In partnership with Condé Nast, e-magazine app Flipboard has started introducing advertising to some of its feeds, beginning with The New Yorker magazine. But Flipboard users need not fret that their app is going to go the way of the web, with intrusive advertisements that distract from the content. Flipboard CEO Mike McCue insists that the app is going to follow a more magazine-like model.
“In many cases, people often look to magazines for the advertising,” [McCue] said. “That’s not the case with web ads. It has a lot to do with the format of online ads. The fact that the ads are eating into the content whether it’s a skyscraper or a pop-up. With our ads, it will have a similar look and feel to what’s in a magazine. In a lot of ways, it will be regarded simply as additional content.”
McCue expects that readers will accept the ads as “a great way to keep content free” and finds it unlikely Flipboard will ever need to offer a “premium” ad-free version. The ads will be full-page, and it looks as if they will simply appear between the occasional story as readers flip from one to the next. Other Condé Nast publications, such as Wired and Bon Appétit, are expected to follow with Flipboard ads of their own.
Er, I’ve spent many, many hours reading ebooks on my Galaxy Tab …