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Google announced an agreement to acquire mobile advertising company AdMob on November 9, 2009, for $750 million in Google stock. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) closed its investigation without challenging the deal on May 21, 2010, and Google said the acquisition closed on May 27, 2010.
What Google announced
On November 9, 2009, Google said it had signed an agreement to acquire AdMob, a mobile display advertising company based in San Mateo, California. Google identified Omar Hamoui as AdMob’s founder and said the company was founded in 2006. The announcement described a proposed acquisition, not a completed transaction. Google’s announcement
Google’s SEC filing described the proposed price as $750 million, payable in Google Class A common stock. It was a stock acquisition rather than a cash purchase. Google’s SEC filing
Why the FTC reviewed the deal
Google and AdMob were leading mobile advertising networks and direct competitors. The FTC’s investigation found that they competed head-to-head, regarded one another as primary competitors, and made business decisions in response to that rivalry. The Commission said the proposed combination raised serious antitrust issues, including possible harm to competition in performance mobile advertising. FTC statement, May 21, 2010
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Why mobile ad networks mattered
Mobile ad networks sold publishers’ advertising space. That revenue helped support mobile apps and internet content, while networks also helped publishers sell inventory they could not effectively sell on their own. The FTC was therefore examining a business layer important to publishers, developers, advertisers, and users—not a merger of consumer-facing phone products. FTC statement, May 21, 2010
Why the FTC did not challenge the acquisition
On May 21, 2010, the Commission voted 5-0 to close its investigation without challenging the proposed acquisition. The FTC said developments in the market—especially Apple’s December 2009 acquisition of Quattro Wireless and Apple’s entry into mobile advertising with iAd—were important to its analysis. The Commission believed those developments could mitigate the competitive effects it had considered and could make Apple a strong competitor. That was the FTC’s contemporaneous assessment, not proof that the original competition concerns were unfounded or confirmation of how Apple’s competitive position later developed. FTC statement, May 21, 2010
Google presented the transaction in more positive terms. On the day of the FTC decision, Google Vice President of Product Management Susan Wojcicki said, “Today, the Federal Trade Commission cleared our acquisition of AdMob, a mobile advertising start up.” Google had argued that combining the companies’ resources could benefit developers, publishers, marketers, and users; those were the acquirer’s stated expectations, not an independent FTC finding. Google’s clearance announcement, May 21, 2010
When Google acquired AdMob
The deal moved through three distinct stages: agreement, regulatory review, and closing. Google reported completing the acquisition on May 27, 2010, six days after the FTC closed its investigation. Google wrote, “Today, we closed our acquisition of AdMob.” Google’s closing announcement, May 27, 2010
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2006 | AdMob was founded by Omar Hamoui, according to Google. |
| November 9, 2009 | Google announced an agreement to acquire AdMob; its SEC filing put the price at $750 million in Google Class A common stock. |
| December 2009 | Apple acquired Quattro Wireless, a development later cited by the FTC in its competitive analysis. |
| May 21, 2010 | The FTC voted 5-0 to close its investigation without challenging the acquisition; Google said the deal had been cleared. |
| May 27, 2010 | Google announced that the acquisition had closed. |
The headline phrase “to buy” reflects the November 2009 announcement stage. It is not the deal’s present status: the FTC did not block the acquisition, and Google completed it in May 2010.
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