Join us Dec. 1-3 in New Orleans for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit
Apple is automatically refunding buyers that bought axed ad-block app Peace
In what’s a rare move for Apple, the company is automatically refunding people who downloaded ad-block app Peace, which was abruptly pulled less than 24 hours after it debuted on the App Store last week.
“As far as I know, this effectively never happens,” developer Marco Arment wrote on his blog saying that Apple is taking the initiative in issuing refunds, rather than having people request their money through a “clunky process.”
Apple released iOS 9 last Wednesday, the first Apple operating system that lets people block ads much to the horror of publishers who make money from them.
Peace quickly topped the paid apps category in the App Store, outpacing similar apps on last Thursday. Despite the sudden success, Arment pulled the app from the store on Friday saying that it “just doesn’t feel good.”
Roughly 13,000 people will be alerted over the next few days with an e-mail them of the $2.99 refund. Arment still apparently feels guilty about the whole ordeal saying he’s “actually happy” with Apple refunding buyers:
Today, Apple made the decision for me, in a way that I didn’t even think was possible, and I’m actually happy — or at least, as happy as someone can be who just made a lot of money on a roller coaster of surprise, guilt, and stress, then lost it all suddenly in a giant, unexpected reset that actually resolves things pretty well.
People’s enthusiasm for ad-blocking apps hasn’t waned, though. Crystal ($.99) ranks in first place in the Paid category with the pricier Purify Blocker ($3.99) settling in the fourth slot.
Photo via Flickr.
More in Media
Forbes launches dynamic AI paywall as it ramps up post-search commercial diversification plans
For the latest Inside the publisher C-Suite series, Digiday spoke to Forbes CEO Sherry Phillips on its AI-era playbook, starting with its AI-powered dynamic paywall to new creator-led commercial opportunities.
Creators embrace Beehiiv’s push beyond newsletters
Creators are embracing Beehiiv’s new website, product and analytics tools to help them grow beyond the competitive newsletter space.
Media Briefing: Publishers turn to paid audience acquisition tactics to tackle traffic losses
Publishers facing declining organic traffic are buying audiences through paid ads and traffic arbitrage, and using AI tools to do it.