Ad network finds Android in lead, iPhone surging
Mobile ad network InMobi says Android i son top among smartphone platforms with 37 percent of all ad impressions, but the iPhone's iOS is not far behind.
Android is the top mobile platform in North America, according to mobile ad network InMobi, but the iPhone's iOS is close behind thanks to a recent surge.
InMobi's Mobile Insights Report for April found that Google's Android remained in the lead among mobile platforms in North America with 37 percent of all ad impressions on its network, a slight increase from January. However, the launch of the Verizon iPhone in February helped boost Apple's share of ad impressions by 9.4 percentage points to 33 percent.
BlackBerry maker RIM found itself in third place in North America, accounting for 10.3 percent of all impressions on InMobi's network, a drop of one percentage point since January.
Looking at the mobile market globally, Android held a 16.8 percent share of all impressions, trailing market leader Nokia. Since January, Android has picked up 3.3 percentage points, the highest increase among all mobile platforms. Inching up about half a percentage point since the start of the year, the iPhone is hot on the heels of Android with 16.3 percent of all impressions, according to InMobi.
InMobi said it currently serves 35 billion monthly mobile ads to around 314 million mobile phone consumers around the world. Overall, the April Mobile Insights Report found that mobile ad impressions during the first quarter of the year rose by 17 percent to 900 million per month in North America and 11 percent globally to 3.4 billion per month.
The growth in mobile ad impressions was hugely triggered by the ongoing demand for smartphones, which accounted for 2.3 billion impressions each month over 2011's first quarter. In North America alone, 8 out of every 10 ad impressions are now found on a smartphone, according to InMobi.