AdMob, in its latest Mobile Metrics Report for January 2010, focused on how consumers are interacting with mobile apps on the four major platforms; iPhone, iPod Touch, Android and WebOS.

In addition to the normal metrics AdMob reports on, last month’s special section included an opt-in survey of consumers on iPhone, iPod touch, Android and webOS devices to learn more about how they are engaging and interacting with applications.  The survey included 963 respondents across all of the platforms and revealed some interesting points on app purchasing habits.

iPhone and Android users download a similar number of apps on a monthly basis, with each platform producing around 8.8 apps downloaded per month by its users.  Of the total apps, 7 out of every 8.8 downloads were free apps on the iPhone, compared to 7.6 out of 8.7 on Android devices- indicating that iPhone users are more prone to paying for apps over Android users.

The iPod Touch, however, produces 12.1 app downloads per month on average by its users, with 10.5 being free apps.  Interestingly enough, the report indicates that iPod Touch users download 37% more apps on average than iPhone and Android users.  WebOS users download roughly 5.7 apps per month on average, with 5.1 being free apps, indicating that WebOS users are far more apt to downloading free apps over paid apps, likely because of a much smaller selection over Apple/Android app stores.

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ScanLife has created arguably the best and most widely used mobile barcode reader on the market, and recently announced updates to make its offering even stronger.

ScanLife was one of the first applications capable of reading all major barcode formats on three of the leading Smartphone platforms, including popular 2D barcode formats such as Datamatrix, EZcode and QR.  With the new version of the app, phones with auto-focus cameras –- such as the DROID by Motorola, BlackBerry Tour and iPhone 3GS –- can read 1D barcodes like UPC, EAN and ISBN as well.

ScanLife’s growth is largely attributed to the fact that its app is being preloaded on millions of handsets by leading mobile operators like Sprint and Telefonica, including handsets sold in North America.  Access to such apps has long been a major prohibiting factor to the mainstream adoption of mobile barcodes.  Leaving the process of acquiring a mobile barcode reader to the user was never a winning formula, and ScanLife knew it.  By pre-installing it, users are much more apt to recognize the benefits and increase usage.

ScanLife will continue to read 2D barcodes, which are commonly used as physical hyperlinks from traditional media such as magazine ads, business cards and direct mail, but with UPC and EAN barcodes being found on nearly every consumer product in the world, the addition will open up numerous usage possibilities for ScanLife users.  ScanLife can take the information found in UPC and EAN barcodes to provide a list of price comparisons and consumer reviews from multiple online retailers like Amazon.  More retailers and features will be added to the application like local search results as well.

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TargetSpot is a startup that’s carved itself a unique niche by inserting ads in Online audio streams.  Building off its experience, the company today announced a new mobile advertising platform aimed at taking the ads it serves to mobile devices, and integrating mobile’s enhanced targeting capabilities along the way.

The new platform will serve up audio ads to mobile apps on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry smartphones, and is starting things off with a partnership with Slacker Radio.  The two have worked together since 2008 monetizing Slacker’s Online streams, but will further its partnership by expanding ads into Slacker’s mobile apps as well.

Mobile ad inventory from the likes of Slacker and other streaming music providers will be available to agencies and large advertisers through TargetSpot’s full-service account management team.  Brands will gain access to a “highly captive audience of on-the-go consumers,” with effective device, geographic and demographic targeting in place.

This targeting capability combined with the audio-based format provides a unique opportunity for advertisers, one that’s been previously unavailable.  Streaming music, especially to smartphones, is a rapidly growing consumer segment that’s historically been inherently hard to monetize.  Having the ability to insert ads targeted to a users location, device and demographic information is a powerful tool, especially when combined with the captive nature of audio-based ads.

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iVdopia is set to introduce its unique “pre-app” and in-app advertising solutions to Android developers, adding to its offerings of similar solutions for iPhone developers.

iVdopia incorporates elements of social networking, video and other aspects into its offering to provide developers a unique method for monetizing their apps.  Its “pre-app” ad-model utilizes short commercial-like videos that run when a user opens an app, before the actual app is presented.  Though it may turn off a large group of users, the company says response has been strong so far.

During the pre-app and in-app ads, a user has several options to interact and respond with the brand; by sharing via Facebook and Twitter, bringing up location and contact information via Google Maps, visiting the brand’s Website and more.  Developers will also have the option to add “Talk2Me” ads, which are rather self-explanatory.  iVdopia has already released its Android SDK for developers, so it should be interesting to see the response from a developers perspective.

The included elements iVdopia provides are pretty comprehensive, but again, I can’t help but wonder why a developer with Android or the iPhone would utilize a third-party solution like this over the inevitable built-in monetization tools both Google and Apple are planning.  During the interim, developers will likely utilize these types of solutions, but once Google and Apple define their strategies with their respective ad-network purchases, third-party providers will become obsolete.

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With Google being criticized over trying to take over the wireless industry with its broad initiatives, the company seems to be shifting focus away from re-writing the rules, and instead is working within the mobile supply chain to make its voice heard without stepping on any toes.

This is the message detailed in a new report from iSuppli entitled, “Google: The Elephant in the Wireless Room”.  In it, a strategy is chronicled that could help Google remain successful in its bid to transform the wireless industry from its traditional voice-subscription model to one supported by broadband-based mobile advertising revenue.

Like much of the rest of the mobile value chain, Google is seeking to uncover new user behavior patterns and to drive social networking services through the promotion of cloud storage and computing, mobile advertising, and a variety of location-based services. All of the free Google offerings are driving toward this goal, and has the intention to strengthen the mobile industry, not dominate it.

“During the past three years, Google has continually targeted the mobile communications industry with a series of initiatives,” said Dr. Jagdish Rebello, director and principal analyst at iSuppli. “From offering free Wi-Fi services, to developing a free and powerful open operating system for smart phones — Android — to offering free maps and turn-by-turn navigation services, to introducing a Google branded phone — the Nexus One — the Internet search giant is revolutionizing the mobile value chain in an attempt to unlock new value and to expand an industry desperately searching for the next inflection point.”

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Opera subsidiary AdMarvel today announced the availability of its Android Advertising Toolkit, version 1.5, which enables Android developers to easily integrate rich media advertising, including advertising from various global ad networks, into their applications.

The latest iteration provides a comprehensive set of tools for developers, encompassing everything from rich media advertising on the mobile web on Android phones, to advertising metrics and analytics that are provided via an online web console to provide a near real-time view of the application’s advertising performance.  In addition, AdMarvel also features a rich media ad-server, supporting the provisioning and management of direct-sourced or in-house advertising.

The AdMarvel toolkit seems to cover all bases, with support for JavaScript, expandable ad units, animation, interstitials and transparent overlays of content and user interaction, as well as the ability to contain an ad experience to within an application for the promotion of new features or content channels.

In terms of calls-to-action, the new platform supports click-to-call, click-to-maps, click-to-app, click-to-video and click to YouTube actions, as well as support for server-side tools to create, manage and track rich media ad performance and analytics.  From what it seems, AdMarvel has baked just about every mobile ad-serving technology available into its latest iteration of its Android Advertising Toolkit.

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Smaato, a mobile-ad optimization startup, has released its latest “Mobile Advertising Metrics Report” for January, in which it compares leading mobile OSs and their ad-based click-through rates, among other unique metrics.

Last month’s report indicated that Symbian was the top mobile OS in terms of click-throughs, with Apple a close second, and Android in third place, but this month’s report paints a rather different picture.  Based on an average index of 100, January’s metrics show Android’s click-through rate was 163, up from just 65 in December.

Apple’s click-through rate dropped slightly from 119 in December to 104 for January, while Symbian remained the leader overall with 173.  Android has already bumped Apple from its #2 spot, and is only 10 shy of Symbian, showing just how far Android has come in a short period of time.

New to the report this month was a unique metric defining the average response time from ad-networks worldwide, or fill rates to be more specific, which stood at 256 milliseconds (MS).  Out of the 16 networks compared, the fastest time was 43 milliseconds, compared to the slowest, which stood at a lagging 887 milliseconds.

The biggest take-away of the report is obviously the progress Android is making in the mobile-ad scene.  Smaato attributes much of its growth to the influx of Android devices hitting the market quickly, such as the high-profile Nexus One and Motorola Droid, as well as the numerous operator-branded handsets that emerge everyday it seems.

It’s interesting to note that Smaato’s metrics are based upon 35 mobile ad networks and over 4 billion ad requests served in the Smaato Network of more than 2,300 registered mobile publishers, so while it’s definitely interesting metrics to build-on, the data is slightly skewed by not taking into account the entire ecosystem.  Still, it’s clear that Android is moving up the ranks quickly, but Apple’s intended integration of Quattro will change things substantially.

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