Report: Google Search Will Generate $5 Billion From Tablets
Google could generate as much as $5 billion in revenue from selling advertisements on its search engine on tablet devices in 2013, according to a new report by Marin Software, one of the top firms that helps advertisers to buy Web-search ads.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google had already framed Android’s business case around user monetization in a 2011 estimate of revenue per Android user, then signaled a more direct tablet push through plans to double down on Android tablets and its own tablet sales channel. Marin Software’s unconfirmed 2013 estimate connects those device-distribution efforts to the search-ad business that funds them.
The forecast traveled across several technology outlets, underscoring advertiser interest in whether tablet usage can be bought and measured as a distinct search audience rather than treated as conventional desktop traffic.
First-order effects
- Marin Software’s estimate gives search advertisers a tablet-specific planning benchmark, encouraging them to separate tablet search budgets and bids from broader Web-search campaigns.
- For Google, the forecast strengthens the commercial rationale for tablet distribution: more tablet searches enlarge the inventory available to its advertising customers.
Second-order effects
- Advertisers using Marin Software and comparable buying tools face pressure to improve device-level campaign measurement, because tablet traffic becomes more valuable when its conversion and bid performance can be isolated.
- Google’s tablet efforts compete not only on device adoption but on the ability to turn usage into searchable, sellable advertising inventory.
Third-order effects
- If tablet search demand continues to scale, mobile computing economics will increasingly favor platforms that pair device distribution with high-volume advertising systems, rather than relying on hardware sales alone.
The trend: Tablet adoption is becoming a search-ad monetization story, linking Android distribution more tightly to Google’s advertising engine.