Apple will begin showing more App Store ads starting in March
More ads will arrive in App Store search results starting in March, Apple shared on an advertising help page. The company first announced it would increase the number of ads on the App Store last month, and this new search ad rollout will begin on Tuesday, March 3, according to a developer email viewed by MacRumors.
“Search is how most people find and download apps on the App Store, with nearly 65% of downloads occurring directly after a search,” Apple says. “To give advertisers more opportunities to drive downloads from search results, Apple Ads will introduce additional ads in search queries.” Until now, ads for related apps appeared at the top of search results, but they will now also appear “lower down in search results,” according to Apple.
The App Store business represents a significant portion of what Apple calls its “services” business. The company makes money on every transaction on the App Store, whether it’s an app download or an in-app purchase, and increasingly, by selling advertising space to companies looking to reach users. App Store ads are nothing new, but the number of ads has continued to increase over the years. Apple added ads to the Today tab in 2022 – a space that already hosts editorial curation that doubles as marketing – and in 2025, Bloomberg reported that the company plans to run ads on Apple Maps.
Apple’s decision to rename its advertising business from Apple Search Ads to Apple Ads in April 2025 was perhaps the best indication that the company wanted to increase the number of places it would help its partners try to reach customers. And it makes sense: The company’s billions of devices, each preinstalled with default apps, are some of the most valuable real estate it owns.
