Ads on iPhone make the most money for advertisers, says report

Apple's iOS devices are bigger and more user-friendly, making mobile advertising on iOS more successful than on other operating systems, according to a report released today by Opera Software.

This seems like a no-brainer when it comes to advertising -- bigger screens equal more real estate for ads, which equals more engaging ads with more info, and more clicks. Trying to hit that sweet spot between portability and screen size may be a challenge for some device makers, but it's working for Apple, judging from the report's numbers, anyway.

Advertising on iOS sees more traffic and a higher percentage of revenue -- a 46.5 percent share of traffic and a 61.4 percent share of revenue, according to the report's findings. When broken down, the iPhone had a 29.9 percent share in traffic and a 43.6 percent in revenue, while the iPad had a 6.9 percent share of traffic and a 14.2 percent share in revenue (the iPad has the highest rate of cost per thousand impressions). The rest of the pie is divided by other operating systems, with Android close behind the iOS numbers. Though the Windows Phone has the same features of Android and iOS, its low level of users put it at the bottom of the list, the report said.

According to the report, the operating systems also need to allow for features that encourage interaction between the user and ads -- i.e., the ability for click to call, expanding ads, and video playback. This is why iOS and Android do well for advertisers.

In addition to a solid user base, Apple has users who tend to spend more time on engaging advertisements usually featured on iOS. The study said advertising should be thinking about engaging advertisements in general because they do well. For example, 66 percent of users who click through to a video will watch the whole video, and on average will stay about 52 seconds.

Correction, July 20 at 5:45 p.m. PT: The original article had an incorrect percentage of traffic share for the iPad.