Report: Apple News App Draws Ire of Advertisers

Apple News, slated to launch this week with the iPhone’s new iOS 9 operating system, will boast brilliant graphics and quick, intuitive navigation tools. With it, users can browse articles from dozens of publications at once, with results that cater to their reading habits.

But in its zeal to create a distinctive product, Apple News is also drawing complaints from Madison Avenue about tight, unconventional restrictions on ad formats and strict approval hurdles for campaigns, according to The NY Post.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has backed off some of the hard controls previously imposed on Apple News and its user experience. For example, Apple News recently allowed publishers to embed articles with links back to their own Web sites, sources said.

Some publishers like CNN, Time Inc. and Vox Media have thrown their weight behind Apple News, agreeing to make most of their content available on the new app in a bid to maximize readership.

But other brands — particularly those with strong paid subscription models like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal — are rationing stories for Apple News to only a few dozen a day or less.

Some ad execs gripe that popular tools for online ad firms, such as real-time bidding for placements, aren’t yet part of the launch. Some are also chafing at a requirement that Apple approve every campaign with 48 hours’ notice.