Apple prefers HTML5, which it uses in its new iAd platform for rich media ads on mobile devices. The company has no intention of ever directly supporting Adobe Flash on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, so this could be the only chance Adobe has at reaching iPhone users with mobile ads — a massive growth market.
The ads distributed through this deal between Adobe and Greystripe will challenge Apple's own, HTML5-based iAd platform. We're not sure what (if anything) Apple will do about this.
Adobe tried another route not long ago, offering developers the ability to compile their Flash work into native iPhone applications. In response, Apple changed its developer agreement to forbid developers who want to be published in the Apple App Store from using the feature.
In addition to the iPhone OS and the mobile web, Adobe/Greystripe ads will also work with Google Android smartphone applications and any desktop web browser that supports HTML5.
This Won't Sit Well With Apple
The battle between Adobe and Apple over Flash and HTML5 will have far-reaching implications for the advertising market and all of the content industries that it supports. Apple advocates HTML5 in part because its platform is not maintained by any one company.
Apple already takes a cut of app sales on the iPhone OS, but it hopes to also take a significant percentage of mobile ad revenues on the device; that revenue stream could become much larger than sales in coming years. But if Adobe Flash remains the standard for ads, Adobe will have power over the ad market instead of Apple.