Apple starts to sell Apple News ads directly: report

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has begun to sell advertising inside Apple News directly instead of using third parties, Axios reported.

Shares rose 0.5% in early trading on Tuesday.

The move to sell advertising in-house could boost its own revenue, as well as those for its publishing partners, the news outlet added, citing two sources familiar with the effort.

As part of the move to sell more ads in-house, Apple will sell premium sponsorships of certain events, such as the Met Gala and the U.S. Open, and have advertisers be able to sponsor certain feeds inside Apple News. There will also be a sponsorship unit as a banner ad at the top of the Apple News feed, the news outlet added.

Ads that are not sold by Apple will be left for third-parties to sell.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.

Apple already sells its own ads in search and its App Store, but had relied on third parties to sell ads inside the Apple News feed. The revenue rolls up into Apple’s Services unit, which has become a strong area of growth for the tech giant. Apple also has a paid version of Apple News, known as Apple News+, that it charges $12.99 per month for. Apple News+ is also included in Apple’s subscription bundle, Apple One Premier.