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A post written by AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui claims that Apple’s new advertising terms for developers will block out AdMob/Google and other competitors to iAd.
Saying that if the rules are “enforced as written” tens of thousands of developers will lose out on revenue streams, Hamoui says, “This change is not in the best interests of users or developers.” He then goes on to talk about how AdMob has supported thousands of free and low-cost apps, relates a success story, and makes a not-so-subtle mention that AdMob works across mobile platforms.
This response from AdMob/Google was bound to happen, as iAd is clearly designed to box out rivals (as most Apple products/services are). However, for developers right now, AdMob is certainly the more established player and quite possibly the safer bet (especially as its now part of Google) so if in fact Apple does start blocking and/or punishing apps for using AdMob or other ad options (not that there really are many) then some developers at least may decide to focus on Android.
There could theoretically also be regulatory implications here if Apple really does block AdMob from the iPhone and other devices, as when the FTC approved Google’s AdMob acquisition, they specifically cited iAd as a competitive force. So if Apple decides to basically monopolize its platform, it may at the very least raise a few eyebrows among regulators, which Google may be able to use to its advantage – or maybe not, regulators are a hard bunch to judge (if there are any regulatory experts reading this, please let us know what you think in the comments!).
In the end, however, this is just a logical step in the increasingly hard fought mobile space, and how it turns out will most likely depend on two factors: can Apple bring in the dollars from advertisers (Steve Jobs announced at WWDC that they already have $60 million in committed revenue for 2010) and will developers wait around and deal with Apple until that happens or will they jump ship to Android and stick with AdMob/Google?
We’ll know a lot more in 2011 for sure.
It would be a fool move, on Apple’s part. We all know Jobs’ love for in-house control, but this is one area that it just can’t happen.
“will they jump ship to Android and stick with AdMob/Google?” Please, that not how Android devs get paid. They sell on Apples App store, take the profits and develope for Android. By the way Steve didn’t say they couldn’t use the platform, just don’t send data back to Googles servers.
If Google cannot receive analytical data on ads that it’s serving then advertisers won’t pay for those ads – this means they won’t be able to operate, you know, as an ad network on the iPhone. Of course, maybe Apple will let all of the data go to Google, then this is nothing, but that doesn’t seem to be what anyone thinks is going to happen.
Another badly written article. iAd isn’t boxing out rivals. The only rivals they are preventing from collecting data are those that can use that data to compete against the iPhone. Meaning that they are producing competing mobile products. This IS fair. Google doesn’t tell Microsoft or Yahoo how their search works. If you run a business you don’t give your sales info or customer info to your competitors. This isn’t about Ads at all, it’s about the information they collect with the ads that they can use against Apple.
It’s not about developers either. We (developers) are used to being god, but this isn’t about us. There are a lot of ad providers out there we can choose from, and not being able to use just one of them isn’t going to make or break a product. Seriously, a developer is going to move to android because their ad company of choice isn’t available on the iPhone? Please, I couldn’t care less.
If Apple actually had any sort of majority MAYBE Google would have a argument. Even though I don’t buy it. Apple isn’t prevent Admob from deploying on other platform. They even have their own platform to deploy on that they can block Apple from (not that Apple wants to go there. They consider iAds an advantage they wouldn’t want on Android). If Android fails to gain enough market share that’s Google’s own fault and it’s not Apple’s job to prop their competing product.
Thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough comment. I understand your angle and yes, protecting internal competitive data is of course Apple’s and any other company’s right – in this case, Google happens to compete against Apple on a number of fronts in mobile, and where they have the greatest ability and advantage is advertising, so that is what Apple is trying to block out, not some much less useful stats on iPhone usage (AdMob at this point knows how people use their iPhones so therefore Google does too).