In summary:
- Macworld reports that Apple plans to significantly expand advertising in the App Store, introducing multiple ad positions within search results starting March 2026.
- The rollout begins in the U.K. and Japan before expanding globally, marking a major shift from the current single ad placement at the top of search results.
- This expansion represents Apple’s broader strategy to grow advertising revenue streams across its ecosystem, joining existing ads in Apple News, Stocks, and Maps.
Apple may be one of the most valuable companies in the world, passing a $4 trillion valuation last year, but it refuses to sit on its laurels. It’s always on the lookout for new revenue opportunities–such as putting paid advertisements in its software, whether users like it or not.
Having started with ads in the App Store back in 2016, a program which was dramatically ramped up in 2022, the company went on to put them in Apple News, Stocks, and, as of this year, Apple Maps. But now it appears to have run out of new places to put ads, because it’s going back to the App Store for another round.
Earlier this week (as reported by AppleInsider), Apple announced new plans that will see extra ads appear in App Store search. “On March 3, 2026,” the company told developers, “Apple Ads will begin running additional ads in App Store search results… For each search query, there may be multiple ad positions available, including the existing top position.”
As the announcement implies, current advertising in the App Store, while potentially misleading for consumers looking for a specific app, is limited in scope. Opening its home page on my iPhone, I see just one ad at the top, designated with a light-blue background, and nothing else on the screen is paid for. When I run a search, I again see a single blue ad at the top, and even scrolling a fair way down the screen doesn’t surface another.
David Price / Foundry
It’s the latter experience that seems set to change. When the policy takes effect, scrolling down through search results could pop up further ads, which means more revenue for Apple. And more opportunities for users to inadvertently click on an app that wouldn’t otherwise merit inclusion in that search query.
Apple says the extra ads will appear first in the U.K., followed by Japan. But nobody is safe: “All other Apple Ads markets,” the company adds, are “expected to be included by the end of March.” Provided, that is, they’re using devices running iOS and iPadOS 26.2 and later.
Author: David Price, Editor, Macworld
David has been writing about technology for well over two decades, and got on board the Apple hype train when covering the original iPhone launch in 2007. He is an enthusiastic Apple Watch evangelist and feels that the HomePod is misunderstood.