Apple Search Ads

The dominant native advertising platform for iOS app discovery, with unmatched access to Apple device users and first-party intent signals within the App Store and broader Apple ecosystem.

Apple Search Ads, now rebranded as Apple Ads as of April 14, 2025, is Apple's native advertising platform that connects app developers and marketers with high-intent users across Apple's ecosystem. Originally launched to serve paid search placements within the App Store, the platform has expanded significantly under its new Apple Ads brand to encompass a broader suite of ad products including App Store search results, App Store Today tab placements, Apple News+, Apple Stocks, and forthcoming Apple Maps advertising. The new brand operates under the domain ads.apple.com. Apple Ads occupies a uniquely powerful position in the mobile advertising ecosystem, offering advertisers direct access to the most valuable and highest-spending segment of mobile users — iOS device owners. Because the platform operates natively within Apple's walled garden, it benefits from first-party data signals and privacy-preserving measurement that are increasingly difficult to replicate in third-party ad environments. The platform's Search Ads product in particular is renowned for delivering strong conversion rates, as ads reach users at the precise moment of intent within the App Store search experience. As a platform, Apple Ads is significant not only for its reach but for its role in shaping mobile advertising norms around privacy. Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, introduced in 2021, fundamentally altered the mobile ad industry, and Apple Ads — leveraging on-device signals without relying on cross-app tracking — emerged as a major beneficiary. The rebranding to Apple Ads signals Apple's ambition to grow its advertising business into a multi-surface, multi-format offering, positioning it as a formidable competitor to Google and Meta in the performance advertising space.

• 2016Founded
• 2025Rebranded to Apple Ads