Google has won approval for its $750m acquisition of AdMob, after rival Apple’s own entry into the market doused fears the purchase would give the search giant a monopoly of the mobile ad space.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that Apple’s purchase of the online mobile ad company Quattro Wireless in January would mitigate Google’s […]
Google has won approval for its $750m acquisition of AdMob, after rival Apple’s own entry into the market doused fears the purchase would give the search giant a monopoly of the mobile ad space.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that Apple’s purchase of the online mobile ad company Quattro Wireless in January would mitigate Google’s dominance of the market as more people access the web through their phones and other mobile devices such as Apple’s iPad.
The US regulator said: “The decision was a difficult one because the parties (Google and AdMob) currently are the two leading mobile advertising networks, and the commission was concerned about the loss of head-to-head competition between them.”
The decision, after months of investigation and uncertainty, paves the way for a battle between Apple and Google in smartphones and the advertising served on them. Both companies are ramping up their efforts to push into the mobile internet — Apple with its iPhone and nascent iAd advertising business and Google with its Android operating system for smartphones.
EMarketer, the research firm, projects that US spending on mobile advertising will reach $1.56 billion in 2013, up from $593 million this year and $320 million in 2008. With more than four billion cellphones in use in the world, many expect the mobile internet market eventually to challenge the importance of desktop computing.
Currently US spending on online advertising delivered to laptops and desktops is projected by eMarketer to be $25.1 billion this year, rising to $33 billion by 2013.
Apple tried to buy AdMob, but was trumped by Google. The irony that Apple’s consequent $275 million deal for Quattro Wireless helped the AdMob deal to go through will not be lost on executives of either company.
The mobile advertising landscape is up for grabs and Google, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL are all jostling for a share of the spoils.
Google’s Android system, which it gives free to handset manufacturers, is rapidly gaining market share and is available on more than 60 devices from the makers such as Motorola and HTC. The internet search giant said that searches on its mobile search engine have quintupled in just the past two years.
This week at a conference for software developers in San Francisco, Google showed off upgraded Android software and said that more than 100,000 smartphones running it were on its now activated daily.
Android has already overtaken Microsoft in the battle over smartphone operating systems and is challenging Apple. Android phones were already outselling the iPhone in North America only 18 months after the internet search giant entered the market, according to Gartner, the research firm.
Worldwide, Gartner puts Android fourth behind Nokia’s Symbian, the BlackBerry-maker, Research in Motion, and Apple.
“As a result of Apple’s entry (into the market), AdMob’s success to date on the iPhone platform is unlikely to be an accurate predictor of AdMob’s competitive significance going forward, whether AdMob is owned by Google or not,” the Commission’s statement explains.
Commenting on the Google- AdMob deal, Omar Hamoui, founder and CEO of AdMob, said: “We are extremely pleased with the FTC’s decision today to clear Google’s acquisition of AdMob. Over the past six months we’ve received a great deal of support from across the mobile industry – and we deeply appreciate it.
“We are excited to get to what’s next and to start working with Google to develop new products and services for our advertisers, developers, and publishers. We share a commitment to helping our customers navigate and take advantage of the mobile opportunity. Together, Google and AdMob will be able to bring a whole host of new products and capabilities to mobile advertising.
“The Google deal was announced in November of last year. Rather than sit idle for six months, we’ve launched 15 new products, updated 11 more, and continued building a phenomenal business that is serving an ever growing base of customers. I couldn’t be more grateful for all this group has done.”
