“Apple has introduced its own network to sell display, video and interactive adverts in the small programs known as apps, which have fuelled the rapid adoption of Apple’s devices. On Monday, it said it had sold $60m worth of adverts that will begin on July 1 and run for the rest of the year,” Menn and Waters report. “The case provoked a rare public dispute between Google and Apple on Wednesday as the internet group claimed its market-leading mobile advertising network was about to be unfairly excluded from the Apple’s devices.”
Menn and Waters report, “According to two people close to the situation, US regulators have already taken an interest in Apple’s actions, though it is not yet clear whether it will be left to the Federal Trade Commission… or the Department of Justice to take an investigation forward.”
“Apple’s latest rules for developers who create apps for its devices limit the situations in which they can send approved information about their apps’ audiences to advertising services. The information cannot be sent to advertising networks that are affiliated with companies developing or distributing mobile devices or operating systems – a definition that effectively excludes Apple rivals like Google and Microsoft,” Menn and Waters report. “Such information, including user locations, is critical for making mobile advertising more effective. Google complained on Wednesday that this would have the effect of barring its AdMob advertising service from apps inside Apple’s system.”
MacDailyNews Take: Tough. Enjoy watching the $750 million you overpaid for AdMob in order to snatch them from Apple evaporate into the ether, Google. When all is said and done, AdMob won’t be worth $7.50.
Menn and Waters report, “While [Apple] takes pains to point out that it lags in the US smartphone market behind Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, Apple has already triggered antitrust attention. Regulators have been looking into its marketing of digital music, where it is top retailer by revenue, and its blocking of Flash, the Adobe software.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: U.S. antitrust regulators ought to go investigate what U.S. antitrust laws regulate before wasting any more of U.S. taxpayers’ money.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Jersey_Trader” and “Judge Bork” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: We dumped AdMob for Quattro Wireless on our mobile (iOS-only) site on Jan. 5, 2010, the day that Apple bought Quattro. Our transition from AdMob to Quattro was completed in late February with the release of MacDailyNews 2.0 app.
don’t these people have some baseball players to investigate for using steroids or something..
wasting our time and money again!!
Apple did Google a solid by buying Quattro so their deal of buying Admobile could go through. Now Google is trying to have it both ways. I cant help but think these rash of investigations are probably spurred by and maybe even funded by both Google and Adobe. What they are trying to prove is that Apple’s action is anti-competitive and hurts the consumer. I say good luck with that because Google’s consumers and Apple’s consumers are not the same. With Google and Adobe their consumers are Developers and Apple offers cheaper solutions to those consumers than does Google or Adobe. End User consumers , Apple’s primary concern, are not getting harmed at all, save the whining hackers that want customize their stuff to the nines.
They are FUCKING ADVERTISEMENTS! Apple is setting up a premium network for premium ad space. On what planet does any ad company have a right to shove ads onto a system thru a third party with zero benefit to the owner of the network. Does the Shamwow have a right to fuck up “Breaking Bad” simply because there is an audience? People pay to not have to deal with ads, or at least not have to deal with any third rate shit someone wants to push.
Here we go…..
From now on bing and decide. http://www.bing.com
So the feds prefer the de-facto monopoly google is developing?
Where are my rights? I don’t want Google, AdMob or Adobe. Apple built their own phone. They built their own OS and I have chosen to use both. Now, this trio wants to use the DOJ or FTC to force Apple to hand over their hard work and my private information? It may be time for the people who support Apple to “lawyer up” and send a message to all three that we aren’t their property. Lawsuits work for the little guy too.
You know, I love Apple just like most of you here, but what Steve did was really stupid! Keeping Google’s Admob off the iPhone is bound to open up a legal Monopoly battle. It is so blatant that it lacks compromise. I heard Steve’s thoughts on that 3rd party advertiser obtaining information about new Apple products, but this is taking it to the extreme.
I hope that he sorts this out asap because it could create significant financial implications to shareholders.
The story is s crock, fabricated by Adobe and Google to intimidate Apple into giving in to these bullies.
Not one authentic source has been quoted.
Just like the MobileMe for free story was made up.
@MadMac
People, in general, call you an idiot because you invariably sound like one. I personally called you an idiot on several different occasions for different reasons.
I’m not sure what you are crowing about. But, please, go ahead and enjoy your victory, little dude.
To the best of my knowledge, Apple has not violated any antitrust laws. I suppose that it is possible that Apple has done something under the table, but I have no reason to believe ill of Apple at this point.
I fail to see how Apple’s control over their mobile devices is in any way different from the same type of marketing authority that has been exercised many times by other companies – Motorola, Sony, etc. Government is far too reactive to public opinion these days. Public opinion generally isn’t worth much.
@X
Do you really think that Obama wastes his time trying to personally run or ruin your life? Did you blame Bush for every single thing that happened with which you did not agree? I considered Bush to be a complete bonehead and I didn’t blame him for everything.
The U.S. Federal Government is a huge bureaucracy and the President only exercises direct control over a very tiny percentage of the daily events of that organization. A lot of that bureaucracy lives on through multiple Administrations and cycles of Congress.
There are at least two conservative principals with which I wholeheartedly subscribe – fiscal responsibility and reduced government. Unfortunately, the Republicans have not demonstrated a serious commitment to either over the last couple of decades. You have absolutely no moral ground on which to base your viewpoint, X.
@nanisani that is a very helpful analogy…thanku
@fedup i agree
Who is complaining here? It’s Google who is afraid. If Google has 90% of the ads market and is invincible, it shouldn’t complain because Apple is only a teeny player in this market. Then why is it whining and wants the government to go after a tiny competitor?
Oh, now I know. Google’s business model is just selling ads. It wants to hijack every piece of the web real estate with its freebies so that it can mine data about people’s privacy and sells them to the highest bidder. It can do this because 90% of its profits is from ads. It pisses off Apple with its treachery and now Apple is coming after it with a vengeance with its iAd. If Apple can steal 30–40% of the ads bonanza and Microsoft with another 30–40%, Google will be in deep trouble. Now Google is crying like a little girl hoping daddy Obama will come to its rescue.
I dont think this whiny complaint from Google holds any water since Google ha it’s own operating system. I think it would be different if Android would not have existed. I don’t see how the regulators cpuld go against Apple here.
Insted of innovating Google again tries to complain it’s way to profits.