UPDATED 11:56 EDT / APRIL 07 2010

Mobile Ad Networks – Big Three Google, Apple, & Millennial Media And More and More Developing

UPDATE: Reuters is reporting that the FTC is about to blog the AdMob acquisition by Google.  FTC is crazy.

AllThingsD Mediamemo blog has a post speculating on two things: 1) Apple announcing a ad network dubbed the iAd and 2) FTC decision to approve the Google AdMob acquisition.

With Google and Apple having proprietary ad networks dedicated to their devices, the only big company that stands alone and independent is Millennial Media. Millennial Media is the largest independent mobile ad network on the planet.

With respect to the FTC it is clear that although of the "Big Three" only one remains independent – Millennial Media, there is big time competition in the mobile advertising space being driven by startups and big companies pivoting to mobile. Google acknowledges this in the story by AllThingsD Mediamemo Peter Kafka.

Having Millennial Media, an independent mobile ad network, available gives choices to developers of mobile apps.  Folks that is competition.   AdMob can’t claim they are the largest independent player with their alignment with Google but that isn’t a bad thing.  In fact AdMob is good for Google, but might give developers pause to their bias.

According to Mediamemo who had a good angle on the Google AdMob situation in light of the looming FTC decision on the Admob Google acquisition.

Last month, when MediaPost wrote a story speculating about Apple’s mobile ad plans–the publication dubbed the platform “iAd,” but I’m not sure that Apple intends to go with that name–Google sent reporters an email link to the story. “If true, it would be more evidence of how competitive and quickly-evolving the mobile ad space is,” wrote Adam Kovacevich, a manager at the company’s public affairs group.

One problem for Google is that you can argue that the company already has a dominant position in the existing mobile ads business–the one that isn’t dependent on smartphone apps. That’s largely because mobile is now a default option when advertisers buy keywords on the search giant’s AdWords system. One industry observer I talked to guesstimates that those ads alone will generate $300 million for Google this year.

I followed up with Kovacevich today and asked him how Apple’s move would affect the chances of the AdMob deal. Give him credit for consistency–here’s his response:

“While we’re continuing to work with the FTC, there is overwhelming evidence that mobile advertising will remain competitive after this deal closes. Mobile app advertising is less than two years old, there are more than a dozen mobile ad networks, app developers and advertisers routinely use multiple networks, and the leading mobile app platform, Apple, is now entering the mobile ad space as well.”

My Angle: The Mobile Innovation Cycle

image Although there are the big three mobile advertisers in Millennial Media, Google, and Apple, there are more options developing everyday.  Even today developer can get massive reach and monetization with the biggest independent mobile ad network in Millennial.  I don’t see what the fuss is about with Google AdMob.  I don’t see any innovation being stifled with Google getting AdMob.  In fact I wrote about the innovation possibilities last month that developers and mobile ad networks have – I called it the Mobile Innovation Cycle.

In Mobile advertising there are two big things going on

1) the mobile space is changing very rapidly so making a call on what mobile advertising means is still to early – meaning you have applications, games, virtual currency, carrier involvement, and many more new emerging areas, and

2) many startups are emerging from Gowalla and Foursquare to Zynga and Playdom, to Facebook and Twitter, and Cisco and Juniper. It’s a land grab and evolving market sector. Very fuzzy still.

It’s all about developers. The FTC has to let this Google AdMob deal play out. Market forces will ultimately prevail – as an example just look at our angle on  Millennial Media recent acquisition of Tapmetrics. If developers are unhappy with Apple or Google there is Millennial Media to go to. If mobile ad networks are not efficient then apps like Facebook and Twitter are available, and if that doesn’t work then you have infrastructure players like Juniper and Cisco who are working directly with Service Providers who are heavily investing in mobile apps (hence monetization – advertising).

These are only a few of the available options. I’m not even speculating about the hundreds of startups being conceived as we speak.

Update: Mark posted the news on Millennial Media new iPad PadMedia Creative Suite and Releases New iPad SDK.  Here is the site for developers to get code and SDK.


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