Apple pushes new native ad format for Apple News sponsored posts
Sponsored posts are set to come to the Apple News app thanks to a new native banner format which will see paid for articles sit alongside editorial content in users' feeds.
Marketing material will merge seamlessly with stories from publishers and will be set in the same font alongside a small badge which will read 'Sponsored' in order to "blend in" according to a specification document from the tech giant.
Individual Apple News content feeds are currently aggregated based on users' tastes and reading behaviors mixed in with select 'top story' picks curated by Apple's team of editors.
The new native ads have been specifically designed to pop up in readers' content feeds between ordinary articles, and could give sponsored content the opportunity to remain prominent within the app. They can be submitted through the iAd service.
Apple News partners include the Guardian and the New York Times, and the firm has been making efforts to bolster its News team of late with The Drum reporting yesterday (14 March) that the company has poached the editor of Wired.co.uk, Michael Rundle, to lead its tech coverage out of the UK.
Interestingly, the tech giant is currently recruiting for a commercial manager to work alongside media owners in London.
Apple has reportedly been trying to monetise its News product since last year, with plans seemingly in motion to launch a subscription-based content model, giving publications with a paywall a whole new audience to tap.