You don't consider it at all possible that "because privacy" is the PR spin on it?

When iAd launched, it required mid six digit buys for ads. Users complained that they only would see the same half-dozen ads. Over the course of the next two years, that was steadily reduced, low six digits, fifty thousand, and the complaints stayed the same.

Before iAd shut its doors, you could get ad buys for a minimum of _fifty dollars_.

I tend to be a bit skeptical that instead of the platform being a failure, Apple realized after a few years of cutting buy prices that "hey, privacy is important".

That sounds a lot more like a PR soundbite.