Monday, June 7, 2010

Apple's iAds

As I write, this blog has gotten 73 page impressions today (just over 1300 for June so far), for an estimated advertising earnings of $0.01 (for June so far, $0.24). And this is a pretty good month for the Jaded Consumer (unless someone actually clicks an ad or searches, which is worth quite a bit more apparently). I think Google has cut a check one time since this blog began, largely on the strength of clicks I got while people were reading about the Olympics.

(I had rolled my eyes at judged sports and China's human rights during the games and the bad sportsmanship evident even at the highest levels in some sports. Apparently this was worth good money.)

So, why is the Jaded Consumer writing about pathetic site revenue? For perspective. Apple just announced $60m in 2010 commitments to its iAd platform, slated to go live July 1, 2010. 60% of this will be paid to developers whose apps display the iAd content, and Apple will keep the other 40% (from which the cost to serve the ads and other overhead will naturally be taken).

Although Google makes billions in online revenue, the mobile ad revenue pie is apparently a bit smaller: Apple reckons the $60m commitment for the second half of 2010 to represent over half of the US mobile ad revenue. As the mobile space grows, will Apple figure out how to dominate it? Will advertisers figure Apple's service to be an effective vehicle for converting eyeballs into customers?

Interesting stuff.

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