Google completes AdMob acquisition
Monday 31 May 2010 | By Heidi Scott, Gosh! Media Copywriter
It's over six months now since Google announced its plans to acquire the leading mobile ad network, AdMob . Last week, the search giant finally managed to close the deal.
The news was revealed after the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) eventually approved the takeover, which it had been examining on antitrust grounds. The FTC was swayed, apparently, by Apple's recent entry into the mobile ads arena with iAds, a move giving reassurance that there would still be plenty of competition in the mobile advertising market.
In November last year, Google offered $750 million in company stock for AdMob and asserted that the two companies would be an ideal fit for future innovation in mobile advertising.
In a post on the Official Google Blog on 27 May, Susan Wojcicki, Google's Vice President of Product Management, announced the company's good news, stating:
"Today, we closed our acquisition of AdMob. Omar Hamoui has built a great team and great products at AdMob and we're thrilled to officially welcome them to Google. We'll now begin the process of bringing our products and teams together in the best way, and building new products and features together."
Wojcicki went on to say that mobile advertising is clearly becoming a larger part of strategy for Google's clients and partners and that the investment will bring together Google's technology, resources and expertise in search advertising with AdMob's innovative solutions for advertising on mobile websites and in mobile applications.
In explaining how key mobile search has become, Wojcicki wrote in her post:
"One of the key ways that people find and access information on their mobile devices, just like on the desktop, is through search. As smart phones have proliferated, we've seen dramatic increases in mobile search volume. Over the past two years, Google's mobile search volumes have grown more than fivefold, at an accelerated pace. In the first three months of 2010, people with smartphones with 'full' WebKit browsers (such as the iPhones, Android devices and Palm Pre) searched 62 percent more than they did in the previous three months."
Wojcicki went on to describe how, in addition to traditional search ads on mobile devices, Google has developed new search ad formats - including 'click-to-call' search ads, that enable advertisers to include a phone number directly in their ad text that users can click to reach the business directly via phone.
Susan Wojcicki's post then focuses on mobile websites and apps, stating:
"In addition to search, another key way that people access information is through mobile websites (accessed through a browser) and mobile apps (available through Apple's App Store, the Android Marketplace and more). Mobile display and text ads make it easy for publishers and developers to make money from their mobile websites and apps, and enable advertisers to extend the reach of their campaigns to relevant mobile content. In this area, AdMob has been a real pioneer and has innovated at a tremendous pace, building a successful business and working with thousands of advertisers, publishers and developers."
Wojcicki then extolled the virtues of AdMob further, saying the firm has developed a host of "engaging and creative ad units" for Android and iPhone apps - among them interactive video ad units and expandable rich media ads. She concluded the post by saying:
"We believe that mobile advertising can play a significant role in every single marketing campaign. We're passionate about the unlimited possibilities in this space. Today, with AdMob, our work to make them a reality begins."
What also begins, of course, is the battle between Google's AdMob and Apple's iAds. Now the mobile advertising marketplace could get really interesting!
