Apple looks to be preparing to launch its own mobile advertising service on April 7 dubbed iAd, according to MediaPost. If so, the announcement will come only days after the iPad launch, and could put Apple in competition with Google in yet another market.
It appears that the iAd service will be based on Quattro’s technology — an online ad company that Apple purchased at the beginning of 2010. Sources familiar with the service have said that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is calling iAd “revolutionary,” and “our next big thing.”
The service would make it easier for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad developers to place advertisements in their applications, but would put Apple in direct competition with Google for mobile device advertising dollars. Google recently purchased AdMob, a Quattro competitor, presumably to boost its own ability to serve ads to mobile devices.
The two companies have already locked horns over the iPhone and Google’s Android platform for smartphones, and if Apple moves into the mobile ad market, it could ad more tension to what appears to be an already strained relationship.
Apple is sticking to its standard policy of not commenting on unannounced products and services.
3 Comments
Jeff, you should send Steve an email. However, I’d be prepared for a terse: No comment.
They could meet and discuss it over coffee.
I think I’d be lucky to get even that much of a response.
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