Share what you know with millions of people
Focus is the best place to turn what you know into remarkable content
0
Why did Android generate more mobile ad impressions than Apple iOS and RIM's Blackberry OS devices?
In April, Google's Android operating system produced 53% of the mobile ad impressions. On the other hand, Apple iOS devices generated 28% and RIM's Blackberry OS devices generated 16%. Why do you think Android dominated mobile ad impressions in April?
Events
- Lead Nurturing 202: The Next Generation May 31 @ 11 am PT
- The Tricks to Paid Media June 6 @ 11 am PT
- Display Advertising for Brand Awareness June 20 @ 11 am PT
Related Activity
3 Answers
There are two primary reasons: Android's growing market share in the US, and Android's greater focus and reliance on advertising.
Android's market share has been rapidly rising over the last couple of years as evidenced by Comscore (http://moconews.net/article/419-comscore-android-gaining-u.s.-market-share-at...) and Nielsen (http://www.pcworld.com/article/226339/android_market_share_growth_acceleratin...) data. So that's a major driver.
But the effect is exacerbated by the fact that Android has a greater tendency towards advertising for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it took a long time for Android to develop satisfactory payment options for paid apps, which meant there has been a disproportionate emphasis on free apps in the Market (see this Distimo analysis - http://theandroidsite.com/2011/04/27/distimo-there-are-now-more-free-apps-for...). If you can't make money from app sales the next option is advertising, which means far more of the apps Android users use include advertising.
In addition, Google's core business is advertising, which means it will always both place greater emphasis on it and likely be better at it than other platforms. With relatively paltry app sales revenue, and nothing from devices, Google's greatest revenue opportunity in mobile is advertising, which means it has every incentive to drive it, whereas although Apple and others are also pursuing the opportunity, they will derive a much greater share of revenue from device sales for some time to come.
In my opinion, the very technical and business nature of the Android operating system and of Google is designed to integrate ads much more than IOS or Blackberry OS First,the ad placements are at the bottom of a phone screen and change seamlessly either while still on the same application screen or when switching screens. Because Android permits only one active window and application and only background monitoring, when you return to the same application, another ad is presented.
Second, there are many more channels of distribution for Android phones and applications. That means that Android applications can be installed even if they are not present on the Android Marketplace. Without the licensing requirements of the iPhone Marketplace, there are many more imaginative developers of Android who are willing to develop "free" applications that are ad- supported. Additionally, the Android phone hand set market includes all carriers where as the iPhone had concentrated on ATT and now Verizon.
Lastly, although the iPad had lead the tablet marketplace, there are many more niche Android players who can add value for users either by price, features etc. making potential Android users more discerning and willing to buy on feature sets. This has actually caused the iPad 2 to add features to match what the Android market place has.
In conclusion, whether the Android rate of adoption or "eye balls" will continue at its rate will undoubtedly require cannibalization of another user market or player.
Agree with the other comments thus far, and wanted to make a small additional commentary. We should keep in mind that Google's strategy in the mobile market has nothing to do with device dominance and everything to do with access to eyeballs. Whereas Apple seeks to set trends in device manufacturing and features, Google just wants to make sure it doesn't get locked out of the mobile market, where it can generate ad revenues (Google is, after all, an advertisement company).
So it makes sense that Google would get the biggest share of ad revenues: that's its job. That Apple receives any ad revenue is just a bonus on top of their primary business operation, which is selling devices (and, these days, media).
Answer This Question