Android Apps Undercutting Google? (GOOG, AMZN)
One of the main revenue drivers for Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) going forward is mobile search. The company has said little about growth in this area, but there could be some bumps ahead. The Kindle Fire tablet from Amazon.com (NASDAQ:…
One of the main revenue drivers for Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) going forward is mobile search. The company has said little about growth in this area, but there could be some bumps ahead.
The Kindle Fire tablet from Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) points out a loophole in Google’s aim for more of the mobile search market. The Kindle Fire uses Android, but nearly completely hides the operating system from the user. This allows users to download and run Android apps, which could prevent Google from putting its own mobile search and other services in front of users. No eyeballs, no ad revenue.
Bloomberg News reports that mobile device users now spend 94 minutes a day using apps to access a website compared with just 74 minutes a day using a browser. That differential is likely to continue growing in favor of apps.
By 2015, mobile advertising market could be worth more than $20 billion. Google needs to figure out a way to get a very large chunk of that — and Android does not look like the answer.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
