Taboola + Apple News? No thanks

I’ve been a happy Apple One customer. It made perfect sense to sign up for the package considering I was paying for Apple TV+, Apple Music, and iCloud storage. For an extra couple of dollars, I could get Apple News+, so I thought why not. That ended today when I learned that Apple had struck a deal with Taboola, a company known for serving low-quality ads next to web content. I decided to cut bait.

I have gone back to iCloud storage and Apple Music. I like Apple Music because it has high-resolution music, isn’t as heavy-handed as Spotify, and most importantly, doesn’t time out like Qobuz. What was a $37-a-month subscription is now down to about $22 a month.

For over a decade, I have been critical of Taboola (and its one-time rival, Outbrain), equating them to the internet’s venereal disease that never goes away. In 2017, when the two companies merged, it became clear that what was the herpes of the internet was mutating into a superbug. I said as much on Twitter. Well, that day has come, and even Apple is now infected.

No way I want to pay to let Taboola and its terrible advertising re-enter my information streams. Apple’s decision to strike a deal with Taboola is shocking and off-brand — so much so that I have started to question the company’s long-term commitment to good customer experience, including its commitment to privacy. As it chases more and more revenue to appease Wall Street, it’s clear Apple will become one of those companies that prioritize shareholders over paying customers and their experience.

Added/Updated on July 18, 2024: If you look at Facebook’s ARPU in the U.S. and Canada, it is hovering around $54 or about $4.50 a month. There’s no way Apple News and Stocks are as good at monetizing from advertising or have the market power to extract better advertising pricing. If they did, then they wouldn’t be partnering with Taboola. It makes more sense for Apple to charge a few dollars more from its Apple News customers and eschew all advertising. That’s almost a better business decision and actually maintains brand integrity.

July 16, 2024.

Technology
10 comments

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Om Malik is a San Francisco based writer, photographer and investor. Read More

10 thoughts on this post

  1. Thanks….this is exactly why I read your blog. Insightful, informative and most relevant.

    1. Let Tim Apple know. They need to really think through their decisions and how they impact brand halos.

  2. I’ve been using Apple News a lot but am annoyed by all the ads. Ad blockers help somewhat. Agree that Taboola doesn’t sound like a positive development!

    1. It has been fairly disappointing to see Apple making this move — as this can’t represent meaningful revenue for them, given the small size of Apple News itself. This is deliberately trying to make reader experience worse. Why not just ask for an extra $1 or $2/month, instead of subjecting their customers to crap.

      1. Don’t you think that an Apple News Plus Plus Plus tier for a couple of extra bucks is a possibility, something akin to what they’re doing with streamers?

        1. That is what I would like them to do rather than nickel and dime their audience with such a substandard experience.

  3. Feels for some time now like Apple has shifted from being better than those companies to trying to be least worst. It’s not a good look.

    1. This is what happens when you have to do too many things all the time to keep the revenues from growing and growing.

      1. This doesn’t sound like the Apple we know and love. I wonder if Apple needs a 2020s version of a 2×2 grid-like product focus for customers and prosumers introduced in the late 90s when Steve Jobs was back. 🙂

        1. No it doesn’t. They are slowly reverting to the median of what a corporation is supposed to be.

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