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Apple is shutting down iAd 'App Network' June 30th (updated)
Earlier this week, Buzzfeed reported that Apple was going to start phasing out its iAd advertising network -- rather than having an ad sales business, the company was rumored to automate things and let developers submit ads directly. While that still could happen, language in a message posted today from Apple to developers is more definitive: iAd is shutting down on June 30th. Update: Correction, the iAd program as a whole is not shutting down. What is happening, is that the similarly-named iAd App Network, which allows developers to advertise their own apps through iAds, is going away.
FTC: your mobile and social media ads still need disclosures*
We've all seen online banner ads with lengthy disclosures and other warnings that what we see isn't necessarily what we'll get. Think that the tight spaces of a smartphone screen or a 140-character tweet are exempt from the rules? Think again: the FTC just updated its guidelines to make clear that any "constrained" ads on mobile platforms or social networks still have to reveal their true purposes and show realistic figures. Marketers can't use multiple posts, pop-ups or other tricks to tuck the disclaimers away, either. The warning won't prevent your favorite celebrity from suddenly posting out of character about diet pills, but at least you'll know the difference between a pure enthusiast and someone who has some skin in the game. *: This is a news post, not an ad. While we're at it, though, we'd really love it if you swung by Engadget Expand.
iOS 6 spike last weekend due to China, not Google Maps
Earlier this week, mobile ad exchange company MoPub released a report showing a 26 percent increase in iOS 6 adoption over the weekend. The company attributed this jump to the launch of Google Maps. According to a TechCrunch report, rival mobile ad company Chitika claims it is China and not Google Maps that is responsible for this spike. Mobile ad company Chitika says its data shows that iOS 6 impressions remained flat during the six days following the launch of Google Maps, which contradicts the report from MoPub. Chitika, though, only measures data in the US and Canada, while MoPub's ad network is global. MoPub includes numbers from China, which launched the iPhone 5 on December 17 and sold 2 million devices during its launch weekend. Chitika claims the spike recorded by MoPub is more likely due to the rollout of the iPhone 5 and other iOS devices over the weekend and not Google Maps.
Study: free apps drain 75 percent more power, badly built advertising to blame
It's often said there's no such thing as a free lunch and that's doubly the case for free apps. A team from Purdue University found that nearly three quarters of the power used when you run an app like Angry Birds is actually used for adverts. It developed eprof, an app that investigates what processes are draining from your battery. Loading it onto the very old-school Android-powered myTouch 3G and Nexus One (not to mention a HTC TyTn II running Windows Mobile 6.5). Drilling down into those Angry Birds figures: the game itself only consumes 18 percent of the power, while advertising platform Flurry has 45 percent and GPS location tracking a further 15 percent. Project leader Abhinav Pathak lays the blame at the feet of poorly coded apps that need to be made significantly more efficient. He's now working with Microsoft to bring his software to Windows Phone and will present his findings at the EuroSys conference in Bern next month. If you don't think you'll be able to give up free apps, just remember to shut down GPS before you start smashing those pigs.
Google patent could replace the ringback tone with adverts (updated)
It's a patent, so we can't promise it'll appear in the next version of Android, but since Google's filed it, you never know. Mountain View's best and brightest (Ronald Ho and Jennifer W. Lin) have patented adverts that replace the cellphone ringtone. Once it's identified the caller and the location, rather than playing your specially selected "Mom" song, it'll play a relevant advert -- say, for a local florist or the nearest drug store. Advertisers are billed depending on how much of the track gets played: so they'll be paying top-dollar when you take a few seconds to pause before answering to your boss. Update: Patents, eh? As many of you pointed out, it's less about your ringtone and more about the ringback: so when you're waiting for the other person to pick up, you'll be treated to advertising.
Android apps on the PlayBook can keep their built-in ads, won't support RIM ads
Let's face it: a free PlayBook is nice, but it's not enough. If Android developers are to be persuaded to give up soccer practice and hot dates to stay home and re-package their apps for PlayBook OS 2.0, then they're going to need some advertising income too. Which is why a report over the weekend, claiming that ported apps would not support mobile ads, caused no end of fuss. Fortunately, it was the result of some kind of miscommunication and RIM quickly clarified that the updated PlayBook OS would support the ad services that come built into Android apps, but wouldn't support RIM's own BlackBerry ad services in that context. So what's it to be, the shin guards, the cologne, or the keyboard?
Shocker! Tablet ad requests up 700 percent during 2011
Good news: all those new tablets you see reported on these pages aren't being stolen by elves; they're entering the human population at large and -- most Christmassy of all -- they're displaying ads. Google told TechCrunch that its AdMob platform saw eight billion ad requests from tablets during the month of November, compared to one lonely billion back in December 2010. Total AdMob requests amount to roughly three billion per day, however, so tablet advertising is still sugary froth compared to that on smartphones.
Research shows Apple makes top 3 connected devices in US
JiWire culls a requests from approximately 289,000 public Wi-Fi locations in the US and uses this information to produce a quarterly report on mobile devices. Its latest report for Q3 2011 confirms what Apple fans already know -- iOS devices rule in the connected device category. In its broadest sense, a "connected device" is any device that connects to the Internet. For the sake of this study, connected devices are defined as mobile devices that may or may not have a cellular connection. It's the device you pull out of your bag when you're sitting at Starbucks. According to JiWire, almost 80 percent of ad requests in the US come from an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The iPhone is number one with 41.9 percent of ad requests, the iPad is second with 23.8 percent and the iPod touch is third with 14.1 percent. Number four is Windows Mobile 7 with 4.9 percent, and the numbers drop precipitously from there. From quarter to quarter, iOS fell 2 percent, but it still has a significant lead over Android in the US. Ad requests from iOS devices (79.9 percent) are 7 times greater than Android (11.0 percent). Interestingly enough, the mobile platform with the biggest jump is Windows Phone. It's in third place with 5.2 percent of the ad requests, but its quarterly share jumped 1.2 percent. Microsoft recently released Windows Phone 7.5 Mango and unveiled its first Nokia Windows Phone handsets; two factors which could explain this jump A similar trend occurred in the UK. The iPhone, iPad and iPod touch are the top three connected devices with 71.1 percent of the ad requests. Android is second with 16.6 percent, and Windows Phone is third with 8.1 percent. iOS, though, dropped a significant 6.5 percent, while Windows Phone jumped 5.5%. Android was the only other platform to gain ground last quarter in the UK. It climbed 1.5 percent, while all other platforms fell. In the US, Apple is clearly in the lead and holding its own against the competition. Apple also dominates in the UK, but it appears that Android and, particularly, Windows Phone took a bite from Apple's lead. Now that the iPhone 4S is available, it will be interesting to see if this trend continues in the current quarter. Show full PR text New Trends in Location and Mobile Data Unveiled in JiWire Mobile Audience Insights Report 66 percent prefer to make a purchase in a physical store when within a five-mile radius SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 6, 2011 - JiWire, the leading location-based mobile media company reaching the on-the-go audience, today announced its latest Mobile Audience Insights Report, which examines connected-device adoption, location- and mobile-shopping trends, as well as check-in behavior and public Wi-Fi trends. This quarter's report uncovers several key emerging trends in the location and mobile markets that include the following: Proximity Marketing – 66 percent prefer to purchase in a physical store within a five-mile radius. Tablet adoption continues – Tablet usage is up 84 percent since Q4 2010. Checking-in – Consumers are split evenly between liking, disliking and not interested. Mobile Device Trends Adoption – iPad, Android and Windows Mobile 7 gain market share in the U.S and U.K. Mobile Shopping Behavior & Proximity Marketing Trends In the midst of the U.S. holiday shopping season, the study looks at mobile-shopping behaviors between genders and also highlights consumer attitudes toward shopping online versus in store. Male consumers surpassed female consumers in the shopping department – 73 percent of males make purchases on their mobile devices compared to 61 percent of females. A consumer's proximity to a store significantly influences purchasing behaviors as well. Sixty-six percent of consumers prefer shopping for a $50 dollar item at a regularly visited store if within 5 miles; however, when the same consumers are 20 miles outside of the same store, 72 percent prefer making purchases on their laptop and mobile devices. Other findings include: 18 percent are using a connected device to actually make purchases even when physically in the store. 28 percent of respondents said they comparison shop on a mobile device when in a store. 63 percent of consumers prefer to shop both in store and online; 22 percent prefer to shop exclusively in store. "The retail experience remains critical. While consumers are increasingly using mobile to research and make purchases, we are seeing that the in-store shopping experience is equally if not more important, even with a tech-savvy audience," said David Staas, senior vice president of marketing at JiWire. "This holiday season, brands have a great opportunity to not only leverage digital and mobile, but also execute 'clicks-to-bricks' approaches to drive in-store traffic, utilizing location and proximity to deliver the right advertising experience." As people continue to become increasingly mobile and strive for constant connectivity, mobile-device habits have shifted from larger devices like laptops to smaller, more portable devices like smartphones and tablets. Tablet usage has nearly doubled in the past year, growing by 84 percent since Q4 2010. Since last quarter, tablets and smartphones are showing relative growth in usage while other devices like netbooks and laptops have remained stable or declined. Tablet usage is up 20 percent, smartphone usage is up 24 percent and by comparison, laptop usage is down 10 percent. Other key findings include: Consumer purchase intent is 50 percent higher for smartphones and/or tablets compared to laptops over the next six months (25 percent versus 16 percent), continuing to accelerate the shift in device ownership. Adults 24 years old and under are more likely to purchase a smartphone and/or laptop in the next six months while adults between the ages of 25 and 44 are more likely to purchase a tablet. Tablet Adoption Continues, Fueling Mobile Commerce Since inception, tablets continue to gain popularity with on-the-go consumers, having nearly doubled in growth over the past year. The study determined that the tablet audience is very comfortable making purchases on their device, purchasing items more frequently than just smartphone owners, and often spending more. For example, 82 percent of the tablet audience is willing to make purchases directly on their mobile devices (smartphones or tablets) compared with 76 percent of smartphone owners. Other purchase preferences include the following: 67 percent of tablet owners are willing to spend $50 or more, compared to 57 percent of smartphone owners and 52 percent of laptop. Electronics, retail, entertainment and travel are the most frequently purchased categories, with tablet owners leading all of these categories in terms of purchase frequency. Location Media: Consumers Remain Split on Value of the Check-In Despite all the attention and focus on checking in, the jury is still out when it comes to consumer attitudes around this component of location media. In fact, consumers are split three ways; 35 percent feel positive toward it, 35 percent either do not like it or understand it, while 30 percent do not care about checking in. Additionally, the primary drivers of this trend appear to be among males. For example, 39 percent of males claim that they "like" or "love" checking in while only 30 percent of women feel that way about checking in. Not surprising, the most popular check-in categories are restaurants, hotels, pubs/bars and health clubs. Mobile Device Trends and Adoption In Q3 2011, the iPad, Android and Windows Mobile 7 continue to gain market share not only in the U.S., but in the U.K. as well. Likewise, market share continues to decrease when it comes to the iPhone and iPod Touch – in the U.S. and U.K. Additionally, the U.S. and U.K. both saw a drop in market share with the iOS, but in both cases, it still holds the No. 1 ranking.
Travel ads doing especially well on the iPad
AllThingsD has an interesting report on the boom of travel ads in the last year. Mobile ad network Greystripe has seen travel-related mobile ad campaigns grow by 50% this past year. While researching why, they found the iPad has a lot to do with it. Greystripe found that a whopping 91% of iPad owners use their iPads for travel-related tasks, like booking flights and hotels, or planning trips. Breaking it down, the study revealed that 47% of iPad users booked hotel rooms on the device, while 37% used the iPad to book flights, 28% used it to make restaurant reservations, and 24% used it to rent a car. Greystripe found that survey respondents were more likely to use the Safari web browser to book their travel needs through websites instead of dedicated apps. Only 49% of iPhone users were willing to use Safari to book their travel needs, instead relying primarily on apps. The willingness of iPad owners to visit a company's website to book their travel needs probably relates to the iPad's larger screen.
iOS gains ad share from Android in March, remains hottest app platform
Each month, Millenial Media issues its Mobile Mix report. It's full of stats on market share and advertising impressions by mobile device platform. The March report had some upbeat news for Apple in that mobile ad impressions on iOS devices jumped a surprising 11% over the previous month. What was the source of the big increase in impressions? It appeared to be the debut of the iPhone on Verizon's network. Android smartphones still lead iOS devices in terms of market share, with the bad robot now accounting for 48% of the market and Apple devices picking up 31%. Advertisers seem to be happier with iOS devices, since Apple's ad impressions are now growing at 29% month-to-month compared with 23% for Android. Apple's iOS platform generated 47% of total revenues from application sales, with Android falling behind at 36%. RIM's BlackBerry trailed well behind the pack at a paltry 7% of total revenues. Gaming apps led the way for all platforms with 37% of total app sales. The report also shows that touchscreen devices have definitely picked up the love of smartphone buyers, with touchscreen-only devices such as the iPhone making up 59% of the total. By comparison, devices with a full QWERTY keyboard (like the traditional RIM BlackBerry) now account for only 13% of the device mix. All of these numbers, which are based on Millenial Media's analysis of mobile advertising by device, point to thriving support for Apple's iOS platform. Next Wednesday's Apple Q2 2011 financial call should show similarly positive results. Be sure to join the TUAW staff next Wednesday at 5 PM EDT for live coverage of the quarterly call with financial analysts. [via Electronista]
Apple iAds Producer helps you produce iAds for iOS devices
We know how it is, you want to be a hotshot developer, but all that coding sounds like daunting work. Never mind, Apple's got your back with its new iAds producer, which automates all the HTML5 and CSS3 stuff into the background and leaves you to focus on the crucial task of picking out templates and components for your perfect iAd. To be fair to this new dev tool, it does more than merely dumb down the design process. It also includes "sophisticated" JavaScript editing and debugging, a built-in simulator for testing your creation, and a project validator that checks your code for common errors. Hit the source link to give it a try.
AdMob CEO says Apple isn't enforcing mobile advertising restrictions
They prompted some public outcry from competitors and a preliminary antitrust investigation from the US government, but it looks like Apple isn't even enforcing those new rules on outside ad networks -- at least not yet. That's according to none other than AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui himself, who said at the MobileBeat conference this week that "they haven't been enforcing" the new regulations yet, and that he's "very appreciative of that." If enforced, those regulations would prevent companies like AdMob from collecting some analytic data on ads placed in iOS applications -- data that Apple itself could collect with its iAd platform. Of course, it's not clear when or if Apple will start enforcing the rules, but Hamoui seems to be content with the current situation, and even went out of his way to praise Apple's own advertising efforts, saying that "anybody getting advertisers interested in mobile is a good thing. It's not at all a zero-sum game."
Financial Times: US antitrust regulators plan to investigate Apple's mobile advertising practices
There's not a lot of details on this at the moment, but the Financial Times is reporting that US antitrust regulators plan to investigate Apple's mobile advertising practices to see whether they unfairly restrict rivals like Google and Microsoft. As you'll recall, Apple recently revised its rules on outside advertisers and, specifically, their ability to collect analytics on ads for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, effectively cutting out Google's AdMob in the process -- something the company's CEO has publicly complained about. What's next? That's still not certain -- the Financial Times says that while US regulators have taken an interest, it's still not clear whether the FTC or the Department of Justice will handle the investigation going forward.
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.
Steve Jobs: 'we tried to buy a company called AdMob'
We'd previously heard rumors that Quattro Wireless was Apple's consolation prize after a deal with bigger mobile advertising rival AdMob fell through, and Steve Jobs confirmed it on no uncertain terms at the Q&A session following today's iPhone OS 4.0 event: "we tried to buy a company called AdMob... but Google snatched it away." Indeed they did, though that deal hasn't yet been approved by the Federal Trade Commission while Apple's already up, up and away with its iAd solution, so it seems like everything shook out for the best -- if you're an iPhone developer, anyway.
Apple iAd brings ads, cash money to third-party iPhone apps
If you were wondering exactly what Apple had in mind with its acquisition of Quattro Wireless a few months back, the picture gets a little clearer today with the announcement of the iAd mobile ad platform alongside iPhone OS 4.0 today with the company saying that iPhone devs have a billion "ad opportunities" per day. The idea is to keep users in the apps to see interactive, "emotional" ad content as often as once every three minutes -- not to "yank" them out, as Steve puts it -- while developers are rewarded with a 60 percent cut of the revenue. Ads are hosted and served by Apple, and while there'll be some sort of approval process, Steve's describing it as a "light touch," so it probably isn't the same process traditional apps go through. This makes things considerably more interesting for the mobile advertising business as a whole, since Google's been trying to seal the deal on an acquisition of industry leader AdMob for a while now in the face of some pretty intense FTC scrutiny. Certainly seems like this would grease the wheel a little bit, doesn't it?%Gallery-90060%
Apple to announce iAd / AdKit 'mobile advertising system' on April 7th?
Since Apple's acquisition of Quattro Wireless in January, both parties have been keeping mum on plans for Madison Avenue domination, but now MediaPost claims to know a thing or two about the newlyweds. According to the report, Apple will apparently unveil "a new personalized, mobile advertising system" which will go by the underwhelming name of "iAd" on April 7th. The article speculates that the service could be heavily focused on location-aware advertising, though that angle could hit some snags as apparently coffee-partner / arch nemesis Eric Schmidt and a little company called Google hold patents on said functionality. Of course, something that drives a wedge between these two players wouldn't exactly be a surprise at this point -- and we'd be happy if Apple doesn't cash in on those ad-supported OS ideas it's recently had. Really, we're not surprised to hear this may be coming, as a tipster just pinged us with info that an "AdKit" reference has shown up in a special file on Apple's public "Phobos" server. This file, which is called StoreBag, provides a public XML interface into iTunes. That interface describes how applications and web browsers can "call home" to either retrieve iTunes information pages or to request that iTunes jump to a given product listing. What you see here is a key-value pair from that file. The URL string that follows after the "adkit-product-url" key suggests that Apple is about to introduce a way to link ads with product URLs. How will this URL work exactly? It's hard to say without any further details, which are regrettably sparse on the ground, but it suggests that ad sourced product links can be used in a similar way to affiliate-driven links. <key>adkit-product-url</key> <string>http://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/adkitProduct</string> Not much else is known about Apple's first venture into the ad business at this stage, but Steve Jobs has allegedly told some executives that this will be "revolutionary" and "our next big thing." Frankly, we're starting to get a little concerned with just how often the folks in Cupertino are bandying around the word "revolutionary" -- but we'll hold our judgments until after this announcement happens (if it happens at all).
Apple to announce iAd mobile advertising platform
Earlier this month, Apple posted a job listing that hinted at mobile advertising. Steve Jobs had strong words for Google when he told employees "We did not enter the search business. They [Google] entered the phone business." It was always interesting that Jobs never said anything about Apple not entering the ad business. Perhaps this is why. If iAds are announced on April 7th, you can bet Google will have some strong reactions to it. But who knows, maybe Steve was trying to break the iAd news to Eric Schmidt gently over that coffee the other day?
Apple job listing hints at official App Store advertising
A little over a month ago, Steve Jobs blasted Google at an Apple Town Hall meeting for entering Apple's territory. "We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business," Jobs told employees. "Make no mistake: they want to kill the iPhone. We won't let them [...] This 'don't be evil' mantra? It's bullshit." Notice Jobs didn't say, "We didn't enter the ad business." A recent Apple job listing for a Senior Interactive Web Developer pretty much confirms that Apple is entering the mobile advertising business head on. The listing begins "Apple advertising is an opportunity to redefine the advertising on mobile devices. It's an exciting environment and a fast-paced development organization. We're looking for an experienced interactive developer." The successful applicant will be responsible for developing the front end web UI development of compelling, interactive digital advertising experiences. The posting hints that Apple wants to make it as easy as possible for developers to monetize their apps. As AppleInsider points out, Apple wants to make it as trivial for developers to add advertisement placements to their applications as it currently is to add buttons or interface controls. With the iPhone and Android totaling 75% of U.S. smartphone web traffic as of last November, it's no surprise Apple wants to enter the ad business on their device that is responsible for 51% of the market. Last November, Google bought Admob, the largest mobile ad company in the world, for $750 million. Shortly thereafter rumors emerged that Apple had been in talks with Admob before Google's deal. Less than two months later, Apple acquired Admob competitor Quattro Wireless in a deal valued at $275 million. It looks like Apple is as serious about the mobile ad business as Google is about the smartphone business.
Blyk-powered 'Orange Shots' service coming next month to Monkey customers
Now that Blyk's free-service-for-ads model has officially bitten the dust, we're starting to see new ideas come out of the woodwork from the Dutch company that might (or might not) stand a better chance of striking a survivable balance of value and profitability. Orange UK has announced that it'll be launching Orange Shots as of February 1, a program for advertisers that lets them target subscribers of its Monkey prepaid service in very specific ways. Sound familiar? Yeah, that was pretty much what Blyk had been doing all along -- difference being that they're no longer trading access to that targeted group for free minutes and texts. As far as we can tell, Orange is simply offering its subscribers the hope of getting special offers from advertisers, meaning its margins are probably going to be a lot higher here than Blyk's ever were before -- assuming Monkey customers agree to sign up, of course. For now, it's purely opt-in; let's hope it stays that way.
