There seems to be some disagreement regarding just how much money developers can expect to make from iAd.

Following on from developer Jason Ting – who claimed iAd generated more than $1,372 in revenue for his free version of his LED Camera Flash app in one day, iLaugh developer Kenneth Ballenegger has stated his experience with the network suggests studios are earning "nowhere near the mind-blowing figures that have been thrown around".

Balleneggar makes specific reference to Ting's account in a blog post published on his website, claiming that it's the way figures are calculated that is inflating iAd's perceived performance.

Nosing out the numbers

As such, while Ting claims to be enjoying a stellar iAd eCPM (effective cost per thousand impressions) of more than $147, Balleneggar's eCPM officially comes in at $10-$15.

"Of course, we have to put these numbers in perspective," Balleneggar goes on.

"We cannot do a 1-to-1 comparison with competing networks. Most competing ad networks refresh their ads every 30s. iAd does it every 3min. Thus, for the time it takes iAd to display one ad, another network gets to show 6."

Rounding down

As a result, Balleneggar personally adjusts his eCPM figure down to a more realistic result, diving it by 6 to make it comparable to other ad networks.

"The eCPM on iAd is only worth about $1.60-$2.50," he concludes.

"While still quite high, this is nowhere near the mind-blowing figures that have been thrown around."

Balleneggar also claims iAd's standard fill rates are "appalling low" - coming in at below 10 percent – and recommends studios have another ad network to fall back on (much like Mobclix's set-up) when the failed requests on iAd mount up.

"I'm sure the fill rates will improve over time, and that iAd wil become a worthy competitor over time. Right now though, the reality is iAd generates less revenue than my previous first option, Google AdSense for mobile."

[source: Kenneth Ballenegger]