Google's AdMob Buy Gives Ticket To Mobile Advertising in Emerging Markets
Google announced it has closed its acquisition of AdMob, in a move that will likely open wide the doors of mobile online advertising in emerging markets.
AdMob took a snapshot of its network in April 2010. The report looks at unique device information for all countries with over 10,000 iPhone OS or Android devices.
One particulartly speaking graph is this one: the geographical spread and evolution of mobile ad demand:
Run For New Markets
As the traditional Western European and U.S. markets are now maturing, it is no wonder that web majors are now willing to tap into emerging markets.
Recently, Yahoo clinched a deal with Nokia, aiming at “emerging markets where we are seeding the next generation of Yahoo users,” the search engine CEO Carol Bartz declared Yahoo has also bought the FourSquare of Indonesia, right in line with their stated ambitions.
Nokia Is Safest Device Bet
According to AdMob’s study, Nokia is the primary mobile device and smartphone in India, The Philippines and Indonesia, all high-growth markets. In South Africa, Nokia is also number one smartphone although Samsung grabs first place as mobile device).
According to Gartner, the Finnish mobile maker is the world’s largest, with a 35% global market share in the first quarter this year, compared to 36.2% last year. Samsung follows in second place, snatching Nokia’s lost ground, with 20.6% vs 19.1%. It also estimates that iPhone and Android platforms combined sold 25% of smartphones in the quarter.
Facebook: Another Model Of Market Penetration
Also looking to emerging markets, Facebook made a similar move by launching its free ‘0.Facebook’ mobile platform for users in developing countries. The social site relies on deals with local carriers directly. Access to the optimized mobile platform is free but access to pictures has a full data cost. Behaviour analysis derived from the users of the platform should also give Facebook a pretty good lead in terms of mobile ad placement.
How ready are you to open up to those markets?