By Neil Hughes
Published: 09:45 AM EST (06:45 AM PST)
Lawyers with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will reportedly recommend that the government block Google's proposed acquisition of mobile advertising firm AdMob, while the search giant has highlighted Apple's forthcoming iAd platform as evidence of growing competition in the market.
According to
Reuters, staff with the FTC are prepared to
recommend blocking Google's purchase of AdMob for anticompetitive reasons. An anonymous source told the news agency that the commission's staff believe there is a "significant competitive problem," and they will recommend that the FTC sue to stop the acquisition.
It was in
late December that consumer groups asked the FTC to block Google's $750 million AdMob deal, citing both antitrust and privacy issues. Google agreed to
acquire AdMob just weeks after the advertising firm met with representatives from Apple about a potential deal.
A recent report from
The New York Times profiling the rivalry between Apple and Google said that the search engine
willingly overpaid for AdMob just to keep the company away from Apple. Soon after the deal between Google and AdMob was struck, Apple responded by acquiring competing mobile ad firm
Quattro Wireless.
Apple's move to purchase Quattro Wireless and establish its own advertising platform for integration into the App Store has been closely watched and even applauded by representatives from Google, who see the acquisition as evidence that there is competition in the mobile advertising space. Peter Kafka at
MediaMemo noted this week that Google representatives
sent e-mails to reporters to keep them apprised of rumors surrounding Apple's anticipated iAd platform.
Recent reports have said that Apple plans to introduce its new mobile advertising platform, a result of its purchase of Quattro Wireless, at a
special event set for Thursday to preview the forthcoming iPhone OS 4.0. The new version of Apple's mobile operating system, which powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, is believed to add
full multitasking support with third-party applications from the App Store. The preview event is scheduled for 10 a.m. Pacific, and will give a "sneak peek of the next generation of iPhone software" at the company's Cupertino, Calif., campus.
