Google Android ties Apple's iOS in mobile ad impressions - report

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Google Android caught up with Apple's iOS in terms of mobile ad impressions in October, as advertising firm Millennial Media found both iOS and Android accounted for 37 percent of smartphones seen on its network.



Android caught up with iOS thanks to an 8 percent month-over-month increase for Google's mobile operating system. Millennial Media, the largest independent mobile advertising network, found that Google and Apple are crowding out competitors in the smartphone landscape, with only Research in Motion's BlackBerry taking a significant 20 percent share in third place.



The company has seen Android device requests grow 2,182 percent since January. For comparison, requests from Apple devices have grown 32 percent since the start of 2010.



The iPad has grown at a much faster rate, however, with requests from Apple's touchscreen tablet growing 112 percent month over month in October.



Despite the surging presence of Android, Apple's unified software and hardware strategy has kept it the largest manufacturer of devices seen in Millennial's network for the last 13 months. Apple accounted for 24.98 percent of device manufacturers in October, ahead of Samsung's 17.06 percent second-place finish, and Motorola with 14.78 percent in third.







Broken down by devices, the iPhone was also the most popular mobile device, representing 15.96 percent of the users seen on the ad network. The iPod touch was the third most popular device, with 7.53 percent, and the iPad came in ninth with 1.49 percent.



Earlier this month, the ad network categorized the growth of Android by noting that it had edged the iPad to become the second-most popular mobile development platform. Earlier this year, in April, the iPhone represented 70 percent of Millennial's smartphone traffic.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member
    doesn't look to me like that gives any idea of how popular the operating system is overall - just how common it is in the ad network.



    my parents recently got iPhones and so far have not loaded any apps that have ads.



    some measure of how many devices are active overall would be needed.



    A statistic that says something along the lines of - despite only half as many units shipped, android OS delivers the same number of ads (or ads to the same number of unique device IDs) as iOS - means that android users on average are seeing twice as many ads an iOS users.
  • Reply 2 of 17
    Google's strategy of flooding the market and licensing to anyone who can make a box is working.
  • Reply 3 of 17
    Yes. Android has a lot more ad supported apps. That's what this report proves.



    How many of the ads are from Angry Birds?
  • Reply 4 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lilgto64 View Post


    doesn't look to me like that gives any idea of how popular the operating system is overall - just how common it is in the ad network.



    Indeed, and especially as the whole Android model is geared towards free apps (thereby ad supported) as the payment system is appauling for developers and customers.



    It's not in Google's best interest to have anything other than ad-supported apps, otherwise they don't get any money. There lack-lustre payment system is just lip service to some of the higher profile development houses (EA etc.) that just wouldn't develop apps if they couldn't charge money for them.



    Just my two pence worth.
  • Reply 5 of 17
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Not to mention that it only measures ads that go onto their network.



    Anyone using iAds would not be included here. Since iAds are becoming so popular, that makes a big difference.
  • Reply 6 of 17
    It sounds like folks here are in denial.



    Let's face it - Android is at least as popular as iOS. And why not? Feature wise, there are not substantial differences. Android is available in sooooooo many different phones. Do we really expect a single iPhone released per year can be so superior that it can outsell all Android phones combined?



    Does Mercedes outsell Toyota?



    Does Armani outsell Gap?



    Iphones, Ipod Touches and iPads will be a going concern, and will be my fav devices for a long time to come. But it would be surprising if Apple can outdo the rest of the world all by itself. It defies logic and history.



    Be happy with your device and don't waste time trying to put on rose-colored glasses to look at real data - it is what it is, Android will take over as the dominant mobile OS. There is nothing wrong with that. No need to feel threatened.
  • Reply 7 of 17
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member
    deleted
  • Reply 8 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Google's strategy of flooding the market and licensing to anyone who can make a box is working.



    Indeed, it seems to be working very, very well. What will happen to iAds?
  • Reply 9 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by haruhiko View Post


    Yes. Android has a lot more ad supported apps. That's what this report proves.



    How many of the ads are from Angry Birds?







    Probably lots of them are from Angry Birds.



    If you were an advertiser, where might you increasingly place your ads? And if you were a dev, what platform might you develop for if your goal is to sell eyeballs to advertisers?



    And iAds are not even up and running yet in any meaningful quantity. Can Apple still make a go of it selling our eyeballs to Nissan and the rest of the companies currently flogging product? ISTM that it will be a long, slow climb, especially given the likely backdrop of an overall shrinking market share for iOS.
  • Reply 10 of 17
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member
    deleted
  • Reply 11 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacRulez View Post


    How many posts will it be until we see the inevitable conspiracy theory about cooked number?



    I doubt that it's cooked, but I also doubt that it's meaningful to anyone but Millennial Media. Maybe their advertisers, although, perhaps not in a way that's beneficial to Millennial Media.
  • Reply 12 of 17
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Google's strategy of flooding the market and licensing to anyone who can make a box is working.



    Has anyone seen this on Lifehacker????? You can boot Android on an iPhone



    http://lifehacker.com/5693309/how-to...yline=true&s=i
  • Reply 13 of 17
    What's really funny in the context of this thread are the comments on this post over at Rovio (Angry Birds) (via Daring Fireball) :



    http://www.rovio.com/index.php?mact=...t01returnid=58



    Android users are bitching like crazy about having to have ads in their version. (The fragmentation issues (apparently it was a problem for them) are fun too.)
  • Reply 14 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post


    What's really funny in the context of this thread are the comments on this post over at Rovio (Angry Birds) (via Daring Fireball) :



    http://www.rovio.com/index.php?mact=...t01returnid=58



    Android users are bitching like crazy about having to have ads in their version. (The fragmentation issues (apparently it was a problem for them) are fun too.)



    I can't go to the link (work internet blocks all things game related), so I will only comment on what I know of.



    Rovio chose to put ads in the game. From a lot of other blogs I've read, I'm getting a feel that Angry Birds is popular enough that many of us who have it wouldn't mind paying to it to remove the ads. The same $1.99 price as in the App Store would be completely fair for such a well-made game.



    As for the fragmentation thing, I'm surprised they're bothering to target outdated devices. From what I've heard, it runs fairly laggy on an iPhone 3G, which is on-par hardware-wise with the Android phones it doesn't officially support. It seems like a simple game, but the graphics and physics engine must still take a hell of a toll on older processors.
  • Reply 15 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AsianBob View Post


    I can't go to the link (work internet blocks all things game related), so I will only comment on what I know of.



    Rovio chose to put ads in the game. From a lot of other blogs I've read, I'm getting a feel that Angry Birds is popular enough that many of us who have it wouldn't mind paying to it to remove the ads. The same $1.99 price as in the App Store would be completely fair for such a well-made game. ...



    Well, the gist of it is that they have to put ads in it on Android, otherwise they'd never make any money because of the rampant piracy. So, basically, you have a platform, Android, that the only way to effectively monetize development on is with adware (no surprise since Google is involved). What ought to be surprising is not the Android and iOS are tied in ad impressions from one ad network, but that Android doesn't have a huge lead. Of course, the users hate these ads, particularly in games, claim to be willing to pay for the apps, but the developers no they won't make any money that way. A fun time will be had by all.



    Quote:

    ... As for the fragmentation thing ...



    As for the fragmentation thing, the important issue is that while contradicting Steve Jobs that it was an issue, they have more than admitted that it is. Users are frustrated. The whole thing is a lousy experience for everyone.
  • Reply 16 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post


    Well, the gist of it is that they have to put ads in it on Android, otherwise they'd never make any money because of the rampant piracy. So, basically, you have a platform, Android, that the only way to effectively monetize development on is with adware (no surprise since Google is involved). What ought to be surprising is not the Android and iOS are tied in ad impressions from one ad network, but that Android doesn't have a huge lead. Of course, the users hate these ads, particularly in games, claim to be willing to pay for the apps, but the developers no they won't make any money that way. A fun time will be had by all.



    Piracy of the game is possible. Would it be "rampant"? Probably not to the degree you're implying. Having the ad version of the game would help mitigate the vast majority of possible piracy with a small group left over that would want the ads removed. They still should add an option to purchase it in-game and removes the ads. Those willing to pay will pay. They wouldn't be any worse off than they are now.



    I've seen this ad-supported / pay-to-remove-ads model a lot in the Market. While I don't know how successful the individual developers are, the amount of developers using this model makes me think that they've gotten a level of success doing it.



    But for the ads themselves, I think that the people complaining are just nit-picking. The ads show up for no more than a few seconds and then disappear. If it's just a few seconds of gameplay that I have to "pay" to get a great game for free, I don't mind it.



    Quote:

    As for the fragmentation thing, the important issue is that while contradicting Steve Jobs that it was an issue, they have more than admitted that it is. Users are frustrated. The whole thing is a lousy experience for everyone.



    Who is "everyone"? The problem here is more older hardware. Rovio had to pick a baseline level that Angry Birds had to look like and unfortunately, it requires some decent hardware to power it. They could have spent more time and made it work for the lowest powered system, but graphics probably would have taken a hit.



    What you're saying similar to saying that people who bought a budget desktop system should be able to run a game released this year with no issues. Most of the devices that Angry Birds don't support are either built for use as a featurephone or are outdated (in terms of smartphone progression).



    The same thing is happening in the App Store where certain games aren't supported on the older models just because the hardware isn't up to spec. Even iOS itself is missing certain features as you get lower on the iPhone model line. Multitasking, for example. Apple themselves stated that the lower models won't get it because of hardware limitations.



    Another thing has to do with the buyer. If they bought a featurephone for $50, they can't expect it to be able to do the same things as a $200, high-end smartphone.
  • Reply 17 of 17
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AsianBob View Post


    Piracy of the game is possible. Would it be "rampant"? Probably not to the degree you're implying. ...



    Piracy on Android is rampant. Not surprising considering the whole appeal of Android/Google is for people who think they shouldn't have to pay for anything. The only way to make money is with adware. (Or getting carriers to bundle your app, but only a few will be able to do that.)



    Quote:

    Who is "everyone"? ...



    Developers and consumers. I guess the carriers are loving it.
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