First quarter data has shown that Android tops iOS in both traffic and revenue, according to a report by Opera Mediaworks.
The data was compiled using Opera Mediaworks’ mobile ad platform, which reaches more than 800 million consumers worldwide.
According to the report, Android receives more than 65 per cent of all mobile traffic, while iOS devices see only 46 per cent of all traffic.
However, when it comes to video advertising, iOS still leads. iOS devices reported higher impressions, revenue, and completion rates.
Android only accounted for 36 per cent of mobile video ad revenue, while iOS accounted for a whopping 63 per cent.
“In terms of monetization potential, or the ratio of revenue to impressions, iOS is still the leader, with the iPad generating more than four times its traffic volume in Q1,” the report read. “For mobile video ads only, iOS outperforms Android for both traffic and revenue, and video completion rates for Apple users are higher.”
Regardless of whether users choose Android or iOS, the effectiveness of mobile advertising overall has increased drastically in recent years.
The report noted that social networking and games generate the most revenue. Music, video and media have been the traditional revenue leaders on the Opera Mediaworks platform, but this quarter, both social networking and games trumped the category. In emerging economies, mobile advertising is in a high-growth phase. While the US is still the top producer of impressions and revenue, there is notable year-over-year traffic growth in Asia (19 per cent), the Americas (61 per cent) and Africa (32 per cent).
Mobile video advertising is booming. In just one year, video-ad impression share increased six-fold – from 2.5 per cent in Q1 2014 to 15 per cent in Q1 2015.
The report highlighted that different types of advertisers, too, are showing preference for mobile video units. Movie and television entertainment spend the most money on video and use the most impressions; food and drink and automotive brands are also using the format significantly more than other types of advertisers.
