How 2026 changed Apple Ads inventory

March 2026: more positions, one placement#

From March 2026 Apple serves ads further down search results alongside the historic top slot, starting in the UK and Japan with wider rollout through the month. Existing campaigns became eligible automatically, and nobody picks or bids for positions: relevance plus auction dynamics decide. Treat it as expanded inventory inside search results, never as a fifth placement. Apple own product news page announced the change. Start at the Apple Ads hub.

Expect blended benchmarks to drift: lower page impressions change average TTR, conversion and CPT without any setting moving. Split pre and post March reads before judging optimisation, and lean on impression share plus search results structure to hold position.

February 2026: Maximize Conversions lands#

Maximize Conversions arrived as the AI bidder for search results: Search Match on, query level auto bids, target CPA steering, two week learning guidance. It replaces rigid CPA cap logic for scale campaigns, letting bids breathe per query while budgets govern the total. Keep manual Manage Bids where keyword control, negatives or pre order delivery matter.

Bidder detail in Maximize Conversions versus max CPT. Confirm behaviour in the official bidder help page before migrating scale lines.

Fall 2026: custom assets announced#

Apple announced advertiser designed creative assets for Today tab and search results, with 3:2 images and short silent video, localisable copy and an asset library workflow. Treat it as announced until the account shows access: briefs built on assumed availability embarrass quarters. Prep 3:2 silent first concepts now so launch day means upload, not production.

Build the asset library workflow early: approvals, localisation and naming conventions take weeks to bed in, and launch windows punish improvisation. One approved library serves headers, search results, pages and ads alike. Naming discipline in account structure scales to assets without extra process.

Prep guide in creative assets 2026. Track announcements on the news page and keep shipping screenshots and previews meanwhile.

October 2025: pages doubled to 70#

Custom product page limits doubled from 35 to 70 per app in October 2025, with keyword assignment making pages organic discoverable too. Room for intent clusters, localisation, seasons and launches without the old triage. More pages still need distinct jobs: seventy near duplicates fragment effort while teaching nothing.

Page architecture in custom product pages with keyword routing in CPP keywords. Retire dead pages quarterly so the library stays a weapon, not a museum.

What pointedly did not change#

The constants held: exactly 4 placements, CPT billing everywhere, relevance gating every auction, CPP ad variations as the search results creative unit, and Creative Sets retired. Anyone selling a fifth placement, CPC billing or live Creative Sets sells 2024. Anchor plans to official docs and let practitioner lore prove itself per account.

Placement canon in Today tab, Search tab and product pages. Glossary for every acronym in our glossary.

Benchmarks split at March#

Read 2026 benchmarks as two eras: pre March scarcity product versus post March expanded inventory. Year on year CPT, TTR and conversion comparisons that straddle the change mislead unless segmented. Annotate every chart with the March line and note the UK Japan head start in global reads.

Rebuild target bands from post March data only: old CPT and TTR bands describe a scarcer auction that no longer exists. Blended bands misprice bids in both directions. Fresh bands in bid tiers plus country cuts in US and UK benchmarks set honest 2026 targets.

Benchmark canon in US and UK benchmarks. Methodology hygiene in reconciliation keeps eras comparable and stakeholders calm.

Frequently asked questions#