Apple announces iAds launch July 1


Company says it has booked $60 million in ads for second half of 2010.

Apple's iAds looks to launch with a bang. The company has already booked what is forecasted for about 50% of the mobile spending for the second half of the year. iAds is a premium advertising solution available to iOS 4 developers. Being such a premium product, it's likely Apple will increase that total forecast by a good amount.

"iAd offers advertisers the emotion of TV with the interactivity of the web, and offers users a new way to explore ads without being hijacked out of their favorite apps," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "iAds will reach millions of iPhone and iPod touch users--a highly desirable demographic for advertisers--and provide developers a new way to earn money so they can continue developing free and low cost applications."

For developers, this could be the next big boom for iOS platform. If iAds pan out for advertisers, the ad network could open new doors for revenue and customers. For consumers the iAds represents an innovative way to discover and research new products, but more importantly ad-supported apps should make buying expensive apps cheaper and most other apps free.