Streaming service Bloom.fm has claimed that Apple has unfairly blocked it from its iAd advertising platform, suggesting it is now seen as a rival to iTunes.
Apple just banned our ads because we're "a competitive service to iTunes Radio and it is against Apple policy" We must be big time now 😉
— Bloom.fm (@bloomfm) April 9, 2014
According to a report in The Register, Bloom.fm was spending around £2,000 a month advertising on Apple’s iAd network. This allowed its banner ads to be posted within other apps on iOS.
However, Apple has now reportedly kicked Bloom off the service – and Bloom believes it’s because Apple sees its comparability operation as a rival.
Bloom.fm launched as an iPhone app in January 2013 in the UK only. Users can stream personalised radio channels for free, then pay £1, £5 or £10 a month to store 20, 200 or as many tracks as they like on their device to play on demand. Since launched for Android too, the company has more than 1m registered users.
Bloom.fm tweeted the news on Wednesday, claiming that “Apple just banned our ads because we’re a competitive service to iTunes Radio and it is against Apple policy’. We must be big time now.”
Apple’s iTunes is yet to launch a direct streaming service to rival the likes of Bloom and Spotify, despite taking one step into the sector with iTunes Radio in the US and Canada.
Bloom marketing director Jonathan Clark told The Register: “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.”