The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Google’s acquisition of AdMob will stifle competition, but at least one rival thinks the deal will be beneficial for the entire market.
4INFO, a mobile advertising company that focuses on SMS, told the FTC that the deal should go through because there’s little concern that Google will dominate the industry.
“This is such a rapidly growing and evolving industry that I have no concerns about Google and AdMob dominating this space,” 4INFO said in a letter to the FTC. “To the contrary, I believe that the recent interest in mobile advertising – especially from investors – will make it even easier for new companies to enter into mobile advertising with innovative products and services that compete effectively. I believe that the Google/AdMob transaction will also help raise awareness of mobile advertising generally and encourage more advertisers to engage in mobile advertising campaigns.”
The mobile advertising space is bound to fall under some scrutiny because most of the major tech players view this as the next big market. Part of the reason Google is trying to spend about $750 million to buy AdMob is the search giant thinks desktops will become irrelevant in as little as three years due to the proliferation of smartphones, and it wants to extend its money-printing advertising platform to these small screens.
The Goog isn’t the only one thinking big when it comes to mobile advertising, as Apple is rumored to be launching a major iAd platform to capitalize on this market. While Google is picturing a more wide-open browser-based mobile web, Apple’s vision appears to be tied to its booming App Store for the iPhone and iPad. The iAd platform is supposed to be an elegant way for developers to put ads in their apps and it will likely give Apple a healthy cut of the revenues.
[Via TechCrunch]