An open letter written by Tim Cook back in 2014 contrasted Apple with ad-funded services where customers are the product. That letter has been removed from the company’s website ahead of ads coming to Apple Maps for the first time.
Apple commenter John Gruber has suggested that incoming CEO John Ternus should pull the plug on this and the rest of the company’s ad business …
Gruber quotes from that 2014 letter:
Cook acknowledged that the company does sell ads to app developers, but said this was done under very strict privacy protections. Gruber says he has no doubt that this remains true today, but questions the optics of what has become an increasingly grubby business.
We’ve all had the experience of searching for an app by name and seeing paid ads ahead of the actual app we were looking for, and those ads are often for very low-quality apps. This is a terrible user interface experience as well as a poor look for Apple.
Gruber argues that the optics matter more than the privacy protections.
Personally, I couldn’t agree more. How about you? Please take our poll and share your thoughts in the comments.
- Official Apple Store on Amazon
- Discounted AirPods Pro 3
- Wireless CarPlay adapter
- AirTag holders and accessories
- Mac Pro-style Mac mini casing
- NordVPN – privacy-first VPN with no logs and independent audits to verify
Photo by James Ting on Unsplash
