iOS Developers Make More Than Google on Mobile

From TechCrunch:

During today’s Google earnings call, CEO Larry Page shared some new stats on how the company is doing in new areas such as social and mobile. Google+ is now past 40 million registered users, and Google’s revenue run rate in mobile is now at $2.5 billion, which is up from a $1 billion run-rate about a year ago.

July 7th of this year Apple announced that it had paid iOS developers over $2.5 billion. Then on October 4th over $3 billion. That’s about half a billion dollars in 89 days, which is a run rate of over $2 billion a year. I’m assuming Apple’s numbers include iAd revenue paid to developers, but there’s no way to know how much developers are making through direct ad sales, Admob, Millennial Media, and other 3rd party ad networks. I think it’s safe to estimate that at well over $500 million a year.

What that means is that the iOS developer run rate is likely higher, maybe even significantly higher, than Google’s mobile run rate. Selling ads in the age of essentially infinite ad inventory is going to make it tough for Google to grow mobile revenue in significant ways without digging deeper and deeper into each user’s personal data [as we see Facebook trying to do].

Good luck!

david