Mobile Ad Revenue on Android Overtakes iOS for the First Time

Opera graphsMobile ad revenue from Android devices overtook iOS for the first time in Q1 2015, according to a report from Opera Mediaworks, based on activity from its mobile ad platform. Android holds a narrow lead, with a 45.8 per cent share of revenue during the quarter, to iOSs 45.4 per cent.

iOS still makes the most money per impression, however – despite their nearly equal share of revenue, Android accounts for nearly three times as much traffic as iOS (65.2 per cent, compared to 22.3 per cent). Most punching above its weight was the iPad, which accounted for just four per cent of traffic, but 17.5 per cent of revenues.

According to Opera, this is primarily because Apple devices have a larger market share in regions, such as Western Europe and the US, with higher advertising rates.

The report covers the entire world and found that, while the US accounts for the greatest share of mobile impressions (42.7 per cent) on Operas platform, the non-US Americas are growing significantly faster, with impressions up 61 per cent year-on-year.

Impressions of mobile video ads jumped hugely, growing from 2.5 per cent of all impressions in Q1 2014, to 15 per cent in Q1 2015. Even more impressively, video now accounts for over 55 per cent of revenue generated on the platform, with iOS outperforming Android for both traffic and revenue.