Apple's Emerging Team boosts app ads

Apple has begun using a newly formed “Emerging Team” to contact app developers about buying more advertising across the App Store, according to outreach emails reported this week and Apple’s own developer materials. The effort appears aimed at smaller or newer titles that have not advertised before, or that may have stopped spending on Apple’s ad platform. Apple has not publicly announced the team, but the outreach lines up with the company’s broader expansion of ad inventory inside the App Store and into Apple Maps. Apple’s developer documentation already describes ad placements across search results, the Search tab, the Today tab and app product pages. ### Who is Apple contacting, and what is it offering? 9to5Mac reported on May 13 that representatives from Apple’s new Emerging Team have been emailing developers to set up 30-minute sessions. The report said the team is targeting developers looking to start, grow or reactivate Apple Ads campaigns, based on emails the publication reviewed. (9to5mac.com) Those emails, as described by 9to5Mac, offered support on “growth initiatives” and customer acquisition strategy, and said Apple staff could help with campaign structure and keyword refinement. Apple did not appear to frame the outreach as an editorial featuring program; it was presented as marketing and ads support tied to Apple Ads campaigns. (9to5mac.com) ### Is this about App Store editorial featuring or paid ads? Apple’s developer materials draw a clear line between paid placements and editorial featuring. The Apple Ads documentation says the product is designed to help people discover apps through campaigns, budgets, keywords, targeting and reporting. Separately, Apple’s App Store featuring pages say developers can submit nominations in App Store Connect for editorial consideration. (9to5mac.com) Apple’s featuring guidance says nominations can be used for a new launch, a major update or other notable content, and recommends at least two weeks’ notice, or up to three months for broader consideration. That process is handled through App Store Connect and is described as review by Apple’s editorial team, not as part of an ad buy. ### Where can Apple place ads inside the App Store now? (developer.apple.com) Apple said in an October 25, 2022 developer update that new placements on the Today tab and product pages were added to Apple Search Ads, which has since been rebranded as Apple Ads. The company said those additions let developers reach users when they first arrive in the App Store, when they search and when they browse. Apple’s current developer documentation lists four App Store supply sources for campaigns: search results, the Search tab, the Today tab and product pages browse placements. (developer.apple.com) The documentation says product page browse ads can appear at the top of the “You Might Also Like” list, while Search tab campaigns run on the App Store Search tab and Today tab campaigns appear in that storefront placement. (developer.apple.com) ### How does this fit with Apple’s wider advertising push? Kevan Parekh, Apple’s chief financial officer, told analysts on the company’s fiscal first-quarter 2026 earnings call that Apple was adding “additional ads” to App Store search. On Apple’s fiscal second-quarter 2026 call, Parekh said Apple’s advertising business posted year-over-year growth and added that Apple Maps would begin showing ads in the United States and Canada this summer. (developer.apple.com) That makes the Emerging Team outreach part of a broader expansion in Apple’s ad business rather than a one-off developer relations program. 9to5Mac reported that the team is reaching out to developers who are new to Apple Ads or returning after a pause, suggesting Apple is trying to widen the base of advertisers using those placements. ### What should developers watch next? (9to5mac.com) Apple’s developer site says developers can already manage paid discovery through Apple Ads and separately submit featuring nominations through App Store Connect. Those are the two formal channels Apple has publicly documented for visibility inside the App Store. This summer, Apple Maps is scheduled to add ads in the United States and Canada, according to Parekh’s April 2026 earnings-call remarks. (9to5mac.com) Any broader public description of the Emerging Team is most likely to surface through Apple’s developer news pages, Apple Ads documentation or future comments from executives including Parekh. (fool.com) (developer.apple.com)