One step forward...
In out ten trends for 2010 we warned that Google is getting ominously influential in the mobile advertising market thanks to its proposed acquisition of AdMob. Today, it looks like Apple is going to give Google a run for its money as it has acquired AdMob competitor Quattro Wireless.
The move was conformed in a discrete blog post by former Quattro CEO Andy Miller, now referring to himself as vice president, mobile advertising at Apple. "We are thrilled to let you know that Apple has acquired Quattro," he said.
There were no details about how much was paid, but Boom Town reckons its in the region of $275 million.Apple hasn't published a press release yet, but it has chosen today to announce that its app store has now had over three billion apps downloaded from it.
With its iPhone app store currently the most prominent source of mobile apps, it's easy to see why Apple is keen to have as large a presence as possible in the mobile advertising space. Google's move on AdMob will only have added to its sense of urgency.
The irony is, however, that in making itself a stronger competitor to Google in the mobile advertising market, Apple might actually be doing Google a favour. Google's AdMob acquisition is already receiving antitrust scrutiny due to its dominant position in the web advertising market. By reassuring regulators that Google will receive plenty of competition in this space, Apple may just have ensured the AdMob deal will be allowed to proceed.
