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read moreApple buys mobile ad company Quattro Wireless
Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 06 January 2010 05:46
An announcement on Quattro's web site says the company has been acquired by Apple.
While neither Apple nor Quattro is mentioning dollars at this stage, some reports estimate the value of the transaction at $US275 million.
Quattro's customer list includes BP, Disney, Ford, Kmart, Microsoft, NetFlix, SAP, and Visa.
Some commentators have interpreted the acquisition as a response to Google's recent purchase of AdMob. Google has also announced its Nexus One mobile phone, widely seen as a competitor for the iPhone.
An alternative explanation is that the company is merely looking to add another revenue stream and to offer an additional service to app developers - support for Quattro could easily be built into the iPhone SDK, and ad dollars paid to developers alongside the revenue from App Store sales.
Such an arrangement would be particularly convenient for part-time developers who would rather spend their time working on their next product than messing around with the commercial side of things.
Furthermore, Apple currently gains no income from free ad-supported apps, but it does carry the hosting costs and other overheads. Making it easier for the developers of free apps to incorporate advertising, and then taking a cut of the revenue would offset those costs.
If enough free apps moved to the ad-supported model, it might even allow Apple to trim its commission on App Store sales from the current 30%, making the platform even more attractive to developers.
But for now, "We remain focused on delivering more engaging, relevant and useful ads to mobile devices, and improving the measurement and execution of digital campaigns," said Quattro's Andy Miller, who is now vice president, mobile advertising at Apple.
"We will continue to operate the Quattro Wireless network across all devices and platforms," he added.
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