FTC Seeks Input from Google Rivals About Its AdMob Bid

The Federal Trade Commission is looking for official declarations from Google rivals about Google's proposed purchase of mobile ad provider AdMob, which could signal the regulator may challenge the deal. Bloomberg News said March 10 that the FTC is now asking Google competitors and advertisers for input about the deal to help its investigation into whether the purchase would reduce competition in the mobile ad market. This sector includes Microsoft, Yahoo and a host of smaller startups such as Millenial Media, Jumptap, Greystripe and many others.

The Federal Trade Commission is looking for official declarations from Google rivals and advertisers about Google's proposed purchase of mobile ad provider AdMob, which could signal the regulator may challenge the deal.

Google offered to buy AdMob, which sells ads for placement on Web pages and applications running on Apple's iPhone, Google Android phones and other devices, last November for $750 million.

AdMob's technology would help make Google the leader in mobile advertising, with about 24 percent of the market, and give Google greater control over the ad distribution on Android devices such as the Nexus One.