• Best CPA Networks
  • Best Cost-Per-Sale Affiliate Networks
  • Best Pay-Per-Call Networks
  • mThink Digital
  • Thought Leadership
    • White Papers
  • About
    • Content Marketing
    • Content Strategy
      • Web Content
      • Social Media Strategy
      • Webinars & Video
      • Thought Leadership
    • Performance Marketing
    • Portfolio
      • Revenue Performance
      • Accenture
      • Microsoft
      • Java Detour
      • Our Process
    • Contact Us

mThink

Blue Book Logo

BlueBook Logo

The Trusted Name in Performance Marketing

ROS Leaderboard

  • Home
  • Blue Book
    • About Blue Book
    • Blue Ribbon Panel
    • Interviews
    • Research Methodology
    • Back Issues
    • Advertising
      • Website Creative Specifications
      • Newsletter Creative Specifications
  • Best CPA Networks
  • Best Cost-Per-Sale Affiliate Networks
  • Best Pay-Per-Call Networks
  • Best European CPA Networks
  • Best CPA Networks for Affiliates
  • Best CPA Networks for Advertisers

Apple vs. Google: The Mobile Search War Heats Up

September 26, 2012 by Revenue Performance Staff

With the release of the iPhone5 and iOS6, attention has become focused on the competition between Apple and Google for local and hyper-local search dollars. The iPhone has relied for years on Google’s mapping service and data, but with iOS6 they have introduced their own Apple Maps service. The problem is that Apple’s alternative is suffering from some highly publicized and severe flaws. The kicker is that maps have emerged as a key part of the mobile ecosystem with huge amounts of advertising dollars at stake.

“Local is a huge thing for Google in terms of advertising dollars, and search is very tied to that,” says Barry Schwartz, an editor at Search Engine Land, an industry blog. “Knowing where you are, when you search for coffee, it can bring up local coffee shops and ads that are much more relevant for the user.”

40% of mobile searches on Google are for local services and half of those searches are from iPhone users. These translate into potential sales for local businesses, as Google’s search results push much coveted traffic.

Google’s Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, said publicly this week that, “Google has made no move to provide Google Maps for the iPhone. We have not done anything yet,” he said, “but any decision on whether Google Maps would be accepted as an application in the Apple App Store would have to be made by Apple.”

Given Apple’s reputation for delivering applications that just work, no doubt they are scrambling to update and improve their own Map app, but it is hard to see how they can catch up with Google who has a 10 year head-start and a 7,000-strong workforce dedicated to Google Maps development.

Perhaps more importantly, will Apple be able to monetize maps as well as Google? Google has a huge and cohesive dataset of businesses and locations in the US, whereas for business listings Apple is having to try to integrate data from Acxiom and Localeze (a division of Neustar), supplemented by reviews from Yelp. Integrating information from these three completely different sources will be problematic at best. And every glitch in the data, and every local business that does not show up, or shows up in a completely wrong location, will result in both lost ad revenue and a hit on Apple’s hitherto stellar reputation for quality products.

Google has the ability to mine vast amounts of consistent, local search and mapping data that is has been aggregating for years, and can combine it with auctioned keywords matched to people’s search queries. Google knows this kind of monetization. Does Apple?

In the short term, it may not matter to Apple too much, given the loyalty of their users. It seems clear that people want their new iPhone5, even though the mapping application may suck a little. Apple has time to get it right.

So the question is not who is going to win this war, right now. The question is will mobile advertisers be forced to choose from which Map service they will purchase ads, and will they have to spread their advertising dollars as each techno-giant ends up taking half the market?

Related posts:

  1. Facebook Makes Its Mobile Move Facebook today began to allow its data to be used...
  2. The Future Is Bright for Digital CPS Affiliate marketing is in a constant state of flux and...
  3. Twitter Might Be The Key To Mobile Performance Advertising Twitter could change the performance marketing sector if they only...
  4. Top 5 Takeaways Re. Twitter's New Advertising Platform Twitter has made its move towards monetization and there are...

Filed Under: Customer Loyalty, Marketing, Mobile Marketing Tagged With: Advertising, Adwords, Industry Trends, Mobile

Search

ROS Col 2 Top

ROS Col 2 Mid

ROS Col 2 Low

Subscribe to our newsletter!

* indicates required

ROS Col 2 – 4 Misc

ROS Col 2 – 5 Misc

ROS Col 2 – 6 Misc

Recent Posts

  • 2023: Challenges, Opportunities & Predictions
  • Top 4 Best Practices For Consumer Finance Campaigns
  • Four Moments That Changed Performance Marketing Forever
  • New additions, improvements, and added perks from your favorite CPA network
  • Your Top 5 Affiliate Marketing Questions Answered
  • 5 strategies to create better content
  • FCC Says Ringless Voicemails Require Prior Consent
  • Top 5 Free Methods to Increase Affiliate Traffic
  •  3 Top Lead Generation Best Practices To Scale Your Business
  • Automation, Conversions, Profitability, Oh My – Breaking Affiliate Campaign Roadblocks
  • 5 tips for a better brand image
  • How Mac of All Trades Found Multi-Channel Success
  • Winning In A Changing World: An Interview with Taras Kiseliuk, CEO of ClickDealer
  • Survey: What Consumers Want from Financial Services Providers
  • The influencer marketing era: what does the future of web marketing hold?

About mThink

mThink is a specialist digital marketing company based in San Francisco. We focus on media buying, Facebook marketing, direct response, social and mobile. In addition mThink produces the annual Blue Book Rankings of major performance marketing networks. Read More »

Baseboard

Copyright ©2023 · mThink. All rights reserved.
3053 Fillmore Street, Suite 325 | (415) 787-0250
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy