Apple News Publisher is the tool that allows people to set up and publish content to the Apple News app on iPhone and iPad. Open to anyone with an iCloud account, News Publisher lets you do everything from managing your publication's branding to posting articles directly to your publication.
Here's everything you need to know about Apple News Publisher.
What's new with Apple News Publisher?
Publishers can now take advantage of Google's DoubleClick ad platform to serve advertisements within Apple's News app. This follows a limited test in 2017. For now, HTML5-based DoubleClick ads are not available to publishers, nor are pre-roll video ads. From Digiday:
Publishers still can't use DFP to serve pre-roll ads against their videos on Apple News, nor can they use it to serve HTML5-based ads. For now, DFP only works for display ads, including animated GIF ads, according to Apple.Publishers' DFP-delivered ads on Apple News are also limited when it comes to targeting. That's consistent with Apple's anti-creepy advertising stance, but it could limit publishers' ability to sell their Apple News inventory to advertisers that are accustomed to pinpointing people based on all kinds of information they can collect about them online and offline.
What is Apple News Publisher?
Apple News Publisher is Apple's tool to help people and publications publish their content onto Apple News. It's an iCloud application, and you can sign up for Apple News Publisher if you have an iCloud account. Once you sign up, you'll be able to access News Publisher at any time by heading to the Home screen of iCloud.com and clicking on News Publisher.
How do I get started with Apple News Publisher?
The first thing you'll need to do is head to the News Publisher website. You'll need to sign in with your Apple ID, then go about setting up your channel. Enter the various pieces of information asked of you, including a channel name that matches the name of your publication or business. You can also include a URL and upload a logo if you have one. News Publisher will also ask for your contact information.
You'll then have to get approved as a publisher by submitting at least three articles for review. After you're approved you can get getting your stories published through Apple News.
How do my stories get published to Apple News?
There are two ways that you can use News Publisher to get your content on Apple News. First, you can create articles within News Publisher itself. You can create a new article directly in Publisher, choosing from various templates, entering text and images, and picking titles and subtitles. You can also reformat your text, add links, and more.
If you already publish to a blog or other online publication, you can use the Apple News API or a plug-in to connect your existing content management system (CMS) to News Publisher. You'll need to send at least three articles from your CMS to News Publisher, after which you'll be able to inspect how they will look in the News app on iPhone and iPad.
Does Apple need to approve all of the articles that I publish through Apple News?
No. After your initial three articles submitted to get your channel set up, you can publish the rest of your content without further approval from Apple.
What formats does Apple News Publisher support?
News Publisher supports two publishing formats, Apple News Format (ANF) and RSS. For ANF articles, these can be created directly in News Publisher or using your current CMS if you have one. For RSS, you'll need to add the desired RSS feed to News Publisher and request approval. You can switch from RSS to ANF at any time.
What is a channel?
Your channel is a representation of your publication in the News app. All of the content that you publish to your channel in News Publisher appears in your publication in Apple News on iPhone and iPad. You can create multiple channels if you have multiple publications.
What are sections?
A section in News is like a section in a newspaper or on a news website, something like Politics, Business, or Sports. While each publication has one default section, you can add more at any time through News Publisher.
News Publisher also allows you to add up to 25 sections, though Apple recommends six to eight as a desirable range.
Can I give other people access to my publication?
You can add members to your Apple News publication in News Publisher. These members can be assigned different roles for a publication, including Administrator, Editor-in-Chief, Editor, Sales, or Viewer, and they can all be given specific permissions. A member's role can be changed at any time by an Administrator in News Publisher.
Additionally, Administrators can delete members at any time. If you need to revoke an access invitation for your publication, you'll have to do it before the member accepts it.
Can I edit my Apple News articles once they've been published?
If you created an article in News Publisher, you can edit it right there, while article created in an external CMS will need to be edited there. You can also delete any draft or published article, though it might take a few minutes to disappear from Apple News.
Can I keep specific articles at the top of my publication in Apple News?
You can promote up to three of your published articles in each section of your publication. This will move those articles to the top of their designated section in Apple News, making sure that readers will see them when they open your publication.
What sort of analytic data can I see?
News Publisher offers detailed analytics for channels that utilize the Apple News Format. This data covers things like unique and total views, how many times an article has been shared, how many people have 'loved' an article, and demographic data. If your channel has a subscription option, News Publisher also tells you how many of your unique users have one.
Much of this data is available at both the channel level and the article level.
Can I have advertising in my publication?
There are two ways for ads to be sold for your publication: you can sell them yourself or Apple can sell ads for you. If your publication is set up in the Apple News Format, you'll need to have an account with the Apple Developer Program. If you do, you'll be able to use Workbench to manage ad placement if you choose to do that on your own.
Does Apple take a cut of my ad revenue?
That depends on who is selling your adds. If you sell your ads yourself, you keep 100% of the revenue, while you'll keep 70% of the revenue if you have Apple sell the ads for you.
Questions
If you have any other questions about Apple News Publisher, be sure to let us know in the comments.
