Apple asking hefty sum for iAds

Apple is reportedly asking as much as US$10 million (A$10.74 million) for the first crop of its iAds mobile advertisements.

According to a Wall Street Journal report citing unnamed sources, the company has been shopping advertising firms on the new platform and setting costs ranging from US$1 million (A$1.07 million) for ad placement within the year to US$10 million (A$10.74 million) for ads placed in the initial release of the platform.

The report suggests that the company is planning to charge one cent per ad view and two dollars for every click on the advertisement itself.

Apple unveiled iAds earlier this month as part of its iPhone OS 4.0 overview. The platform will allow developers to open up their applications to embedded and interactive advertisements. The company has said that it will pay out 60 per cent of the ad revenues to the developers.

The addition of the ad service was presented not only as a way for developers to generate income on their apps, but also as a way for improving the quality and presentation of advertisements on the iPhone OS platform.

Some industry pundits, however, have criticised the platform and accused Apple of attempting a power grab over what content is presented on its device.