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Should Google Get Aggressive About Monetizing Android?

Posted by Soulskill on from the i'm-gonna-go-with-no dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes "Google's core search-advertising business is slowing down (despite an uptick in revenue and earnings for the most recent quarter) and a new report suggests that advertising ROI is much higher on iOS than Android. In light of that, it's worth asking whether Google, having dominated much of the mobile-device market with Android, will ever get around to more aggressively monetizing its mobile operating system, and what that could mean to the manufacturers that have been loading the software for free onto their hardware. If Google started charging licensing fees to manufacturers, and attempted to clamp down so that Google Play served as the only hub for Android apps (something that would definitely put it on a collision course with Amazon, which boasts its own Android app store), would it be shooting itself in the foot? Or would the rest of the ecosystem respond in a muted way, considering the sheer size of Google's power and presence?"

4 of 168 comments (clear)

  1. Are we asking ... by briancox2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are we asking whether Google should commit the same enormous Open Source/GPL faux pas that Oracle committed with MySQL?

    Seeing as Google is actively dumping MySQL for that very reason, I'd say, "No!"

    --
    We should learn what we need to know about issues, before we decide what we need to feel about them.
    1. Re:Are we asking ... by WaywardGeek · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yes. The poster is asking if Google should do like so many previous evil companies and stop innovating, and instead focus on putting the pinch to their clients. Oracle falls squarely in this category. I'm hoping Google will instead decide to continue innovating. They've been pretty damned good at it.

      --
      Celebrate failure, and then learn from it - Nolan Bushnell
  2. The summary is pure flamebait by DrJimbo · · Score: 5, Informative

    The title of the first FA is:

    Google earnings beat estimates, but Motorola losses keep growing

    The second FA is strictly about Facebook ads. It says:

    One caveat that Slagen offered, however, is that the data changes with industry, and that gaming and e-commerce industries, for instance, did not see the same kind of massive iPhone/Android gulf in ROI.

    The summary stinks of typical anti-Google FUD.

    Google beat earnings estimates. Google's Android OS drastically beat expectations on how soon it would totally dominate the smartphone market. So some asshat suggests that these results mean Google is doing poorly and it is only a matter of time before Google joins Apple and Microsoft (and others) by turning to the dark side.

    Having a dominate market share in the smart phone sector is HUGE. Google's plan for Android was to make sure they would not get shut out of the smart phone ads business. The plan far exceeded expectations all around.

    --
    We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
    -- Anais Nin
  3. Is this a article Joke by tuppe666 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Google stock hits a record on its quarterly results...Jumping 8% in after hour trading. Its ad revenue despite what the article implies grew 17% year-over-year. That is up from its 15% growth in the second quarter.

    But the reality is Googles growth is in "Other" revenue; which grew 85% thanks to sale of Apps...sound like they are monetizing Android even without advertising.

    Graph showing revenue by revenue source http://b-i.forbesimg.com/roberthof/files/2013/10/Screen-shot-2013-10-17-at-1.45.11-PM.png