Android use surges on mobile ad network

(Credit: Millennial Media)

Android continued to scoop up a healthy share of users on Millennial Media's mobile ad network in August, while growth for Apple's iOS was relatively flat.

For the month, Android ad impressions jumped 48 percent over July, giving Google's mobile OS a 54 percent slice of the ad network, according to Millennial Media's August Mobile Mix report. In contrast, Apple's iOS failed to gain much ground from July, leaving it with a 28 percent share.

The new market share figures actually showed a decline for Google and a gain for iOS from July. However, the August numbers included both smartphones and connected devices, such as tablets, whereas past rankings covered only smartphones. So the strong demand for the iPad and the lackluster sales for Android tablets certainly played a role in the latest results.

Looking at other mobile platforms, ad impressions for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion grew 10 percent from July, while those for Nokia's Symbian were relatively flat. And though Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 still grabbed only 1 percent overall share from Millennial Media, its ad impressions grew 48 percent from July.

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From the hardware side, Apple continued to retain its top perch as the leading mobile device maker with 23 percent of all impressions. The iPhone was also by far the leading mobile phone with a 13 percent share.

HTC shot up to second place in August from fourth place the prior month with more than 16 percent of all impressions. The company saw 5 of its mobile phones on the top 20 list, including the Desire, Evo, Droid Incredible, MyTouch 4G Glacier, and Thunderbolt.

Altogether, Android devices accounted for 15 of the top 20 mobile phones, capturing a collective share of 32 percent among all 20 phones last month.

Smartphones in general continued to inch up in popularity, as measured by the report. Growing 6 percent from July, smartphones grabbed 72 percent of all ad impressions last month, compared with 14 percent for connected devices and 14 percent for feature phones. Those numbers show a dramatic difference from August 2010 when smartphones held 51 percent of the market and feature phones 33 percent.