Company prepping for fight with Google?

Apple has hired two new mobile advertising executives in Europe, according to reports. A former Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) sales manager will take charge of Apple's EMEA sales team, while Todd Tran -- formerly of WPP's Group M -- will become the general manager for Europe. The additions form one of Apple's first public moves in advertising since buying mobile specialist Quattro Wireless in early January.

Through Quattro's assets, Apple should be able to reap more profit from the iPhone and iPod touch, currently the most lucrative mobile platforms for advertising. The company will however have to compete with Google, which not only has a dominant presence in web advertising as a whole, but also earns cash from being the default search provider in the iPhone version of Safari. Only some of that money filters back to Apple.

CEO Steve Jobs is believed to have lashed out at Google in a recent meeting, suggesting that through the Android platform, Apple has become the target of a plot to destroy the iPhone. While Google does not design any phones itself, Android's low cost and coding freedom has helped the technology's ascendancy. In return, Google gains more advertising hits.

by MacNN Staff