With new Android-based devices being released at a genuinely curious pace, some have questioned just what has pushed so many companies into using Android on their various smartphones.

At least the Android logo is a little bit cute

The answer, if you’re to read the report from PaidContent, seems to be that Google could well have bolstered the numbers of Android devices out there by offering some interesting deals to the various manufacturers and carriers involved. According to the report, Google has been offering to share the ad-revenue that it generates from Android-based devices, on condition that the manufacturers and network operators involved include apps for Google’s search service.

While many will have assumed that Google’s search simply comes as part of the Android OS, it seems that not only is that not the case, but Google is willing to split the profits for those who make the decision to include them, a fact that very well could have contributed to their practical ubiquity when it comes to Android devices.

Still, if nothing else this opens up a very interesting side to the current fight for the smartphone market. The fact is that Google isn’t the only company making money off ad-revenue that could offer manufacturers and network operators a slice of the pie for inclusion on devices being released. Indeed, we’ve already seen reports that Motorola will be releasing Android devices in China that run Microsoft’s Bing as their primary search rather than Google’s own search.

If nothing else, the report makes for some very interesting reading, and helps go some way toward explaining the explosion of Android devices… still, it’s good news for those companies producing Android smartphones.