Did You Know That Google Shares It’s Search Ad Revenue with Carriers and Handset Manufacturers?
Well, they do now at least. Google released a statement today saying that they share their search advertising revenue with the carriers and manufacturers that use their search services. While this statement was originally believed to only be for Android phones, upon closer inspection of the statement it actually includes all phones with Google search as a default search engine built in.
“We share revenue on search, not on mobile applications,†a Google spokesperson said. “The same is true for non-Android devices that use Google as the default search engine.â€
So don’t worry developers, they aren’t giving your apps revenue to the carriers, just the ad revenue in their search results.
Not a bad deal for carriers and manufacturers though wouldn’t you say? And a good reason for them to adopt Android which has all Google services as default already, right? While I don’t think this is the reason for the Android boom as of late, it sure won’t hurt going forward. Oh, and with Google buying AdMob, the mobile advertising company, one has to wonder if more ad revenue might be shared with the carriers and manufacturers too, or if Google will keep that revenue to themselves.
This is a dangerous precedent to set in my opinion; will other OS’s be forced to do the same (if they aren’t already) like Microsoft and Bing? And will carriers begin to demand ad revenue from Google’s other services at some point too once they see all the revenue Google is making (doubtful but who knows)?
The one nice thing about this is is off set’s Google’s not so free OS. Yes, everyone keeps calling Android a “free operating system”, and they are right. It is free, but ONLY if you as a manufacturer doesn’t want GMail, Google Maps, or the Market. If you add those “Google products” to your free Android OS to sell, you’ll have to pay Google for it (hence why there were versions of the HTC Magic without these features at one point). And let’s face it, who wants Android without the Market?
What do you guys think? Is there anything wrong with this?
What about taking this further? Revenue sharing for top app developers? Free cell phone service for customers with advertisements instead of the ringing sound when people call you (oh just wait, it’s coming I can feel it)?
