Google highlights Apple's iAd as FTC looks to block AdMob deal
Lawyers with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will reportedly recommend that the government block Google's proposed acquisition of mobile advertising firm AdMob, while the search giant has highlighted Apple's forthcoming iAd platform as evidence of growing competition in the market.
According to Reuters, staff with the FTC are prepared to recommend blocking Google's purchase of AdMob for anticompetitive reasons. An anonymous source told the news agency that the commission's staff believe there is a "significant competitive problem," and they will recommend that the FTC sue to stop the acquisition.
It was in late December that consumer groups asked the FTC to block Google's $750 million AdMob deal, citing both antitrust and privacy issues. Google agreed to acquire AdMob just weeks after the advertising firm met with representatives from Apple about a potential deal.
A recent report from The New York Times profiling the rivalry between Apple and Google said that the search engine willingly overpaid for AdMob just to keep the company away from Apple. Soon after the deal between Google and AdMob was struck, Apple responded by acquiring competing mobile ad firm Quattro Wireless.
Apple's move to purchase Quattro Wireless and establish its own advertising platform for integration into the App Store has been closely watched and even applauded by representatives from Google, who see the acquisition as evidence that there is competition in the mobile advertising space. Peter Kafka at MediaMemo noted this week that Google representatives sent e-mails to reporters to keep them apprised of rumors surrounding Apple's anticipated iAd platform.
Recent reports have said that Apple plans to introduce its new mobile advertising platform, a result of its purchase of Quattro Wireless, at a special event set for Thursday to preview the forthcoming iPhone OS 4.0. The new version of Apple's mobile operating system, which powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, is believed to add full multitasking support with third-party applications from the App Store. The preview event is scheduled for 10 a.m. Pacific, and will give a "sneak peek of the next generation of iPhone software" at the company's Cupertino, Calif., campus.
According to Reuters, staff with the FTC are prepared to recommend blocking Google's purchase of AdMob for anticompetitive reasons. An anonymous source told the news agency that the commission's staff believe there is a "significant competitive problem," and they will recommend that the FTC sue to stop the acquisition.
It was in late December that consumer groups asked the FTC to block Google's $750 million AdMob deal, citing both antitrust and privacy issues. Google agreed to acquire AdMob just weeks after the advertising firm met with representatives from Apple about a potential deal.
A recent report from The New York Times profiling the rivalry between Apple and Google said that the search engine willingly overpaid for AdMob just to keep the company away from Apple. Soon after the deal between Google and AdMob was struck, Apple responded by acquiring competing mobile ad firm Quattro Wireless.
Apple's move to purchase Quattro Wireless and establish its own advertising platform for integration into the App Store has been closely watched and even applauded by representatives from Google, who see the acquisition as evidence that there is competition in the mobile advertising space. Peter Kafka at MediaMemo noted this week that Google representatives sent e-mails to reporters to keep them apprised of rumors surrounding Apple's anticipated iAd platform.
Recent reports have said that Apple plans to introduce its new mobile advertising platform, a result of its purchase of Quattro Wireless, at a special event set for Thursday to preview the forthcoming iPhone OS 4.0. The new version of Apple's mobile operating system, which powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, is believed to add full multitasking support with third-party applications from the App Store. The preview event is scheduled for 10 a.m. Pacific, and will give a "sneak peek of the next generation of iPhone software" at the company's Cupertino, Calif., campus.
Comments
This is certainly the start of the unraveling of google...unfunded android, android fragmentation, now the potential slap in the face from the FTC....
google, how about you stick to your other beta adventures, like figure out a way to keep junk/spam outta my inbox....even yahoo is way better at handling that...your crap maps always get people lost on the way to my place creating roads where none exist...
how about you improve your customer services you get paid handsomely for..
edit:
GOOGLE IS DOOMED!
haha... that's what you get Eric, you lil' thieving punk. Admit all you best beta ideas or stolen ideas including where to take your company because you lack vision and only think in short term profits and not company longevity.
This is certainly the start of the unraveling of google...unfunded android, android fragmentation, now the potential slap in the face from the FTC....
google, how about you stick to your other beta adventures, like figure out a way to keep junk/spam outta my inbox....even yahoo is way better at handling that...your crap maps always get people lost on the way to my place creating roads where none exist...
how about you improve your customer services you get paid handsomely for..
edit:
GOOGLE IS DOOMED!
Did Google touch you inappropriately when you were little or something?
Google is becoming scary and I'm considering not using their products anymore.
I wonder if this opens the door for Apple to buy them now. I realize Apple already bought an alternative but perhaps they'd still be interested if only to prevent someone else.
Ain't gonna happen because Apple probably holds a grudge against them for choosing Google! But it would be a brilliant business move to acquire them only for their IP and market share. Steve can learn a thing or two from his pal Larry Ellison about M&A.
Ain't gonna happen because Apple probably holds a grudge against them for choosing Google! But it would be a brilliant business move to acquire them only for their IP and market share. Steve can learn a thing or two from his pal Larry Ellison about M&A.
What if Apple had wanted Google to try to buy the company over the odds? They could have foreseen issues? Or did Apple really mess up? It seems very strange for Apple to mess up this big - isn't it just something they left out for Google, in the knowledge they'd go for it?
Did Google touch you inappropriately when you were little or something?
that's none of your business..
other than the website where its documented...
www.googletouchedmehinappropriately.com
Google and AdMob? Hellll no.
Google is becoming scary and I'm considering not using their products anymore.
I already switched. I switched from Google search to Bing and I don't see any real difference in the quality of the results. There are other options, as well.
I never used any of the other Google apps since I have no desire to turn over my entire personal history to them.
I gave up on Google when they decided that they had the right to copy every published work in existence and make it available on the web without permission from the authors.
The fact that the FTC is recommending against it is extremely unusual. Even if Google ultimately prevails, it could take months and months as this could drag on in the courts. This will definitely affect Google's synergy goals from the acquisition.
Google should perhaps have anticipated this.
Did Google touch you inappropriately when you were little or something?
He's just channeling Steve Jobs: "We didn't enter the search market, but Google entered the phone market! Google is EVIL! Make no mistake, Google is trying to kill the iPhone!"
Forgive him. It is a standard Apple-approved attitude, and he's just going with the flow.
I already switched. I switched from Google search to Bing and I don't see any real difference in the quality of the results. There are other options, as well.
Not that I'm a fan of Microsoft or anything, but the birds-eye-views on Bing Maps are pretty cool. Better than the Google Maps closeups.
I would recommend operating your computer with the monitor powered on.
Google and AdMob? Hellll no.
Google is becoming scary and I'm considering not using their products anymore.
and what, MS and bing aren't--it wasn't too long ago that they were the "great evil"
i guess the "great evil" is an evolving beast
ibm
MS
Google
who else?
i'd like to see some real competition with apple getting their own
search
maps
cloud office suite
use their ad company to pay for it like google and bing do so we all can have MORE choice
how hard would it be for apple to make its own search product
its that integration and ad driven revenue that makes it work
make it cross platform and drive this model
what i fear, is keeping my search, mail, adword data, and history to pry open my privacy
and leak it
He's just channeling Steve Jobs: "We didn't enter the search market, but Google entered the phone market! Google is EVIL! Make no mistake, Google is trying to kill the iPhone!"
Forgive him. It is a standard Apple-approved attitude, and he's just going with the flow.
yea because Eric Schmidt being on the board at apple had nothing to do with them coming up with a mobile OS, or going after the same purchase Apple wanted in Admob...
and who are you? a google apologists only visiting apple boards because you are paid to? Seems some people will go to any length to defend unethical business practices and conflicts of interest..
yea because Steve Schmidt being on the board at apple had nothing to do with them coming up with a mobile OS, or going after the same purchase Apple wanted in Admob...
Who's "Steve Schmidt?"
PS Disturbingly candid photos at your web site (www.googletouchedmehinappropriately.com)
Who's "Steve Schmidt?"
PS Disturbingly candid photos at your web site (www.googletouchedmehinappropriately.com)
oops meant eric
This is potentially serious. The FTC rarely issues a ruling like this in an antitrust review of an acquisition (a review that is required and automatic under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act of 1976 for any acquisition over $65 million, and treated as a proforma exercise 99.9% of the time).
The fact that the FTC is recommending against it is extremely unusual. Even if Google ultimately prevails, it could take months and months as this could drag on in the courts. This will definitely affect Google's synergy goals from the acquisition.
Google should perhaps have anticipated this.
I suspect they did. Keeping in mind, this was a defensive move on Google's part. They bought AdMob, probably at a substantial premium over what Apple might have paid, to prevent Apple from poaching on their territory. This kind of thing really gets the attention of regulators. If they now try to use Apple moving into the market as a defense, I think it's going to be very weak one, since this is after all what Google spent heavily to try to prevent. Google has some explaining to do.