iAd Could be Savior for Google-AdMob Deal
Last week the FTC began making the arrangements to bust Google’s AdMob buyout on the grounds of the company creating an advertising monopoly across mobile and computer platforms. Now we are seeing a potential lifeline emerging in the form of Apple’s recently announced iAd platform. With Apple’s built-in consumer base, their advertising system will easily account for a large share of mobile advertising, making the argument of a monopoly on Google’s part hard to back up.
Regarding Apple’s announcement, Google CEO Eric Schmidt stated iAd was “evidence of a highly competitive market.” With this latest revelation he sees no reason why the AdMob deal would be busted.
One argument against Google and AdMob is that Google earns revenue through its search engine by displaying recent news postings from newspapers and internet sources in its search results. The claim is that Google is profiting from the work of these news sources. Schmidt pointed to devices such as Android phones and Apple’s iPad and iPhone as the “future” and defended Google by pointing out that they direct a large portion of traffic to these websites.
While the assumption is that Google will be allowed to go through with its acquisition of AdMob now that Apple has produced a strong competitor, only time will tell if the FTC prevents Google from passing Go and collecting on its investment.
[via Business Week]