Android mobile ad revenue surpasses iOS for the first time

On May 6, mobile advertising platform Opera Mediaworks released a latest report stating that Google's (Weibo) mobile operating system Android has finally surpassed Apple's iOS operating system in mobile advertising revenue.

The data covered by the report is the first quarter of 2015. Android accounts for 45.77% of the global revenue generated by advertising on mobile devices, slightly ahead of iOS at 45.44%.

This number is significant for Android because it is the first time that the platform's ad revenue has surpassed iOS, and even a slight lead is a success worth celebrating.

Since April 2014, the ad traffic generated by the Android platform has exceeded that of iOS. According to Opera MediaWorks, Android's share of ad traffic is 65.17%, while iOS's is 22.34%.

Both indicators show that despite the popularity of Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Android devices are still rising across the board.

In terms of breakdown, Android phones accounted for 42.46% of advertising revenue, Android tablets accounted for 3.31%, iPhones accounted for 27.29%, iPads accounted for 17.45%, and iPods accounted for less than 1%.

The report stated that based on the number of ad exposures, Android surpassed iOS in terms of ad traffic in the first quarter of last year. In the first quarter of this year, the platform's advantage became more obvious and its share continued to increase.

However, the performance of the iOS platform is not without its bright spots. The report said that iOS still leads in monetization, mainly because Apple devices have a larger share in the United States and Western Europe, where advertising costs are higher.

In addition, video ads on iOS devices also perform better than on Android devices in terms of ad impressions and revenue. In terms of mobile video ad revenue, iOS accounts for 62.7% of the market share, while Android accounts for 36.2%.