Android grabs lead in mobile ad revenue, but iOS users love ads

For the first time ever, Android has passed Apple iOS in mobile ad revenue, holding a 45.8% share of total revenue generated, according to a new report. But iPhone and iPad users are still more likely to click ads to buy or learn more about products.

The findings cover the first quarter (Q1) of 2015 and are highlighted in the latest quarterly “State of Mobile Advertising” report from mobile ad platform provider Opera Mediaworks, a subsidiary of the mobile browser company Opera Software. The report covers results from over 850 million users, over 18,000 websites and mobile apps, and 90% of top advertisers as rated by Ad Age.

With more users overall, Android has already been the mobile ad traffic leader. This quarter, Android ad traffic increased from to over 65%, from 63% last quarter.

iOS still leads in mobile ad revenue to impressions

In terms of monetization potential, or the ratio of revenue to impressions (ad views), iOS is still the leader. Despite some pundits calling the iPad a waning star, iPad users delivered advertisers four times more revenue per ad impressions (see table). For mobile video ads only, iOS still outperforms Android for both traffic and revenue, and video completion rates for iOS users are higher (87.1% vs. 76.7%).

For the first time in Opera Mediaworks’ history of reporting on the topic, social networking and games apps and sites were number one in mobile ad revenue, passing music, video and media apps and sites, which have been the traditional revenue leader on the company’s ad platform.

Mobile ad traffic is growing fast in emerging economies, with year-over-year growth in the Americas at 61%, Africa at 32%, and Asia at 19%. The US is still the top producer of impressions and mobile ad revenue with nearly 43% of all impressions.

Mobile video ads break records

Mobile video advertising is booming. In just one year, video-ad impression share increased sixfold, from just 2.5% in Q1 of last year to 15% in Q1 2015, according to the report. And, video accounts for more than half of all global revenue generated on Opera Mediaworks’ platform.

Some regions are adopting mobile video at a faster rate. In the US, mobile users view more video ads than any other country, and the country’s video market share is 2.5 times its share of total user reach.

Different types of advertisers, too, are showing preference for mobile video ads. Television and film studios and distributors spend the most money on video and account for the most impressions; followed by food, drink and automotive brands.

You can see all of the report’s findings and more graphics online here.

More mobile audience targeting

Another interesting finding from the report is that in some regions, over 85% of mobile ad campaigns are being targeted to an audience created specifically for that campaign. To find out how these audiences are formed, Opera Mediaworks took a closer look at how advertisers are using contextual, behavioral and demographic data to home in on very specific subsets of consumers that will be the most receptive to the ad messaging of their campaigns.

They briefly introduce this audience creation concept in the quarterly report, but you can read more about it in an in-depth study here.