Google Vice President of Product Management, Omar Hamoui, has just posted about the changes made this morning to Apple’s iOS developer licensing agreement, specifically the section referring to in-app advertising:

Today, Apple updated their iPhone Developer Program License Agreement. Unlike the previous version, these new terms ensure that Apple’s developers have the choice of a variety of advertising solutions (including Google’s and AdMob’s) to earn money and fund their apps. Apple’s new terms will keep in-app advertising on the iPhone open to many different mobile ad competitors and enable advertising solutions that operate across a wide range of platforms.

Read the whole things for why this is great news for everyone, from consumers to developers to puppy dogs (that’s not me being facetious — it really is).

[Google Mobile Ads Blog via Daring Fireball]

Apple restricting third-party advertisers from collecting personal data if they are owned by another platform vendor could be a way of preventing Google’s AdMob from competing directly on the iPhone with Apple’s iAd, but it could also be a sign that Apple, cranky after leaked iPhone prototypes and iPad analytics, is determined to take back control of user data.

Steve Jobs was nothing if not heated at the D8 conference about the leaked iPhone prototype, and perhaps even more so about in-app analytics taking user data, including device and location, and using that to reveal details about the iPad long before it was announced. Imagining Apple’s subsequent reaction to the thought of now-rival Google having early access to such detailed information not only about unreleased Apple devices, but about which devices iOS users have, at what location, and their app usage patterns probably sent a chill down their collective spines.

App Cubby‘s David Barnard put together an excellent post about it earlier today:

When you use Google search and other Google products, they collect a tremendous amount of information and use that information to customize and better serve the ads that are the core of their business. Many users don’t even realize this is happening, others are comfortable with it and have some level of trust for Google’s intent in using that data.

Well, Apple doesn’t trust the benevolence of Google, developers, and other third parties involved in the iOS platform. Apple wants to control the flow of user information.

Barnard also points out Apple primarily makes their money off hardware sales, not the brokering of user information the way Google or Facebook do. He also suggests part of AdMob’s $700 million value to Google was exactly the type of data they could pull off iOS devices:

[David Barnard / App Cubby]

The US government is reportedly now investigating Apple for the terms in the iOS 4 GM license that restrict rival ad networks owned by competing platforms — i.e. Google’s AdMob. Independent ad networks are not effected, nor is Apple’s own iAd platform.

According to two people close to the situation, US regulators have already taken an interest in Apple’s actions, though it is not yet clear whether it will be left to the Federal Trade Commission, which carried out the recent Google investigation, or the Department of Justice to take an investigation forward.

This follows other reported probes into Apple’s restriction on cross-compilers — i.e. Adobe’s Flash CS5 packager for iPhone, and its position in music — i.e. Apple’s decision to not promote tracks that gave rival Amazon MP3 a 24hr exclusive.

Google’s AdMob acquisition itself faced intense US government scrutiny due to its dominant position in the online advertising market. Both Apple and Google want to buy AdMob, with Google winning out and Apple purchasing Quatro Wireless to power their new iOS iAd platform instead.

If one thing is clear, it looks like PC-underdog Apple is a high profile investigative target in the mobile space.

[Financial Times]

Several readers hit us up saying their iPads were already arriving, ahead of Apple’s May 28 international release date (at least phase one of it, phase two is slated for July). Given the spread of 9 countries, its probably harder for Apple to keep their iron grip on delivery dates and still make sure customers get them when they’re supposed to.

If your iPad did indeed arrive early, drop us a note in the comments and let us know where and when.

Google acquired mobile advertiser AdMob, meanwhile, says it’s seeing up to 25% of existing US iPads — the million+ Apple sold in the first month — hitting their network from outside the US.

Does this mean Americans bought less than we thought, and international early adapters have already sated some of their fill, or that — given the ongoing supply constraints — that Apple is just going to sell as many as they can make in all the countries they can get them to?

We’ll start finding out tomorrow as Apple Stores open early so those who didn’t pre-order can try their luck in line, like Chris, Nic, and Hansas in Australia (picture after the break).

First in the que at Robina Apple store…only 11hours and a night of camping in the shopping mall to go! Stoked!

Where are you lining up?

[AdMob]

AdMob [Via Electronista] released its latest report and it states the iPhone is the leading smartphone not only in the Americas, but in Europe as well. This news should really come to no surprise to any of our readers, and it’s not the first signs of Apple’s dominance in the smartphone world as we’ve reported its U.S. success of mobile web traffic previously. As you can see, the iPhone is annihilating the competition regarding mobile traffic in some major markets.

“Alongside the iPhone growing to 54 percent of all smartphone Internet traffic in North America, it now makes up more than half of all handheld traffic in Latin America (56 percent) as well as Western and Eastern Europe (78 percent and 51 percent). Apple’s lead is especially high in Oceania, which centers on Australia and New Zealand, as it represents 92 percent of all mobile data.”

Following behind Apple’s footsteps here in the U.S., we have the Motorola Droid coming in 2rd in overall smartphones. Sadly for our good friends over at PreCentral.net, their beloved device only took a lonely 2% of the pie.

It seems Apple has made the move and gotten into the in-app advertising business. The rumor of Apple purchasing Quattro Wireless has turned out to be 100% accurate. The AdMob competitor, Quattro Wireless, was purchased by Apple for a cool $275 million.

“We are thrilled to let you know that Apple has acquired Quattro. We want to share with you our excitement about this news and what it means for our customers. We have built our business by enabling advertisers to reach the right consumers across the mobile web and in applications. We remain focused on delivering more engaging, relevant and useful ads to mobile devices, and improving the measurement and execution of digital campaigns. Together with Apple, we look forward to developing exciting new opportunities in the future that will benefit our customers.”

Something also to be noted is that former Quattro Wireless CEO, Andy Miller, revealed in the press release that his title is now Vice President of Mobile Advertising at Apple. The Google vs Apple showdown seems to be heating up. 2010 is going to be an exciting year in the mobile world.

Boom Town claims several sources have confirmed that Apple is getting into the in-app advertising business by buying AdMob competitor Quattro Wireless for $275 million.

Since Apple currently dominates the mobile app space, bolstering their cut of profits with a cut of in-app advertising is likely good business for them. It’s all about the eyeballs, and if those eyeballs are locked on iPhones and iPod touches, why let Google gobble it all up?

If rumors are true that Google bought AdMob out from under Apple (much like Apple bought online music streamer Lala out from under Google), then switching targets to an AdMob competitor couldn’t have been entirely off the radar, now could it? (Especially with — yes more rumors — of Google now turning towards Spotify for their music fix).

Apple and Google certainly look to be getting even more up into each others business, and that should make the expected Nexus One announcement later today, along with Apple’s expected January 27 event, and the whole of 2010, a lot more exciting!

AdMob, recently acquired by Google, has released their latest set of mobile metrics [PDF link] and the iPhone and iPod touch platform (iPhone OS) has a comfortable 50% share of worldwide traffic, and 55% of US traffic. That’s up 6.9%. In terms of top handset models, Apple’s iPhone accounted for 22.4%/24.1% (up 5.5%/5.2%) and iPod touch for 9.8%/11.4 (up 1.4%/2.3%)

Also up is HTC on the back of the Android Dream (G1) and Magic (MyTouch) to 5.6%/9.5% (+1.2%/1.8%) and BlackBerry maker RIM to 3.2%/5.4% (+0.1%/0%).

Everyone else was flat or down, with Nokia posting the biggest drop internationally (-2.6%) and Palm in the US (-2.2%).

Droid and other future Android devices will likely change things up for next time, perhaps webOS when it hits other carriers as well.

For now, however, Apple’s iPhone juggernaut continues.

Did Apple meet with mobile advertising company, AdMob before Google acquired them last week for $750 million? That’s what “people familiar with the matter” told Bloomberg:

Buying AdMob would have allowed Apple to expand into online advertising, a strategy that Nokia Oyj is pursuing, [IDC analyst Karsten Weide] said. “If a lot of traffic goes through my devices, why can’t I become the middleman that serves ads against that inventory? AdMob would have allowed them to do that quickly.”

Clearly advertising isn’t a core Apple business the way it is for Google, but then again with Google getting into so many of Apple’s core businesses (smartphone OS with Android and now desktop OS with ChromeOS), Apple could be looking to give them a dose of their own expansion. Given that Apple recently filed a patent for an ad-supported version of Mac OS X (something Microsoft explored years ago for Windows), they could also be looking for alternate ways to subsidize the cost of their platforms going forward. Right now carriers like AT&T foot the advance for the iPhone (and theoretically might do the same for an iTablet or 3G-connected MacBook) but the more options to reduce up-front consumer costs, the better — especially in the increasingly competitive landscape.

We’ve said before Apple should have snapped up Grand Central before it became Google Voice, is Cupertino growing slow to react, or is Google just hitting warp speed?

When Google opens their wallet, big buyouts follow, and this time it’s iPhone/mobile advertising company AdMob for $750 million, and VoIP startup Gizmo5 for about $30 million.

AdMob is an obvious choice for Google, as it’s built mobile and in-app advertising (especially on the iPhone) into a $100 million a year business, enough to get Brin and Page personally involved in the courtship. Says TechCrunch:

Google is gunning hard to dominate mobile Web advertising and AdMob has an early foothold in the display side. [...] Google’s purchase price tells us it thinks the opportunity for mobile display ads is in the billions of dollars, at the very least.

Gizmo5, rather than advertising, could help round out Google’s services portfolio. Again, TechCrunch has the details:

Google Talk allows voice calls between users but has no PSTN link to allow incoming or outbound calls to real phones. Gizmo5 does this well already. [...] And Google Voice is a great VoIP and phone identity service, but they have no endpoint for calls. Gizmo5, which by the way already integrates with Google Voice, is a soft phone end point for Google phone users.

Of course, Apple will have to stop considering/reverse the rejection of Google Voice, or Google will have to deliver that killer web app version, before iPhone users benefit from that…

Last week we linked to an AdMob estimate that the iPhone and iPod touch App Store could represent a $2.5 billion a year economy, which based the estimate off usage stats for their mobile ad network, and a survey of 1000 iPhone, iPod touch, and Google Android users. But not so fast, says Cult of Mac along with developers from Polar Bear Farms, App Cubby, and the Yankee Group.

$2.4 billion divided by the 65,000 apps in the App Store is $37,000 per app, per year. And while some developers earn that, many do not.

They figure it’s closer to $250 million to $500 million, or roughly one fifth to one tenth the size.

AdMob is sticking to their original numbers, however, according to the methodology shared again with GigaOm.

To us, it just seems like they’re all guestimating how big that really, really big pie is — just stupid, or goram ridiculous.

[Thanks Icebike for the tip!]

Does the App Store represent a $2.5 billion a year economy, with 26.4 million iPhone users, 50% of whom pay for apps to the tune of $9.49 a month, or $125 million in August alone? That’s the story AdMob’s latest figures (via GigaOm) are telling, with 26.4 million iPod touch users, at 40% who pay, averaging $9.79 or $73 million rounding out Apple’s mobile platform.

Some other interesting metrics include iPhone users downloading 10 new apps a month, 18 for iPod touch. 8 apps are freebies for the iPhone’rs, 16 for iPod touch’ies.

Any wonder everyone and their carrier is trying to get into the App Store game?

[Via Gartenberg]