Google Gulps Biggest Share of Mobile Advertising (GOOG, AAPL, RIMM, MSFT, VZ, VOD)

Mobile advertising network Millennial Media has released its February data on which devices and operating systems are leading the mobile ad market. Millennial is the third largest mobile ad network, trailing AdMob, now owned by Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), and iAds from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

Apple leads all hardware manufacturers with a 28.25% share of mobile ad impressions on Millennial’s network. Samsung is second with a 22.84% share and HTC is third with an 11.35% share. The leading mobile device was Apple’s iPhone with a 16.57% share, followed by the iPod Touch with 9.11% and the Samsung Epic with 7.81%. Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) was fourth in both categories, with 11.22% of manufacturers’ impressions and 5.84% of impressions on its Blackberry Curve device.

Interestingly, the Apple iPad, with 2.57% of impressions, only led the Samsung Galaxy Tablet, with 2.31% of impressions, by a very small margin. Of course Apple’s share on its own iAd network will be much higher. Alas, neither Apple nor Google shares detailed info on mobile advertising.

On the operating system side, Google’s Android is the clear leader, with 51% of Millennial’s ad impressions to 27% for Apple’s iOS. RIM takes 17% and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone and Windows 7 take 1%.

In the universe of mobile devices, 62% of Millennial’s impressions went to smartphones, 24% went to feature phones, and 14% to what the company calls “connected devices,” defined as tablets, music players, and game controllers with access to the mobile web. Of the connected devices, Apple’s iOS garners 80% of ad impressions, mostly on the strength of the companies dominant iPad tablet.

One other item worthy of noting is that the Verizon Wireless launch of Apple’s iPhone in mid-February drew 4.5% of all Millennial’s iPhone advertising impressions. That doesn’t seem like much, but it’s barely two weeks worth of reporting. How the Verizon iPhone does in March will better indicate how the joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone plc (NASDAQ: VOD) will fare in the iPhone market. Verizon phones already account for 20% of Millennial’s overall impressions, while AT&T (NYSE: T) gets just half that number.

There are a few take-aways from all this data. First, even though Apple still leads manufacturers in ads served, Samsung is within a few points of catching up. Second, on Millennial’s network only the iPhone garners more than 10% of mobile ad impressions, and the three Apple products in the top ten grab more than 28%. Third, while Android’s 51% share in the OS category is dominant, that is less than the 54% it posted in January.

A final cautionary note from Horace Dediu at asymco.com.  Much of the in-app advertising “is not coming from consumers but churning around the ecosystem like a hot potato.” In the immortal words of Gertrude Stein, there’s no there there. If that’s true, real revenue from mobile advertising could be lower than many estimates.

Paul Ausick