Despite ruling two giant empires when it comes to personal data they can collect and analyze, Apple and Amazon are not willing to share that data with advertisers that are interested in pitching their products to the millions of customers who own iOS devices, or who purchase goods from Amazon. Both companies have their own ad platforms, however. “One person familiar with the situation exec said Apple’s refusal to share data makes it the best-looking girl at the party, forced to wear a bag over her head,” Ad Age writes.
Apple’s iAd U.S. business brought in $257.8 million according to eMarketer last year, from the total $171 billion in total revenue Apple reported for the period. Similarly. Amazon’s advertising revenue pales when compared to overall sales. The company’s ad network brought in $614 million from the U.S., which is more than Apple’s iAds business, but still insignificant when compared to the total $74.45 billion Amazon reported for the year.
Comparatively, Google and Facebook were kings of the ad business last year, with particular emphasis on the former. According to eMarketer, Google made $17 billion from ads last year, of which $3.98 billion came from ads served to U.S. customers, while Facebook came in second with $3.2 billion in overall ads revenue, of which $1.53 billion came from ads shown in the U.S. Meanwhile, both Google and Facebook have been criticized for their collection of personal data used to attract more advertisers to their networks.
Even though neither company is willing to share more data about their customers at this time, and media buyers say about Apple’s and Amazon’s ad teams that are “slow, cocky and downright stingy,” – Amazon’s sales approach is described as too pushy, while Apple is “too reticent to foster relationships,” and both companies are slow to develop ad products – they still want to be in bed with both companies.
