27, 2024 12:19 pm PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch for 10 more months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. An imaginative iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models so far: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro ...
Whatsapp Feature

WhatsApp to Drop Support for These iPhones Starting May 2025

Monday December 2, 2024 2:57 am PST by
WhatsApp is set to end support for iOS versions older than iOS 15.1 from May next year, removing the chat platform's compatibility with several iPhone models in the process. From May 5, 2025, WhatsApp will no longer be compatible with iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus models. Users with those devices won't be able to access the encrypted chat service after the specified date unless they ...
Apple AI Command Center Concept Mock 3

Apple Expected to Launch This All-New Device Next Year

Wednesday November 27, 2024 1:05 pm PST by
Apple is expected to kick off 2025 by launching an all-new smart home hub, also referred to as a "command center," as early as March. The hub is expected to feature around a six-inch display that can be attached to a tabletop base with a speaker, or mounted on a wall. The device is said to run a new "homeOS" operating system with a customizable widget-focused home screen, and it is expected...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 17 Designs Revealed!

Friday November 29, 2024 9:34 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the recently leaked design of the iPhone 17 "Air" and iPhone 17 Pro. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Earlier this week, a report from The Information's Wayne Ma revealed that the iPhone 17 Air will have a thickness of between 5mm and 6mm, which would make it the thinnest iPhone ever. In comparison, iPhone ...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Expected Next Year: Here's What We Know

Thursday November 28, 2024 3:30 am PST by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch sometime in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as...
Cyber Monday Deals Feature 2022

Apple Cyber Week Deals Available Now: AirPods, iPads, and More

Sunday December 1, 2024 7:52 am PST by
Although Black Friday has ended, Cyber Week is here and you can find great deals on numerous Apple devices right now. This includes big savings on AirPods, Apple Watch, MacBook Air, iPad, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Specifically,...

Top Rated Comments

redneckitengineer Avatar
81 months ago
Just use Adblock, like 1BlockerX. Surf the websites ad-free. I’m sorry but banner ads are about all I can stand. The stupid rolling ads, and the full page ads are a nuisance. Vote with your wallet, block them until they get reasonable.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redneckitengineer Avatar
81 months ago
It's sure horrid the websites you enjoy great content from would want to make money for their hard work. I get that you might hate ads but this is how they pay the bills. Don't be surprised if they shut down or start charging a subscription. You expect to get paid for the work you do at your job, they do too.

Block them until they get reasonable? Really? You think showing a few unobtrusive ads isn't reasonable? What would you consider reasonable (keeping in mind that they need to be able to make enough to justify putting in the time and effort to create this content)?
What an entitled point of view.
I take it you both work in media? Because that’s the ONLY person who willingly accepts badgering, nuisance, invasive and tracking advertisements. I guess you totally missed what I said. Let me try and make it easier for you to understand a second time. I said that I accept banner ads. I do not accept bandwidth heavy auto play videos, ads that force me to click off them, scrolling ads that impede my ability to read the article.

If that makes me entitled, so be it. Forbes and NYT paywall.. I just go elsewhere now. By forcing them to lose revenue on adblockers, they are learning what types of ads were are willing to accept.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redneckitengineer Avatar
81 months ago
The news app would be nothing without the articles. Apple needs to step up and pay the publishers what they deserve.
500k views earns more than 54 million views?! Come on Apple!
The difference here is how ads are presented.

AppleNews:
1. Banner only
2. Hard to accidentally click

Direct website:
1. Higher quantity of ads
2. Full screen unavoidable ads
3. Scrolling ads
4. Cross site tracking
5. Auto play video ads
6. Deceiving layout to encourage accidental clicking on ads disguised as fake news articles

It’s not about the ads, it’s how they present them and force them upon the user as to why they aren’t making enough.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
elpamyelhsa Avatar
81 months ago
News sites figured out how to monetise viewership by employing things like moving adverts that get accidentally clicked and forced pre-roll videos that steal our time. Now they are unhappy people are changing the way they read news to avoid these annoying things.

I feel sorry they are loosing money from this, they do need to make money after all, but on the positive side this may lead to more moral revenue paths for them.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Christoffee Avatar
81 months ago
Just use Adblock, like 1BlockerX. Surf the websites ad-free. I’m sorry but banner ads are about all I can stand. The stupid rolling ads, and the full page ads are a nuisance. Vote with your wallet, block them until they get reasonable.
I was all against adblockers, sympathetic to the cause. Then I got a nasty piece of adware on my Mac. Easily removed, but the the narrative said that it comes down with adverts. So, the baby went out with the bath water and I now adblock.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BigMcGuire Avatar
81 months ago
Why not pay for a subscription? Ads gone.
And read public service, guaranteed ad free
I tried this. I paid for WSJ and Economist. Do you think that got rid of ads? Nope. Still tons of ads. Same thing for LA Times and NYT. If this were the case, I'd be all over paying subscriptions. Last news subscription I had was 3+ years ago. They advertised themselves out of my wallet.

Last few years I've found a lot of happiness in books. No ads, able to concentrate, the president of the USA doesn't come up every other (or every) article, and I can enjoy what I read for days/weeks.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)