Apple poised to extend iAd to European advertisers

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) reportedly will name its first European iAd mobile advertising partners this week, with the first campaigns expected to roll out across iPhone and iPod touch applications by year's end. First introduced to the U.S. market on July 1, iAd promises more interactive and immersive rich media advertisements that keep users within an app instead of transporting them somewhere else--The Financial Times reports Apple's European launch partners could include L'Oréal, Renault and Nestlé, with the first campaigns going live in early December and the majority commencing next year.

Most U.S. marketers are spending a minimum of $1 million to launch on the iAd network, with some paying more than $10 million for levels of exclusivity within their respective industry vertical. However, The Financial Times notes that Apple is in talks with European marketers to run campaigns priced at less than $1 million in an effort to attract marquee brand partners. "Apple is in a weaker position than you'd think," said one unnamed digital ad agency executive. Another exec adds "Apple is still figuring out how to sell advertising. You don't just become a sell-side media company overnight. The infrastructure is missing at Apple right now."

Campaign delays plagued iAd's U.S. rollout, with marketers blaming Apple's insistence on retaining tight creative control over the process. Execs say the average iAd requires eight weeks from inception to completion, far longer than the norm for mobile ads. Another headache: Apple does not inform marketers where their iAd campaigns will appear, and does not allow advertisers to limit where their ads do and do not run. "They are expensive and a pain to deal with," one media agency's digital chief tells The FT.

Last week, Apple announced plans to extend iAd to Japan in partnership with Dentsu, the nation's largest agency group. The iAd network will control 21 percent of the U.S. mobile advertising market by the end of 2010, according to research firm IDC. By year's end, iAd will be running neck and neck with rival Google, IDC forecasts--a year ago, Google accounted for 27 percent of the U.S. mobile ad market when combined with mobile ad network AdMob, which it officially acquired earlier this year, but as 2010 closes, its share will slip to 21 percent.

For more:
- read this Financial Times article

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