Apple’s iTunes Radio is definitely not the first of its kind. That being said, would it make sense for Apple to allow a rival company to advertise on its iAd platform? Wouldn’t that basically be Apple letting the competition steal its customers away? Well apparently Apple thinks so as well, and according to a music-streaming service based in the UK called Bloom.fm, they have apparently received an email from Apple informing them that they have banned the company from advertising on its iAd platform due to Bloom.fm being a director competitor to iTunes Radio.
Bloom.fm, a UK-based streaming music service, is claiming Apple has banned it from advertising through iAd advertising platform because the company is a competing service to iTunes Radio. Apple’s advertising platform recently started selling ads for Apple’s free, ad-supported iTunes Radio service, but the Bloom.fm had been spending £2,000/month on iAds placed as banner ads in apps. The company had some words about being banned from Apple’s advertising platform on its Twitter account and also provided a statement to TheRegister and others: “We’re a small company from west London made up of just 27 people. It’s amusing and flattering to have been noticed by a monstrous company like Apple. They told us we are a competitive service to iTunes radio, despite the fact we are UK-only and iRadio has not launched here.”
