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Apple revises iOS rules on outside advertisers, cuts out Google, Adobe by implication
Apple and Google's newfound rivalry in the mobile advertising space was already pretty interesting to watch as it stood, and it looks like things just got more interesting still. As expected following Steve Jobs' comments at D8 last week, Apple has now revised its rules on advertising in iOS to allow outside advertisers to collect stats for ads, but the company has included some language in the new rules that seems to effectively cut out Google's AdMob. While it obviously doesn't mention Google by name, only "independent" advertising providers can collect tracking stats, and Apple says that any "advertising service provider owned by or affiliated with a developer or distributor of mobile devices, mobile operating systems or development environments other than Apple would not qualify as independent." That would seem to not only affect AdMob, but Adobe and Greystripe's just-announced effort as well, considering it specifically mentions companies affiliated with "development environments other than Apple." We told you things would get interesting. Head on past the break for the complete relevant section.
Adobe and Greystripe partner for ads that convert Flash to HTML5
When you complain about Apple's products lacking Flash support, we figure you're talking about games and video, but web developers have to make a living too, right? That's why Greystripe and Adobe are working together to bring ads to iDevices all around, with an intriguing technology that might one day enable the real reasons we want Flash as well. Like the Smokescreen demo we saw last week, Greystripe can reportedly transcode the banned content to HTML5 on the fly, and it's apparently impressive enough that Adobe's signed on to create an interactive, crossplatform ad solution (also on Android and Java devices) priced and marketed specifically to rival Apple's own. With Apple's distinguished record as keeper of the walled garden, we'll see how well that goes, but we're definitely interested in other possibilities for the company's code. Full press release after the break.
Greystripe bringing Flash (ads) to iPhone and iPad
Well the good news is: Flash is going to be on the iPhone and iPad. The bad news is that it's going to be only for ads. Greystripe, a rich media mobile advertising network, has announced that a system called "iFlash ad units" will launch in May. The tech allows advertisers to deliver their ads to the Apple devices which, of course, don't support Flash. According to a company news release, Greystripe takes ads created using Flash and transcodes them to run on the iPhone and iPad, presumably in other companies' applications. The company has been delivering ads to the iPhone using this method already. And now an updated version will hit the iPhone and the iPad, including full screen ads. Many advertisers believe Flash-delivered ads have higher awareness and are more effective. But ads are ads -- the code behind them is just code, and of course it depends on the advertiser and the form whether they're effective or not. Yesterday, we reported on technology from Brightcove, which automatically detects the platform video is aimed at, and uses HTML5 rather than Flash when needed. The iPhone, iPod touch and iPad all support HTML5 playback when it is encoded to the H.264 standard. Bet you can't wait to see all those ads, eh?
