Consumer groups cite ‘monopoly in mobile ads’ and ‘privacy’ as major concerns
Is the giant’s acquisition deal is in trouble? If not ‘YES’ we cannot say ‘NO’ even, as two consumer groups asked the US Federal Trade Commission to block Google Inc.’s proposed $750 million acquisition of mobile advertising company AdMob Inc., on the grounds that the deal would thwart competition to the detriment of consumers. “Consumers will face higher prices, less innovation and fewer choices,” said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog. “The FTC should conduct the appropriate investigation, block the proposed Google/AdMob deal, and also address the privacy issues.”
The consumer groups also highlighted privacy concerns as one of the issue. AdMob, for instance, targets consumers through the use of a number of methods including age, gender and education. The association of Google and AdMob would provide “significant amounts of data for tracking, profiling and targeting US mobile consumers”, said the group.
It was Apple that started talks to gulp down AdMob, a few weeks before Google announced its deal, supposedly in an effort to prevent Google from obtaining detailed information about Apple’s iPhone App Store.
The appeal by Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy came after Google said Wednesday that the FTC sought further information about its AdMob deal.
Google, however, refuted such claims and said there are more than a dozen mobile advertising networks and that the company has proven track record of providing strong privacy protections “We’re confident that the FTC will conclude that the rapidly growing mobile advertising space will remain highly competitive after this deal closes,” said Kovacevich.
Google has drawn scrutiny as it attempts to expand its territory beyond Internet search and advertising and is not the latest in the anti-trust probes. The government recently filed a case against Intel Corp., accusing the computer-chip maker of using monopoly power to stifle competition.
Even Google itself has been in the crosshairs of the government scrutiny over previous deals. The FTC held an eight-month investigation of Google’s plan to buy DoubleClick Inc. in 2007 before finally giving its consent. Last year, Google walked away from a search deal with Yahoo after the US Justice Department indicated that it would seek to block the agreement.