When Google announced their intention to buy mobile advertising network AdMob for $750 million late last year, Apple fought back with their purchase of Quattro Wireless. Since then, Google and Apple have been locked in a battle for supremacy of all things mobile. So, it seems a little out of sorts that Apple’s acquisition of Quattro Wireless and its soon-to-launch integrated iAd mobile advertising platform has actually helped buy Google a little more time to make the case to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the deal isn’t going to hurt competition. The WSJ is today reporting that the FTC has extended its review of the Google-AdMob deal by a couple weeks.
According to people in the know, the FTC has been looking negatively on Google’s AdMob acquisition. Google’s already dominant position in online advertising would give it an unfair advantage in mobile ads, and could potentially hurt competition in a market that has yet to come into its own. We’ve known about the FTC’s stance on this for some time now. In fact, the FTC is expected by many to block the Google-AdMob deal.
But, there’s still hope for Google. That hope comes by way of Apple, no less. The FTC has reportedly extended the review process to determine what effect Apple’s Quattro Wireless purchase and its iAds mobile advertising platform will have on the still-growing mobile ad space. As Google CEO Schmidt stated previously, Apple’s iAd initiative could help Google by showing that the mobile ad space is already showing signs of healthy competition. On the other hand, the iAd platform will be limited to the iPhone OS, and so could be less competitive against Google’s potential mobile advertising dominance.
We’ll keep a close eye on this space. The FTC could make a decision as early as the end of this week.
[Via: WSJ]