A labeling apparatus for labeling articles comprising: - a transfer drum comprising at least one label retaining segment adapted to receive and to retain at least one label and the transfer drum being adapted to convey the at least one label along a path (Q) defined by rotation of the transfer drum around a central axis (D) of the transfer drum itself; - a glue application unit adapted to apply glue onto the label at a glue application station and, in particular the glue application unit being arranged adjacent to the transfer drum at the glue application station ; and - a cleaning unit adapted to clean the transfer drum ; the labeling apparatus further comprising a control unit being adapted to selectively activate the cleaning unit into at least any one of: - a partial cleaning configuration at which the cleaning unit is configured to partially clean the label retaining segment ; and - a full cleaning configuration at which the cleaning unit is configured to fully clean the label retaining segment , wherein the control unit is configured to be set at least into an automatic mode, at which the control unit is adapted to activate the cleaning unit into the partial or the full cleaning configuration as a function of the operational status of the labeling apparatus , or a manual mode, at which the control unit is adapted to activate the cleaning unit into the partial or the full cleaning configuration as a function of a trigger signal, characterized in that the label retaining segment comprises a retaining section adapted to retain the label and a transition section adapted to receive the label and to slidingly guide the label to the retaining section ; wherein in the partial cleaning configuration of the cleaning unit the cleaning unit is configured to clean only the transition section and wherein in the full cleaning configuration the cleaning unit is configured to clean the retaining section and the transition section . - a transfer drum comprising at least one label retaining segment adapted to receive and to retain at least one label and the transfer drum being adapted to convey the at least one label along a path (Q) defined by rotation of the transfer drum around a central axis (D) of the transfer drum itself; - a glue application unit adapted to apply glue onto the label at a glue application station and, in particular the glue application unit being arranged adjacent to the transfer drum at the glue application station ; and - a cleaning unit adapted to clean the transfer drum ; the labeling apparatus further comprising a control unit being adapted to selectively activate the cleaning unit into at least any one of: - a partial cleaning configuration at which the cleaning unit is configured to partially clean the label retaining segment ; and - a full cleaning configuration at which the cleaning unit is configured to fully clean the label retaining segment , wherein the control unit is configured to be set at least into an automatic mode, at which the control unit is adapted to activate the cleaning unit into the partial or the full cleaning configuration as a function of the operational status of the labeling apparatus , or a manual mode, at which the control unit is adapted to activate the cleaning unit into the partial or the full cleaning configuration as a function of a trigger signal, characterized in that the label retaining segment comprises a retaining section adapted to retain the label and a transition section adapted to receive the label and to slidingly guide the label to the retaining section ; wherein in the partial cleaning configuration of the cleaning unit the cleaning unit is configured to clean only the transition section and <EOS>