Google’s AdMob Acquisition Meets Opposition from Consumer Groups

Is Google simply buying its way into the mobile advertising market via its $750 million acquisition of AdMob? That’s what two consumer groups allege in a letter sent to the FTC today, as the organization continues to review the deal.
Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) write: “Consumers will face higher prices, less innovation and fewer choices. The FTC should conduct the appropriate investigation, block the proposed Google/AdMob deal, and also address the privacy issues.”

The groups are concerned both about what they perceive as ongoing anti-competitive behavior from GoogleGoogle, as well as the vast amount of data that the AdMob deal makes them privy to. As an example, they write, “Data about competing smartphone users and applications, gathered through the Google/AdMob advertising network, could give Google information about its competitors that would be advantageous in marketing its new smartphone [Nexus One], as well models using its AndroidAndroid operating system.”
It’s no secret that data is at the heart of what Google does, and where it’s going. Look no further than two recently announced early stage projects — Google Public DNS and SPDY (a potential alternative to HTTP) — to see how far these ambitions reach.
Is Google’s plan then to capitalize on all of that data to both serve better ads and design better products (ala mobile)? It would seem so. Is that anti-competitive or just good business? I lean towards the latter for now, but how the FTC handles the AdMob deal could be a good barometer of how Google’s able to extend its reach in the future within the limits of regulators.