Android continues to make big strides in mobile advertising. The Google-backed mobile operating system has caught up to Apple’s iOS in terms of ad impressions, according to new data from ad network Millennial Media.
Details: Android and iOS were tied at 37% in October for the largest share of smartphone ad impressions on the Millennial network. Also, Android had a month-over-month gain of 8%. For the year, ad requests from Android devices are up an astounding 2182%. By comparison: Apple requests are up 32% for the year, and RIM’s have risen 243%.
So if you think all the action is on Apple’s devices, think again. Anyone targeting smartphone users with an ad campaign needs to have Android in the mix, as well as Apple iOS. And you shouldn’t ignore BlackBerry users either: RIM’s OS had 20% of the same smartphone pie in October.
On a somewhat related note: Open Rich Media Mobile Advertising (ORMMA) – which was formed earlier this year by The Weather Channel, Crisp Wireless and TringApps – has just released a set of advertising specs aimed at simplifying the process of serving rich-media ads into mobile apps. The idea is to make it easier to run rich-media campaigns across all devices and platforms. Why is this important? Because it should help drive larger mobile ad buys. And I’m all for that.
