Apple doesn’t know how many readers are using its News app

By David Curry January 11, 2016

apple news app iOS. — Malarie Gokey/Digital Trends

Apple might’ve underestimated the amount of active readers on its News app, according to Eddy Cue, the senior vice president of software and services.

An error on the company’s reader count was not spotted until a few days ago, said Cue, which meant publishers and advertisers received inaccurate data. Apple did not say how this error occured, or the number of readers it mistakenly said were using the service.

Cue did say that 40 million people have tried News since launch, but declined to disclose how many of those readers use the service every day or month. We suspect in the near future we will get an accurate number — unless the News app is failing to keep readers engaged.

There have been a few troubles for Apple News, including publishers wanting more control over advertising, and the integration of ComScore.

Publishers are able to add their own adverts on Apple News and take home 100 percent of the revenue or use iAds and take 70 percent of the revenue. However, publishers aren’t allowed to import ads from Google or Yahoo, limiting the third-party ad network options.

Apple plans to launch self-service ad-buying platform in the next 12 months, according to Cue, which should make publishers more revenue. Giving the correct reader count might also help, if the company truly has underestimated the amount of active readers.

News isn’t the only app launched this year with a focus on making Web news better — Facebook launched Instant Articles and Google launched an open-source platform dedicated to speeding up news on the Web.

On top of that, Yahoo, AOL, and LinkedIn have all updated their respective news apps, showing a growing interest in news and publications from tech companies.

Alongside the announcement of 40 million viewers, Apple also announced 10 million active subscribers to its Music app.

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