Q&A: Somo's Thomas Schulz on AdMob and iAd price wars

The battle for mobile ad revenues picked up pace last week as Google and Apple both amended their pricing models ahead of Facebook’s imminent entry into the marketplace.

Google shifted its AdMob platform to an AdWords-style auction, where the winning price is determined by the quality of the ad and the other bids on that impression.

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Posted 21 February 2012 11:03am by David Moth with 0 comments

Facebook mobile could make $1.2bn in first year from six key markets

Facebook could generate $1.2bn from mobile advertising in its first year from just six markets, according to research firm MobileSquared.

This would put it second only to Google, which is expected to generate $2bn from mobile ads in 2012.

The six markets included in MobileSquared’s estimate are the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain - which have a combined total of 185.3m Facebook users.

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Posted 20 February 2012 10:58am by David Moth with 1 comment

Apple lures exec from Adobe to head iAd

When Steve Jobs unveiled iAd to the world, he promised an offering that would revolutionise mobile advertising.

But delivering on that promise has proven difficult for the technology company that has revolutionised so much in the past decade.

In fact, the offering's future looks quite uncertain. So what's Apple to do? Turn to one of your most-despised enemies, apparently.

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Posted 05 January 2012 09:39am by Patricio Robles with 0 comments

Google's mobile year in review

The prediction that "mobile is going to be huge!" has been over-egged for nearly a decade, but the past several years have erased all doubt that may have existed about the truth of this statement.

In 2011 however, mobile "turned a corner", according to Google at least.

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Posted 22 December 2011 09:45am by Patricio Robles with 2 comments

Is Apple's iAd dying a slow death?

When Steve Jobs introduced Apple's mobile advertising network, iAd, to the world, he effectively said it would be a game-changer for mobile advertising. Although some of us were skeptical, who would bet against him?

A year later, it appears that the skepticism was well-placed. iAd is, according to a new report by Bloomberg, floundering.

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Posted 08 July 2011 12:33pm by Patricio Robles with 2 comments

Can 'iPadvertising' save mobile advertising?

The iPad provides a much richer experience and real-estate than the standard mobile phone or even the iPhone. New iPad advertising formats, dubbed iPadvertising, might start to bear fruit not only for mobile advertising, but the advertising industry in general. 

Will mobile advertising finally grow up and be taken seriously with the emergence of the tablet?

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Posted 16 February 2011 11:03am by Andrew Grill with 7 comments

Apple iAds for developers: high cost with low returns?

Apple's new iAd mobile advertising platform offers the enticing proposition of advertising seamlessly integrated into Apple's myriad mobile applications. But according to one developer, the acquisition cost on the platform is around $15.

If other users have similar problems, this could spell trouble for Apple.

Developer David Smith of Cross Forward Consulting recently spent $1,251.75 on an iAd campaign that generated only 84 downloads. He documented his issues on the company blog. According to Smith:

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Posted 27 August 2010 02:03am by Meghan Keane with 1 comment

As Apple struggles with iPhone 4, Android picks up speed

It may look like the iPhone is winning the smartphone wars, but according to a new study from Millennial Media, Google's Android platform is nipping at Apple's heels.

Most interestingly, these new numbers document the month following the launch of the iPhone 4. And it looks like Android's popularity has only increased in that time. 

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Posted 18 August 2010 19:46pm by Meghan Keane with 12 comments

Apple isn't boxing out competitors in mobile — yet

There's some good news for third party networks that want to sell ads on Apple's mobile devices. The Jesus Phone maker isn't currently enforcing its overly strict rules designed to keep competitors from selling targeted ads on its mobile devices. 

According to Omar Hamoui, founder and CEO of Google's AdMob, Apple hasn't been cracking down on its overly aggressive ad rules.

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Posted 13 July 2010 21:45pm by Meghan Keane with 1 comment

AdMob's final mobile metrics report details the battle between Google and Apple

Tracking the state of the mobile ad market is tough when you're owned by Google. That's what AdMob decided today. The mobile ad network published its final Mobile Metrics Report today.

Google's Android phone may be making inroads with consumers, but if Apple is going to prevent AdMob from selling targeted ads on its devices, it hardly seems necessary for the company to continue documenting Apple's impressive sales figures. That said, it's still interesting to see where the two companies are shaping up in the mobile market.

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Posted 30 June 2010 19:48pm by Meghan Keane with 0 comments