Google announced on The Official Google Blog that their acquisiton of AdMob, a mobile advertising company, was cleared by the FTC on Friday with unanimous approval. There were concerns that the FTC may not approve the acquisition, due to concerns over anti-trust issues, but Apple's announcement of iAds, their own mobile ad network, seems to have convinced the FTC that this developement is "unlikely to harm competition in the emerging market for obile advertising networks."
Androinica mentioned that Google's previewing of new ad technology at Google I/O that will allow clickable video and centextual ads which could be included by developers into their apps.
The FTC's press release on the acquisition said that:
the Commission said that although the combination of the two leading mobile advertising networks raised serious antitrust issues, the agency’s concerns ultimately were overshadowed by recent developments in the market, most notably a move by Apple Computer Inc. – the maker of the iPhone – to launch its own, competing mobile ad network. In addition, a number of firms appear to be developing or acquiring smartphone platforms to better compete against Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, and these firms would have a strong incentive to facilitate competition among mobile advertising networks.
Google had this to say about the FTC's decision and their future:
We’re excited to work with Omar Hamoui and his talented team at AdMob to develop new mobile advertising solutions for marketers, mobile app developers and mobile publishers...As an immediate matter, we’re now moving to close this acquisition in coming weeks. We’ll then start work right away on bringing AdMob’s and Google’s teams and products together. This industry is moving fast, and we’re excited to be part of the race!
Phandroid noted that "AdMob and Google will be an advertising powerhouse, and the FTC was not off-base with their concern." Phandroid went on to mention that we will have to wait and see how things go to know whether or not this was the right call.
Other Sources: Androinica, FTC, Phandroid
Image from Androinica
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