Tumblr Announces Ads On Mobile Apps For iOS, Android Devices

Tumblr announced that it would include ads in its mobile applications starting on Monday, April 22. Users of the Tumblr mobile apps on iOS and Android will now see ad units in the stream as they scroll through their dashboards.

The ads are a mobile-enhanced version of Tumblr Radar, according to CNET. The mobile Tumblr Radar is similar to Twitter's promoted tweets or Facebook's sponsored stories, since the content advertised is native to Tumblr.

The ad addition to Tumblr mobile apps comes a year after the company first started selling ads. This new move to expand its ad revenue by making advertisements unavoidable shows that Tumblr is attempting to make good on its promise to become a profitable company.

Previously, Tumblr users only saw ads in the right, off the dashboard, or in the Spotlight section. Starting today mobile users will see sponsored Tumblr stories indicated as such with a dollar sign icon and "sponsored" label.

The ads released today come from six partners: ABC Entertainment and ABC Family, GE, Pepsi and Warner Bros.

Tumblr expressed the hope that its new ads would feel like normal reblogs from friends. Tumblr Founder and CEO David Karp said, "The content of our brand partners have created is more than just advertising - it is thoughtful, beautiful, and diverse content that fits seamlessly alongside the best work on our network." 

The Verge reported that Tumblr users will see up to four ads per day. Although the ads were released today, Tumblr said that they might not reach all mobile users until the end of May.

Tumblr powers over 100 million blogs, and 90 million posts are created daily on the platform.