Ever since the iPhone built the current mobile ad market in the US  I liked to take a routine look at the mobile ad market. Now, especially as a lot of the attention of industry shifted into the direction of Android following Apple’s ban of incentivized installs in April, we were curious how the situation developed on this platform.

While mobile app downloads, usage and advertising is growing at an exceptionally rapid rate, this research is the first estimate of market share among ad networks on Android. Mobile ad and ad exchange networks only disclose data related to their own advertising networks – thus creating data silos which don’t show a comprehensive view of the market. Research firm IDC releases a study each year that aims to break down the mobile ad market by vendor. However, it is often disputed. Additionally the IDC study does not disclose any data on the operating system (OS) or app level.

Key Findings:

I. The Adoption of Mobile Advertising on Android

- 50% of the Top 1000 Downloaded Apps on Android in October have at least one mobile ad network or mobile ad exchange SDK

- 22% of the Top 1000 Downloaded Apps on Android in October have two or more mobile ad network SDKs which indicates that slightly less than half of all the top downloaded apps have at least a second, alternative service provider to choose from.

II. Market Estimates for Each Service Provider

Among the 50% of the top downloaded apps with one or more one mobile ad or ad exchange network SDK, here is how the leading service providers are divided by market share:

- Admob dominates: 89% of the top apps that use mobile advertising as a monetization method leverage an Admob SDK. These apps represent 89% of all downloads in October among the top downloaded apps with mobile advertising.

- Millenial Media is distant second: 34% of the top apps that use mobile advertising as a monetization method leverage a Millenial Media SDK. These apps represent 48% of all downloads in October among the top downloaded apps with mobile advertising.

- Inmobi is a close third: 22% of the top apps that use mobile advertising as a monetization method leverage an Inmobi SDK. These apps represent 26% of all downloads in October among the top downloaded apps with mobile advertising.

- Admob’s mobile ad exchange network AdWhirl is a close fourth place: 19% of the top apps tht use mobile advertising as a monetization method leverage an AdWhirl SDK. These apps represent 17% of all downloads in October among the top downloaded apps with mobile advertising. Ad exchanges like AdWhirl maintain the inventory of other ad networks (such as Admob, Millenial or Inmobi) and optimize this inventory for app publishers.

- Ad exchange network Mobclix is at the fifth position: 15 % of the top apps that use mobile advertising as a monetization method leverage the Mobclix SDK. These apps represent 17% of all downloads in October among the top downloaded apps with mobile advertising.

- Others service providers are lagging: The remaining 15% of the top apps that use mobile advertising as a monetization platform is made up by a group of other players that have a smaller traction on Android. This includes mobile ad exchange networks AdMarvel, Smaato, Burstly, Mopub, Nexage, Fiksu, and mobile ad network Jumptap who each make up less than 3% each of the overall market share. However, together this group has an unproportional punch. The apps with their SDKs apps represent 26% of all downloads in October among the top downloaded apps with mobile advertising.

III. A note about methodology

Xyologic collects and analyzes data using a variety of proprietary techniques and technologies conforming to established and accepted rules. The information contained in this research study has been compiled by Xyologic, referencing both primary research data and that of other reliable third party sources. For this research study, in particular, Xyologic evaluated the top 1000 most downloaded apps on Android for October 2011 and screened these apps for the presence of the SDKs offered by the various advertising service providers. These 1000 most downloaded apps on Android have over 340M downloads in total – which is over 54% of all Android downloads in October. Hence we view the sample of the 1000 most downloaded apps as representative of market share in that month.