Cell Phone Mobile Marketing
Mobile Marketing
Google Admob Deal Raises Concerns With Advocacy Groups
Dec 30th
Two advocacy groups asked U.S. antitrust regulators on Monday to block Google’s purchase of AdMob, a provider of advertising services for mobile phones, on antitrust grounds and to address privacy issues raised by the deal.
Consumer Watchdog, a consumer advocacy organization, and the Center for Digital Democracy, an advocate of open access to the Internet, said in a letter to the Federal Trade Commission that the proposed deal would “substantially lessen competition in the increasingly important mobile advertising market.”
The groups also said the deal created privacy concerns, which are not normally considered in antitrust analyses.
“Google amasses a gold mine of data by tracking consumers’ behavior as they use its search engine and other online services. Combining this information with information collected by AdMob would give Google a massive amount of consumer data to exploit for its benefit,” said the emailed letter, which was addressed to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.
Google, the No. 1 online search engine, has said that the FTC requested additional information about the $750-million deal last week. In the absence of a second request, U.S. antitrust regulators normally approve deals within 30 days.
If approved, Google’s purchase of privately held AdMob would be its third most expensive purchase behind the $3.1-billion acquisition of DoubleClick and the $1.65-billion purchase of YouTube.
Google said in an e-mail statement that it was certain that mobile advertising would remain competitive despite the deal.
“Google has a track record of providing strong privacy protections and tools, like the new Dashboard, for users to take control or opt out of data collection, and it will apply the same approach to privacy following this acquisition,” it said in the statement.
Google generates the majority of its revenue, which totalled roughly $22-billion in 2008, by selling ads that appear alongside its Internet search results.
The FTC could not immediately confirm receipt of the letter.
Google has experienced increasing regulatory scrutiny as it has grown. The U.S. Department of Justice in September asked a New York court to reject Google’s settlement with book publishers and authors groups that would allow the company to sell digital copies of some books.
“Consumer Watchdog, Center for Digital Democracy say proposed deal would ‘substantially lessen competition in the increasingly important mobile advertising market.”
Read Google Advocacy at Globe and Mail.
Mashable has also commented on the issue.
Video On Google PPC For Mobiles
Dec 22nd
Mobile Stats For The Holdiay Season
Dec 16th
Google has just put up a holiday help page where it gives information on how to:
- Get mobile coupons and discounts
- Compare prices, features and reviews
- Look up store locations and hours
- Share your holiday memories on YouTube
- Buy a last-minute gift on your phone
- Scan barcodes with your Android phone
They’ve also launched a page for mobile advertisers, GoMobile
Cell Phone Marketing Statistics
Google cited recent research for it’s emphasis on mobile this holiday season.
“The mobile phone is another emerging digital tool for the holidays and is expected to be used by nearly one in five consumers (19 percent) to assist with their holiday shopping. Those consumers plan to find store locations (55 percent), research prices (45 percent), find product information (40 percent), get discounts and coupons (32 percent) and read reviews (31 percent). One in four (25 percent) even expect to make a holiday purchase with their phone.” Deloitte
Anyone planning on using their phone to purchase or sell anything this holiday season?