Android ad revenue higher than iPhone for the first time, according to Milliennial Media

The news that Android is slowly but surely grabbing market share from iOS in the US is so engrained, it's a trend even Steve Jobs has had to admit.

It's demonstrated once again in ad network Millennial Media's monthly Mobile Mix report for September.

According to Millennial's smartphone OS mix survey, Apple's share of the advertising impressions continues to fall, down from 48 percent in August to 46 percent.

Correspondingly, Android crept up by 3 percent in the same period, hitting 29 percent.

Eye on Android

That's a slower rate of increase than in previous months, however, with August having seen Android rise by 7 percent and iOS fall by the same amount.

Regardless, a closer look at the figures reveals better news for Google. For the first month ever, revenue generated across Android devices exceeded iPhone-only iOS revenue.

Android ad requests increased 26 percent month on month and are up 1283 percent since January 2010.

There's also good news for Apple as iPad revenue growth increased 316 percent in Q3, while impression growth increased 156 percent in the same period.

Smartphones as a whole, too, continue to surge, jumping from a 51 percent share of the total OS mix to 58 percent in September.

Device derby

Yet despite Android's momentum, Apple tops Millennial's chart in terms of activity, retaining its position as the top manufacturer in the US – upping its share from just over 28 percent in August to more than 30 percent in September.

Likewise, iPhone remains the single top device on Millennial's network, albeit with its share dropping by almost a third from around 28 percent to just over 19 percent in September.

Android devices also continue to chart well, with handsets from Motorola, Samsung and HTC all making the top 20.

You can read the full Mobile Mix report for August on Millennial Media's website.