Ilan Barzilay Quoted in Newsfactor Network
“FTC Probes Google's $750M Acquisition of AdMob”

Ilan Barzilay was quoted in the April 7, 2010 Newsfactor Network article, "FTC Probes Google's $750M Acquisition of AdMob." The article, which reported on the Federal Trade Commission's probe into Google's $750 million acquisition of AdMob, appeared in the following outlets: CIO Today, Top Tech News, Mobile Tech Today, and Sci-Tech Today. According to the article, Google's acquisition could be blocked if the FTC finds the deal is anticompetitive. The article also explained that Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) sent a letter to FTC Chairman Jonathan Leibowitz asking for a review because of the acquisition's potential long-term effects on competition in the mobile advertising market.

According to the article, the FTC sent letters to AdMob competitors asking for comments on Google's acquisition of the mobile display-advertising company. Ilan commented, "I doubt many of them were in favor of Google entering their space, but the substance behind any complaints they have will determine how aggressively the FTC pursues the case." Ilan also mentioned that observers are not surprised by the reaction to Google's acquisition of AdMob "because of Google's size, profile and share of the search market, every acquisition it makes is going to be closely scrutinized, as it learned when it acquired DoubleClick a few years ago."

The article noted that a couple of weeks after Google announced its acquisition, a few groups filed complaints with the FTC asking the commission to investigate whether Google's access to AdMob technology will provide it with an unfair advantage over competitors. The group also requested that the FTC consider blocking the deal altogether. Ilan remarked that "The mobile-advertising market is still nascent and segmented and doesn't yet have a nine-hundred-pound gorilla. No doubt Google would likely fill that role, but it's not clear that simply acquiring AdMob will give Google market control in mobile advertising." He concluded, "If the FTC does launch a case against Google, it will have a more difficult task of proving anticompetitive effects than had Google been planning on purchasing another search provider." Google's presence in mobile advertising is not nearly as big as it is in Internet search and "without clear anticompetitive effects, it will be difficult to block the deal."