Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said that the purchase of AdMob by Google will expand the sales of ads that appear in apps for the iPhone. As an iPhone user with lots of free apps, I am not sure that is such a good thing. Ad supported apps better be good is all I am saying.

A new iPhone exploit has been spotted in the wild that is stealing user data. The new worm is using the same vulnerability that the ikee worm did on jailbroken iPhones and this time rather than changing a background image, the worm is stealing data.

Why is mobile ad share important? Because in the smartphone segment, the tail wags the dog — apps drive customer loyalty more than hardware features… Yes, Apple offers many more apps, and yes, it’s more geared to consumers than Nokia.

Nokia already realized about the power of mobile applications and contents. As we know, Ovi Store is Nokia’s answer to the iPhone’s App Store.

AdMob is also combining search and display in a separate new format that will allow advertisers to add search boxes to banner ads so users can type queries directly within the units. The ads would enable people would be able to search a brand’s mobile site or other database, such as an automaker’s inventory of used car models at local dealerships.

The other two new ad formats expand options for rich media placements on the iPhone. One — a multi-panel unit — provides interactivity and animation with multiple calls to action in a single rich media unit. The other, a “scrolling canvas” unit, expands to a full mobile Web page when tapped without requiring users to click away from a site or iPhone application.

[via Media Post]

AdMob currently shows ads across 7.2 million iPhones. Developers will be able to volunteer a portion of the ad inventory on their apps to go towards promoting other apps. In return, their apps will be promoted on other apps in the network. Depending on whether monetization or distribution is more important to them, they will be able to adjust the settings on their AdMob account accordingly.

Since AdMob knows which other apps in the network have been downloaded by each individual, consumers will never be shown ads for apps they already own. AdMob also keeps track of usage after each download.

[via TechCrunch]

These new ads are not just browser-based, however, and will also be functional in native iPhone applications and with one click, you will be taken to the AppStore, iTunes or some other specified location. Both Brand and Performance formats will be available. 

Major launch partners include: 

• Jaguar
• Ford
• Electronic Arts
• Universal Pictures
• Land Rover

It will be interesting to see how intrusive these ads are or if they are pretty seamless. But if you ask me, don’t we get enough advertising in our lives as it is? Might this be going a bit overboard? 

[via FierceMobileContent]