After receiving several complaints from its users, Apple has decided to temporarily pull gambling ads from the iPhone App Store. This move is expected to cost Meta (formerly known as Facebook) $10bn in revenue.
In 2021, Apple introduced App Tracking Transparency, which was an updated privacy setting that hurt Meta's ability to effectively advertise on iPhones.
The company also recently developed its tools to replace Meta’s in-app advertising network. Updated guidelines were published last week demanding a 30% cut of sales for ads and promoted social media posts as well.
This problem started on Tuesday when brand new ad spaces were introduced into the App Store. Developers and users began to complain that they frequently received ads for online casinos and sports betting applications.
Shortly after, users and developers went to Twitter to complain about the new ads on the App Store.
Developer Simon B. Støvring posted a screenshot of a casino game ad showing up below his text-editing app, Runestone, and claimed that gambling ads showed up on three visits to his product page.
Støvring tweeted: "I went to Apple’s "Our Favorite Kids’ Apps" section of the App Store, selected an app and got presented with an ad for gambling. Not okay, Apple."
Apple received more negative attention when an ad for "Jackpot World" appeared as a suggested app below RecoverMe, an app designed to help users recover from gambling addictions.
The pause on any gambling ads is said to be a temporary one but Apple didn't announce when the pause would end. The widespread outrage could keep these ads shelved for a long time.
