iLounge

Apple has cut the minimum buy for its iAd mobile advertising platform in half, according to a new report. AllThingsD reports that Apple has reduced the entry cost from $1 million to $500,000, in order to appeal to smaller-scale advertisers that couldn’t afford to initial entry cost. “This new minimum buy is a great step forward and a necessary one, I think,” said Mark Read, CEO of WPP Digital, the digital arm of global ad firm WPP. “Lowering the minimum buy to $500,000 from $1 million will certainly make the platform more appealing.” Despite claims of more than 60 successful brand campaigns by Apple, the report notes that some developers saw their fill rates—the percentage of ad inventory actually filled with an ad—decline in the early part of 2011; the lower minimum ad buy is likely meant to reverse than trend and bring more brands into the fold. “Apple isn’t necessarily targeting television ad budgets with iAds, but brand budgets,” said Read. “It’s after whatever portion of the Net advertising budget that it can get by offering access to this developing mobile demographic, which is a pretty valuable one.”