Apple Opens Up App Store Search Ads To All Developers

Apple’s new paid Search Ads on the App Store will go live on the 5th October.

The company opened the beta in June, letting developers join the program to test out the new way to promote apps.

The adverts let developers bid to be placed top of the search results on the App Store when users search by keywords, such as “dating”.

To get started, developers first have to input some details about their app, as Search Ads creates the adverts using the metadata and imagery from App Store listings.

You then set your budget, as well as adding a maximum daily cap to control your spending over time, and input the maximum you are willing to pay for a tap on your ad.

To tailor your ads, developers can choose whether to show ads for iPhone or iPad, add in relevant search keywords, and decide who to show the ads to, filtering by gender, age or geographic area.

Ads can also be scheduled, so you can program when you want the campaigns to begin and end.

In terms of spending, Apple said you can determine how much you are willing to pay per tap: “Using a second price auction, Search Ads calculates the actual cost of a tap based on what your nearest competitor is willing to pay for a tap on their ad, up to your maximum cost-per-tap bid, so you’ll always pay a fair market price.”

And with this, you can also enter a maximum daily spend cap, to ensure you only spend a certain amount each day.

Payments can be made by US, Canadian or Australian dollar, as well as with British pound and Euro.

Partners also get access to an insights tool that gives you data on the performance of your campaigns, and trends across all key metrics.

And after a successful beta, Apple is opening up the Search Ads program to all developers on 5th October.

With the launch, the tech giant is also offering $100 of free credit to new developers that sign up before 31st December 2016.

Find out more about the program here.