According to Apple Inc., a U.S. technology news site, about two-thirds of iOS software downloads come from users' keyword searches, and Apple wants developers to be able to buy search ads and improve their sorting and exposure, which could also be a new source of revenue for Apple.

Search ads in apple's software store have a light blue background that distinguishes them from other normal search items, and Apple also has the word "AD" marked.

Apple is also said to offer advertisers several options for searching for the size of its ads.

It is not clear whether such support for the purchase of competitor keywords will lead to confusion or even mislead Apple device users in the future.

It is well known that Apple's search ads follow the traditional web search engine search ads. And in the search advertising market has appeared a lot of confusion phenomenon, the most typical is to buy well-known brands or competitors keywords, users search for "A", the top ranking is often A competitors or unknown brands.

For small developers, this is a way to do "hot" marketing.

Apple executive Schiller has previously explained that small software developers can use the popularity of big brands to market their products, which is generally a policy in favor of small developers.

At present, Apple Software Store already has more than 2 million software, access to the user's smartphone software is often a minority, a large number of software products are basically rocked. There are also fears that in the future some large developers will monopolize popular keywords and consolidate their advantages, resulting in the "Matthew effect" in iOS applications.

Almost all of Apple's hardware sales have plummeted so far this year, and search ads in software stores will be a new source of revenue for Apple's services. Apple's services business has become the only growth sector in its earnings report. But in terms of overall business, Apple is still an electronic hardware maker, not an Internet service company.