Dev Apple Storemiller9to5mac – Apple announced this morning that they will be expanding their App Store ads from the Search tab and Search results to the App Store’s Today homepage and individual app pages.
Developers will now be able to promote their apps for free by simply updating their release date or adding a free app preview video in the iOS Dev Center.
To get your app featured on the Today tab, simply add a new release date in iTunes Connect and Apple will automatically promote it on their site.
Apple’s App store will continue to display ads in the bottom right corner of app pages. The ads include four banner images of the most recent top paid, top free, most viewed and top Mac apps.
Developers can also promote their app by adding a promotional video in the Dev Apple Storemiller9to5mac. Apple will then promote that app on their website and via their email newsletter and iAds Banner Ads.
If you haven’t already signed up for an iOS Developer account at Apple’s developer center, now is a great time to do it.
The company is also giving away a free ticket to attend their annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June to any new iOS or Mac developers who sign up before May 17, 2012.
Apple already has over 1.5 million registered developers creating apps for the iTunes store, and they are constantly on the lookout for more. Developers can sign up in just seconds online, and there is no charge to join. Once signed up you can start submitting your own creations right away via their “Submit Your App” form.
Developers can also post their creations and receive feedback from the Apple Design Review board before submitting their apps for approval.
The company is currently accepting app submissions that are compatible with iPhone, fifth generation iPod touch, iPad or iPad mini with Retina Display running iOS 5.0 or later and Macs running OS X v10.6.8 or later.
Apple has been on a tear lately when it comes to App Store marketing campaigns, so I’m sure we will see more of those in the weeks ahead as well.
We first noticed Apple expanding their App Store ads to the Today Tab a couple of months ago, and we’ll continue watching to see if it’s on the top of any other developer’s minds as they prepare their next campaigns.
Of course, I’d love to hear from those of you who are already in the App Store trenches. What do you think of this announcement? Have you tried out any App Store ads recently?
Let us know below by leaving a comment, or drop me a line. In the meantime, we’ll see how the new changes impact real-world ad campaigns and keep our ears to the ground for one (or two) more announcements before it’s lights out on Mobile World Congress.
