More and more it seems they're an advertising company that also serves music and podcasts. I keep seeing sponsored recommendations and I'm a premium subscriber, for now.
They're definitely moving in that direction https://searchads.apple.com/
> Microsoft
It's not a huge part of their revenue but they definitely make a sizeable amount of money from ads
Also, where did you derive your figure from? Apple breaks down services, they don’t say how much they make with ads. Even If that estimate was correct, Apple’s ad operation would still be a blip in comparison to the other players. Apple is of course a corporation with one goal, making money. I trust the people of that corporation to be smart enough to know how to balance that and the ways it can be achieved. Bringing ads everywhere is not conducive to that, and it would probably make them less money in the long term. That means: it won’t happen.
I only have one request: know what you’re talking about before you talk about a company.
Those are all ad slots. They want artists to pay to be included in those in the future.