Key points:
- Reports, including from 9to5Mac, confirm Apple added a second ad slot to App Store search. It began rolling out March 3, 2026, first in the UK and Japan.
- Up to two ads can now show for one search, per the reports. One sits at the top spot. One sits further down the page.
- Advertisers can’t pick their own placement, per reports on Apple’s own announcement. The auction decides, not advertiser choice.
- The ad format, and the cost-per-tap price behind it, stay the same either way.
A search results page only has so much room. Add a second ad slot to that same space, and something else has to move. Reports on Apple’s own news, including from 9to5Mac, say organic listings get pushed down further. This began rolling out March 3, 2026.
What’s actually confirmed about the rollout
The timing is specific. The UK and Japan saw it first. Other markets followed by the end of March 2026. Up to two ads can now show for one search. One sits in the old top spot. A second sits lower down, mixed in with the normal organic results.
Advertisers don’t get to pick their own spot. Reports say the auction decides that, not advertiser choice or bid targeting. The ad format stays the same either way. So does the cost-per-tap price behind it.
Custom product pages matter more here, not less
This change lands right next to another one. Apple’s own docs confirm custom product pages can show up in both ad spots and plain search. A matched custom page behind an ad slot is reported to convert far better than a tap sent to a generic default page. With two ad slots now fighting for one search page, the page a tap lands on matters more than it used to.
| What changed | What stayed the same |
|---|---|
| Up to 2 ad slots per search | Cost-per-tap pricing |
| Ads can sit lower on the page, not just the top | The ad format itself |
| Rollout began in the UK and Japan, March 3, 2026 | Advertisers still can’t pick a spot |
What this means if you’ve never run a single ad
Organic-only apps get no placement in this system at all, paid or not. What changes for them is simpler. More of the visible page is now paid space than before. That space didn’t get any bigger to make room. The real effect is a page where organic rank matters more per spot, not less. There’s just less of the page left for it to sit on.
Real-world scenario: A budgeting app never ran a single ad. It ranked at position 4 for its top keyword. That spot sat right on the first screen, no scrolling needed. After the new ad slots rolled out in its market, two rivals’ ads now sat above and inside that same first screen. The app’s actual rank hadn’t moved at all. But the taps it earned from that same rank dropped. Fewer real spots on that visible screen were organic ones to begin with.
What to actually do about it
- Check your top keywords’ visible spot, not just the rank number. A steady rank can still sit in a worse real spot once more ads fill the page.
- Weigh Apple Search Ads honestly, even if you’ve skipped it before. The organic-only path just lost some of its share of the page.
- Build a custom product page for your top keywords anyway. Apple’s own docs tie it to both ad and organic spots now.
- Watch your real tap-through, not just your rank. Rank alone won’t show you a spot’s gotten worse.
AppRankr’s Rank Tracker tracks your real keyword rank over time. A real shift like this one shows up in your own data, before it ever shows up in your download count.