When Apple announced their new advertising strategy titled iAd, they said we could expect to begin seeing the ads July 1st. While there were a few apps that jumped the gun and displayed placeholder ads where an iAd would go, the first official iAd has shown up today, right on time. MacRumors spotted the first iAd today featuring the Nissan Leaf, similar to what Steve Jobs showed off when iAds were first announced. The ad, which appeared in the app Tiptitude, first appears as a small banner with the iAd mark in the lower right corner. When clicked, the user is presented with a full screen ad that can be exited at any time by clicking an "X" in the upper left corner. When the user is actually in the Nissan Leaf iAd, they are shown an introduction complete with video and audio, followed by an interactive experience where one can learn more about the Nissan Leaf and be registered to receive future updates.
iAds are a very Apple-like approach to mobile advertising, with a seamless experience that gets the user engaged but also allows them to exit and return to what they were doing as if they never left the app. I imagine that users will be more apt to interact with the advertisements inside their apps now that they won't be kicked out of their app to some web page. Still, they are ads, and we all know how averse people can be to interacting with any sort of advertisement. People were, and still are, up in arms about the inclusion of ads with Hulu Plus, even though the service costs $10 a month. So, are you going to be clicking on any iAds you run into?
Via MacRumors
