As Apple moves closer to the launch day of their new iOS 9 operating system, Google and some smaller developers of apps are somewhat unnerved. If you have followed any of the recent language by Apple, you have heard their new operating system means apps must run in secured mode. Whereas that does not mean much for Apple, that move could potentially affect Google quite a bit. That is because Google developers use AdMob to monetize their apps.
AdMob works with a long list of ad networks, all of which need to update their SDKs in order to serve securely and accommodate the iOS release. Google has recommended a short term fix that will solve the problem temporarily. They have given out a snippet of code that will disable the security components to allow non secure items. They did this so there would not be an interruption of monetization.
Despite Google’s public endorsement of encrypted connections earlier in the year, they admitted there was not always full compliance on 3rd party ad networks. Of course, Google did effectively “warn” developers there was going to be a change, but like kids in school, you will always have those kids that won’t plan ahead and have to do a term paper on the night before it is due. That is why Google added the code.
The problem with that is, that defeats the entire purpose of having secure apps, and it leaves those apps vulnerable. Many people feel they should not disable security on an app for the sake of Google’s business model. Truthfully, this leaves Google holding the bag with some of their advertisers. If they must all be updated, some of the smaller companies will surely have their work cut out for them so they will comply.
During the Apple WWDC conference, Tim Cook stated that he was coming from Silicon Valley where “some of the most prominent and successful companies have built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency about their personal information.” He then proceeded to say that the gathering of all of your personal data they can try to sell you things is wrong. They did not mention Google by name, but there is no question who that comment was aimed at.
With the way that Google monetizes their apps, these changes are sure to make a difference to their bottom line. Unlike the Android operating system, iOS users quickly move to new operating systems for their phones. There was more than 46% saturation of the iOS 8 operating system within one week of the release date, and 86% saturation of all apple devices since 2014 have iOS 8.