Counterpoint: Google’s Huge Mobile Revenues Point to Mobile Advertising’s Weakness
What’s going on here? Well, it might be somewhat bad news for the mobile ad business if you’re equating it with banners. Mediassociates strategic planner Ben Kunz writes on Google Plus that the results are just a sign that display is failing in mobile because, in his estimation, 90 percent of Google’s mobile ad revenue comes from search, despite its huge mobile display push with the AdMob purchase.
“The challenge with ‘ads’ on mobile — real ads, not search text links — is they interrupt consumers in an intimate space, amidst limited screen inventory, and are too easy to bypass with the scores of apps we each load onto our phones for one-click sports or weather information,” Kunz writes. “The app user experience has made tertiary advertising unwanted, unneeded, and unnecessary.”
There’s little doubt the mobile display business still faces a raft of issues. On a panel I moderated yesterday, Digitas mobile ad executive Ryan Griffin told me that the fragmentation in mobile made agencies mostly dependent on networks for any kind of scaled buy. What’s more, the critical infrastructure — serving, reporting, etc. — remains a high barrier. Then there’s the targeting and uncertain return issues. In his view, the industry’s grown quite a bit from its novelty factor. Agencies and their clients recognize the obvious consumer phenomenon and want in. But that enthusiasm will wear out of networks and publishers don’t ultimately show that this stuff works, he said.
More in Media

Why publishers are questioning the effectiveness of blocking AI web crawlers
Publishers are unsure if blocking AI web crawlers is enough to protect their content from being scraped and used to feed AI tools and systems.

Meta adds a human element to AI, while others warn it all could be too ‘human like’
New features include a new chatbot called MetaAI, Bing search integration, new AI image tools, and dozens of celebrity characters.

Financial Times targets U.S. and global readers with subscription app products
The Financial Times has launched another lower-priced, subscription-based mobile app product a year after the debut of FT Edit to reach international readers.