Apple has announced changes to the App Store, which means you will soon see many more advertisements. This is going to change!
App Store gets more ads
More ads coming to the App Store! Apple already announced at the end of 2025 that users will see more advertising in the online store. The company will soon implement these changes, because from March 3, 2026, more advertisements will appear in the application for the first users. The new commercials will be added on March 3 in Japan and the United Kingdom, with the rest of the world following later that month.
Do you regularly look for new applications in the App Store? In that case, the search results will soon look different than you are used to. Apple will show more ads in App Store search results from March. These sponsored results are not shown randomly, but match the search term you entered. In this way, the advertisements fit in with the other applications that are displayed.
This is how you recognize advertising
The new App Store ads will only appear in search results. According to Apple, 65 percent of purchases happen immediately after entering a search term, making it more likely that you will install sponsored applications. The topic of advertised apps matches your search term, but the sponsored results don’t look quite the same. You can recognize them by the label ‘Advertisement’, which Apple adds under the name of the application.
While you now see one sponsored app in the list of search results, there will be many more from March. Ads will soon appear in multiple places in the App Store search results. It is not yet clear how many there are exactly, but Apple may soon show a sponsored application among a fixed number of search results. The App Store’s algorithm determines which advertisements you see.
More about the App Store
Application developers cannot choose where their advertisements are shown. They can purchase a campaign from Apple, then the App Store algorithm chooses a place for the purchased advertising. This means that advertisers cannot choose the spot at the top of the search results. In most cases, which advertising appears in the App Store varies per user and per moment.
Furthermore, Apple is not yet making any changes to the App Store. The homepage will not receive any advertisements, the additional advertising will for now be limited to the search results of the App Store. Apple may opt for even more paid positions in the online store in the future, as this is an easy way to increase the company’s revenue. Don’t want to miss any of the App Store changes? Then sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter!
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