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Comment by ajharrison | Hacker News Reader

Apple is in the hardware business. They don’t want to get into ads.

Without meaning to be a tit;

> Search Ads Basic

Why does this not count as "getting into ads"? Genuinely don't see the difference. And to be fair, the product kinda puzzles me in the first place. Is it really only an ad at the top of app store search pages?

Let me clarify for you: They’re not _seriously_ in the ads business and they never will because it’s full of privacy issues. They’re using ads here to help people find the app they’re looking for - that’s it. It’s contained within the App Store to help people find ads. How much rev has apple made from iAd? Prob not a lot

That's literally what they're doing here. Selling advertising. Yes, you can say—and I hope—that they won't compromise their other lines of business to increase ad revenue. But this is a step closer to that precipice.

They've been 'into ads' for years. They were in a bidding war for AdMob in 2010, lost out to Google. They've bought ad technology companies. They haven't been super-successful in the space (iAd didn't work out) but you don't do those things if you 'don't want to get into ads')

That doesn’t address his/her point, though. If Apple realizes they’re leaving billions of dollars per year on the table, there is very little to stop them from spinning up an analytics division to rake that in.

Unless they feel their public stance on privacy is responsible for a non-trivial portion of their current revenue.

They've never seriously compromised their privacy stance that I've seen, with the arguable exception of their unfortunate position in China. This would be a big step off an uncertain cliff, and their CEO has a personal history that lends credence to his argument that privacy matters.

So you think Tim Cook will wake up tomorrow and realize there’s money in advertising?

They could’ve done that years ago but they are not in the business of advertising. They sell hardware with complimentary services and ads are an accessory to that mission — not the mission itself.

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