Apple could soon bring ads to its other native apps that are available on its devices, including the iPhone.
In the latest edition of the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple has already tested adding ads to search results in the Maps app. Gurman also believes that Apple's Books and Podcasts apps could also have ads appear on their storefronts in the future as well.
It would not be the first time Apple introduced ads into its native apps, as the iPhone maker does have ads appearing on its other services. The most notable one is the App Store, where there are two ways for an ad to be displayed on the digital storefront — one in the Search tab with the first result under "Suggested" displaying an ad, while the other has an ad that will display first before the organic results.
However, reports from MacRumors, 9to5Mac, and Apple Insider suggest that Apple is also planning to display ads on the App Store's "Today" tab.
More interestingly, Gurman notes that Apple could create a cheaper, ad-supported tier for its streaming service, Apple TV+. Currently, the service costs $4.99 a month, where mostly everything is ad-free, with the exception being the Friday Night Baseball live streams, which show commercials.
Apple looking at ways to expand its ad business comes as no surprise. As reported earlier this year by Insider, the research firm Omdia noted that Apple's ad business grew by 238 percent in 2021, generating nearly $4 billion in revenue annually from advertisement alone.
Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.