Facebook ads ‘18 times more profitable on iPhone than Android’

Oct 18, 2013 | Facebook marketing, Mobile, Social media

Facebook ads are 1,790% more profitable on Apple’s iOS than Android, according to new research looking into the social network’s mobile ad effectiveness. The data, from ad buying network Nanigans, analysed more than 200 billion Facebook ads on mobile with a focus on the retail sector. The report went on to find that the average […]

Facebook ads are 1,790% more profitable on Apple’s iOS than Android, according to new research looking into the social network’s mobile ad effectiveness.


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The data, from ad buying network Nanigans, analysed more than 200 billion Facebook ads on mobile with a focus on the retail sector.
The report went on to find that the average cost of CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) is $4.99 for the iPhone and $4.87 for Android, meaning ads are not much cheaper to buy on Google’s operating system.
Nanigans also found that while advertisers get 162 percent more cash than they spend on an iPhone ad itself, an ad on Android returns 10 percent less to the advertiser than the cost of the ad.
“Retailers are realizing significantly greater return from audiences on iOS than audiences on Android,” the report says. “For the first three quarters of 2013, RPC [revenue per click] on iOS averaged 6.1 times higher than Android and ROI [return on investment] on iOS averaged 17.9 times higher than Android.”
Nanigans declined to give reasons for the huge difference in conversion rates, but numerous studies, including this one from Pew Research ,have indicated that iPhone owners make and are willing to spend more money than Android owners.
The study also showed that in the past year on Facebook’s desktop ads, clickthroughs are up 375% and overall return on investment is 152%.
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Global competition
The news comes as Apple and Google remain looked in a battle for mobile dominance. Recent research from Distimo shows that Apple still leads the market with the most revenue from app sales, but Android has grown 10% in the past year, accounting for 35% of all app spend.
Further research from Gartner shows that Android now dominates the smartphone market, on 79% of the of all smartphones worldwide, compared to Apple’s 14.2%. The new data from Nanigans however, suggests Android still has a long way to go to match the average engagement levels and spend of iPhone users.
Read the full Nanigans report here

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