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Google's AdMob delighted with new Apple policies

Apple's decision to remove language from its iPhone Developer Agreement that could have caused problems for AdMob was welcomed at Google.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Tom Krazit
Google's Omar Hamoui (right) is pleased Apple no longer intends to ban services such as AdMob from the iPhone. Tom Krazit/CNET

Count Google's AdMob division among those glad to see that Apple has had a change of heart regarding restrictions on App Store development.

Omar Hamoui, former CEO of AdMob and currently vice president of product management at Google, had been worried that changes to Apple's iPhone Developer Agreement prohibited developers from using AdMob's in-application advertising products--Apple had banned the use of third-party analytic data by companies "owned by or affiliated with a developer or distributor of mobile devices." But Apple's decision Thursday to strip its agreement of that language elicited a thank-you note from Hamoui.

"Apple's new terms will keep in-app advertising on the iPhone open to many different mobile ad competitors and enable advertising solutions that operate across a wide range of platforms," Hamoui wrote in a blog post. "We're pleased that Apple has clarified its terms and we're 100 (percent) committed to developing the best possible advertising solutions and formats for the iPhone - as well as for Android devices, Blackberries, Palm devices, Windows mobile devices and undoubtedly many more to come - in the years ahead."

Apple never appeared to actually enforce the terms of the agreement, Hamoui told attendees at the MobileBeat 2010 conference in July. Still, Apple's decision removes some of the uncertainty among application developers associated with using AdMob's services to earn a little extra money from their iPhone applications.