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It has finally happened folks. The United States Federal Trade Commission has approved Google’s acquisition of AdMob. While this is something that we all knew would happen, there is an unexpected twist to the story. The approval was made possible because of Apple – Google’s arch rival. Incredible, don’t you think?
The FTC was reluctant to approve Google’s $750 million acquisition of AdMob because of just one reason – it thought the move would give Google an edge over all its competitors and make it a monopoly in the mobile advertising market. It thought the deal would make Google too big for any competitor to take on. Apple’s acquisition of Quattro Wireless in January, however, changed everything.
The acquisition of Quattro gave Apple a strong chance to dominate the mobile ad market. Moreover, an increasingly large number of people are using Apple iPhone and iPad to access the web on the go. So, the FTC decided that Apple’s deal with Quattro Wireless, coupled with the fact that the company has a significant presence in the smartphone market, will definitely mitigate the dominance of Google as a mobile advertising powerhouse and approved the latter’s acquisition of AdMob.
The FTC, in its own words, admitted that the decision was very difficult to make as the parties involved in the deal (Google and AdMob) are two of the most powerful mobile advertising networks in the world today. The regulators were worried about antitrust issues, which is one of the main reasons why they did not approve of the deal right away. The deal between Apple and Quattro Wireless changed their opinion and overshadowed their concerns. As a result, Google can now breathe a sigh of relief.
This, in my opinion, is the best thing that could have happened to the mobile advertising industry. Apple, which recently released the iPad, is poised to become a dominant force in the market and Google, with its Android OS, is already making waves in the market. As of now, the top players in the market include Apple, Symbian, Blackberry, Android, and Microsoft. The AdMob deal, however, gives Google a definite edge over its competitors.
The deal has made Google the largest mobile advertising network in the world today. As some of you already know, AdMob recently served its 200 billionth ad and serves, on average, 8.5 billion mobile ads every month. The company has its presence in more than 160 countries and has some of the biggest companies in the world as its clients. So, Google is all set to become the most dominant player in the market. Its competitors have their work cut out. It should be an interesting battle.
Tags: Admob, Android, Apple, Blackberry, ftc, Google, ipad, iPhone, Microsoft, mobile ads, mobile advertising, Quattro Wireless, smartphone, Symbian
Technorati Tags: Admob, Android, Apple, Blackberry, ftc, Google, ipad, iPhone, Microsoft, mobile ads, mobile advertising, Quattro Wireless, smartphone, Symbian
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google, Apple.
Trust me, I knew this was coming. I could almost sense it coming.
Mobile marketers will now have to be more careful than ever, because from now on the Feds will be watching them closely. FTC’s event, ‘Beyond Voice: Mapping the Mobile Marketplace’, discussed the concept of mobile marketing and the ways in which it can be made less intrusive, more organized, and so on.
A common complaint among a section of mobile users was that some of the mobile ads are vague in nature and don’t inform the reader the exact price of the service or product being marketed. As a result, the customer doesn’t realize how costly the service/product actually is and ends up responding to it. He comes to know it only when he pays a hefty amount later. This, they say, should be stopped immediately.
Based on this, the FTC has clearly stated that mobile marketers, from now on, should disclose the costs involved very clearly and should not send ads that are misleading in nature. The Feds have also informed that they will be carefully monitoring the mobile marketing industry which is growing very fast at the moment.
I’ve always stated that mobile marketers should be very careful about the way they approach the users. They should not forget that people, a lot of them, pay for text messages and they have every reason to hate a text message ad which is vague/misleading/useless or all of the above. So, it’s the responsibility of the mobile marketer to make sure the customer knows what he is getting into.
Tags: exact price, feds, ftc, marketer, marketers, marketing industry, mobile ads, mobile marketing, mobile marketplace, mobile users, text message, text messages
Technorati Tags: exact price, feds, ftc, marketer, marketers, marketing industry, mobile ads, mobile marketing, mobile marketplace, mobile users, text message, text messages
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.
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