Apple Has Twice The Global “Ad Impression Share” Of Android

Despite Android’s global domination, it falls well short of that mark in terms of delivering mobile ad impressions. That’s according to a third-quarter “Global AdMetrics” report from mobile DSP and ad buying platform Adfonic.

Adfonic said that in Q3, on a global basis, Android and Apple devices combined for 95 percent of all ad impressions. In a distant third place was RIM, which is rapidly disappearing from the market (except in the UK).

Apple delivered 63 (nearly two-thirds) of all mobile ad impressions while Android saw 32 percent, a decline of 6 percent vs. the previous quarter. This is striking because of Android’s massive smartphone share lead in the global market. Something like 80 percent of global smartphone shipments in Q3 were Android handsets.

The top three devices were all from Apple, with the iPhone delivering 35 percent of ad impressions. However Adfonic said that the “iPad gained the greatest share, up 62 percent from Q2” to 21 percent of impressions. When looking only at tablets the iPad had 76 percent of ad impressions.

In terms of individual manufacturers, Apple’s lead was even larger. Samsung was in the number two position (combined smartphones and tablets) with 20 percent of impressions to Apple’s 63 percent.

Consistent with other reports, Adfonic says that tablets have continued to gain ad-impression share vs. smartphones. In Q3 tablets had 28 percent of ad impressions, up from 19 percent in Q2. Smartphones delivered 72 percent of impressions. The relative tablet impression share figures should continue to grow in Q4 and Q1 of next year.

Unless the sample of impressions that Adfonic is seeing globally is somehow distorted or not reflective of the broader market, it’s very hard to explain why Apple is so dominant. I’d love to hear any theories.