Forget Android, Apple and Google are now bringing their ongoing rivalry to an entirely new medium - advertising. Though Apple is new to the ad game, it plans on making a strong play with its upcoming iAds platform. In the process, Google may be left on the sidelines when it comes to mobile advertising on the iPhone.
Forget Android, Apple and Google are now bringing their ongoing rivalry to an entirely new medium – advertising.
Though Apple is new to the ad game, it plans on making a strong play with its upcoming iAds platform. In the process, Google may be left on the sidelines when it comes to mobile advertising on the iPhone.
Last week, Apple revised its iOS developer agreement to allow apps to send back user and device data if a) user authorization is granted and b) if certain conditions are met. And here’s where things get tricky. Under the new agreement, one of the requisite conditions is that the company receiving the user/device data is an “independent advertising service provider whose primary business is serving mobile ads.”
That language, on its face, would appear to preclude AdMob, which was recently acquired by Google, from running mobile analytics. Delving deeper into the revised developer agreement, Apple drives the point home, writing 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.”
Game. Set. Match.
Now to set the record straight, this in no way keeps Google ads off the iPhone. But what it does do is prevent Google from having access to to the way iPhone users interact with their applications. And with that door closed off, AdMob is at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to mobile advertising on the iPhone.
As you might expect, AdMob is none too pleased with this recent development. In the wake of the new developer agreement, AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui lambasted Apple for its changes.
Apple proposed new developer terms on Monday that, if enforced as written, would prohibit app developers from using AdMob and Google’s advertising solutions on the iPhone. These advertising related terms both target companies with competitive mobile technologies (such as Google), as well as any company whose primary business is not serving mobile ads. This change threatens to decrease – or even eliminate – revenue that helps to support tens of thousands of developers. The terms hurt both large and small developers by severely limiting their choice of how best to make money. And because advertising funds a huge number of free and low cost apps, these terms are bad for consumers as well.
Let’s be clear. This change is not in the best interests of users or developers. In the history of technology and innovation, it’s clear that competition delivers the best outcome. Artificial barriers to competition hurt users and developers and, in the long run, stall technological progress.
Hamoui noted that his team is planning on speaking to Apple to relay their concerns, but let’s be honest, nothing’s going to come of it. AdMob is essentially interchangable with Google at this point, and it therefore makes little business sense for Apple to give its top competitor competitive and proprietary information about its platform.
And just like clockwork, Federal authorities are already raising an eyebrow over Apple’s updated developer agreement. The Financial Times recently reported:
According to two people close to the situation, US regulators have already taken an interest in Apple’s actions, though it is not yet clear whether it will be left to the Federal Trade Commission, which carried out the recent Google investigation, or the Department of Justice to take an investigation forward.
Whether you love or hate Apple, you have to admit that it’s pretty ridiculous to have US regulators concerned that a company who hasn’t even rolled out their ad platform is planning to keep proprietary information away from its main and increasingly successful competitor.
The entire reason Google released Android is rooted in mobile ad and search dollars, and it was foolish to think that they could challenge Apple’s iPhone and not encounter any resistance from Apple. No matter what side of the issue you fall on, it will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out.
