It's too early to call Google's Nexus One smartphone an iPhone killer, but the Google phone -- and its associated Android operating system -- is taking a bite out of Apple's mobile ad monopoly.
Ad requests for Android devices on the AdMob mobile network grew 56 percent over the past two months, ClickZ reports. Google is in the process of acquiring AdMob, which could explain the jump, but other mobile ad networks are seeing more interest in Android as well.
Millennial Media saw a 25 percent jump in Android ad impressions in February, representing the largest month-over-month increase in the company's history. Meanwhile, Israel-based ad network Todacell saw 600 percent growth in Android requests between December 2009 and January 2010. Overall requests in its network grew by 300 percent in that same period, showing that Android is growing at twice the pace of the overall mobile market.
Apple is still the dominant player in mobile advertising, and its operating system offers far more reach than Android at this time. Still, the numbers indicate a possible sea change for the mobile landscape in the near future.
