So, the time of year came around again for technology giant Apple to give lucky App developers a first glimpse of their new iPhone software, the 4.0 operating system (OS).
There was a host of great new features included for the new iPhone OS but the topic of most interest to me was the launch of their new advertising service iAd.
For those unaware of what iAd is, it’s Apple’s first move into the digital advertising arena. After their acquisition of Quattro wireless last year for a fee reported to be in the region of $275million, they have combined Quattro’s technology to produce their own advertising platform, which will allow them to serve ads into their own devices.
Just a few months before Apple’s move to acquire Quattro they had a bid rejected for Quattro’s biggest competitor and the world’s largest mobile advertising network, Admob. Unfortunately for Apple they lost out to their titan-like rivals, Google.
If you keep tabs on the mobile industry you may have heard about many legal battles erupting left, right and centre, most recently to do with patent infringement, with Apple and Google jostling it out with a few bloody blows. Although Apple filed this against the handset manufacturer HTC (Google’s preferred manufacturer for their flag ship device the Nexus one, as well as many more great handsets of late) this was always aimed at Google and their reported usage of technology similar to the patents filed for the iPhone.
So the battle has now commenced, with Apple feeling the heat and lashing out at Google’s entry into the handset market, which is becoming a very impressive one. But the move we had all been waiting for has come with Apple’s fight back and now entering the advertising market.
Admob have been ruling the iPhone advertising industry for the past one and half years and Google’s proposed acquisition (still yet to be approved) had left them in a healthy position. Although there are many iPhone advertising networks Admob’s reign has mainly been unchallenged.
Apple’s new iAd system promises some great advancements – for example the inclusion of HTML 5, which could provide great engagement and interactivity for all adverts and should be applauded as very positive step forward.
But will that make it a Google killer?
Even if this could possibly be conceived of, it is a very long way off. Apple’s iAd system for one will only be available in their Apps. They stated yesterday that when they reach 100m devices they have the possibility of a billion ad opportunities a day, at 10 ad impressions per user. This may be close to the truth but are Apps really the future? I myself continually see evidence that disproves this.
Admob currently deliver their advertising worldwide through all phone OS systems (Android, Symbian, RIM, Apple, Java, low and medium spec handsets to name but a few) on the open web and in App. They have a huge market share and one that will only continue to grow. Apple’s entry to the market is limited to in App and only on their own devices, it may slow Google’s growth in one area, but even 100 million handsets compared to the world’s 4.2 billion mobile users cowers in insignificance.
Google recently had a patent accepted for location-based marketing services which will be a big part of its future growth in mobile, again leaving Apple in its wake. I would suggest any attempt now to block Admob out will result in loss of this vital revenue stream in future and one that Apple surely can’t ignore.
Maybe in the future we will see the Google/Admob partnership powering only Android OS and an Apple/Quattro partnership powering Apple OS as the titans clash. But is this really a battle for handsets? Not really – this should be a battle for the open mobile web; one I think where it is really clear to see that Google are already miles ahead and where the future of mobile really lies.
Mark Anthony Baker, Senior Account Manager
