The US Federal Trade Commission has cleared Google’s 750-million-dollar purchase of mobile phone advertising company AdMob Inc., the regulatory authority announced on Friday.
In a statement the agency said that it had approved the deal by a vote of 5-0 even though “the combination of the two leading mobile advertising networks raised serious antitrust issues.” The FTC had been worried by Google’s potential monopoly power over mobile phone advertising, but said that it was Google rival Apple’s purchase of a smaller mobile ad company that assuaged those fears, saying that its “concerns ultimately were overshadowed by recent developments in the market.” “Apple is poised to become a strong competitor in the mobile advertising market,” the FTC said.