What’s so exciting about mobile is how fast the technology is changing, and all the opportunities the growth of mobile technology is opening up for innovative digital marketers. Mobile ad firm AdMob released an inspiring report today for mobile marketers, showing just how much the mobile web, and mobile advertising in turn, has boomed over the past year. In September 2007 AdMob has 1.6 billion ad requests, in Sept. 2008 5.1 billion, and in Sept. 2009 10.2 billion (see PDF).
The iPhone, still the most popular handset for mobile web usage, and its non-phone counterpart the iTouch, saw data traffic increase 19 times from September 2008 to the same month in 2009. In the US, iPhone traffic accounts for almost half (48%) of smartphone mobile web requests. Worldwide, that number is slightly lower, but still impressive at 43%.
What many of us know, and what we’ll soon see, is how Google’s Android is out to show Apple they can’t sit pretty in the smartphone market forever without some competition. From August to September 2009, the percentage of smartphone traffic generated by devices running the Android operating system grew 13%. Android, which is the mobile developers dream child thanks to open-source tendencies, is going to give Apple a run for its money, and then some.
Verizon is making a push for the Android system, which is necessary since Verizon still wants in on the iPhone action and can’t get any, at least for the time being. The new Motorola Droid, announced yesterday, features top search functionality, which is should really be expected given Google is, at heart, a search company. Saul Hansell over at the New York Times says the Droid may not be an iPhone Killer, but it certainly has some competitive features. I’m looking forward to the Android-iPhone Race smackdown over the coming year. Competition will eventually bring down smartphone prices, which means further adoption, and more opportunities to use the mobile web to target consumers.
