If numerous press reports are to be believed the FTC plans to investigate Google’s proposed acquisition of AdMob. If so the FTC has the opportunity to request revenue figures from the 15-20 big mobile ad networks serving the US market, hitherto unavailable to all those mobile pundits that have been speculating about who is the biggest. This means the FTC can put a stop to all the speculation… speculation that is unhelpful to a) Google/AdMob who don’t want to be seen as dominant; b) all the other networks that serve the US market; c) advertisers and publishers that might be mislead into thinking size is everything when choosing an ad network.
mobiThinking’s note to the FTC:
“The proposed acquisition has provoked a fair amount of speculation and estimates about the share the combined company would have of the mobile ad network market.
These estimates should be taken with a pinch of salt as no network reveals revenues and calculating share from impressions multiplied by cost per click (CPC) or cost per thousand impressions (CPM) is fraught with difficulties.
The concern is, that if inaccurate, this speculation and estimates could mislead advertisers/publishers into thinking that a) size is the only important factor when choosing an ad network (it isn’t) and b) that AdMob/Google is the dominant player.
We assume that the FTC will be requesting revenue data (proceeds after publishers receive their profit share) from the many mobile ad networks that operate in the US.
These include: AdMob, Admoda, Adultmoda, Advertising.com/AOL, BuzzCity, Greystripe, Google, Jumptap, Microsoft Mobile Advertising, Millennial Media, Mojiva, Nokia Interactive Advertising, Quattro Wireless, Yahoo and others.
The FTC may want to divide this revenue into display/content advertising, search advertising and in-application advertising. Of course revenue will be only one consideration for the FTC, as mobile ad networks have quite different business models.
When your investigation is complete we implore you to share publicly the market shares of the leading networks in the US, as this will put a halt to the speculation, which is misleading for advertisers and publishers and arguably harmful to competition.“
- The mobiThinking guide to mobile advertising networks 2010
Mobile ad networks are not created equal. From AdMob to Microsoft to YOC, our newly updated guide profiles 15 of the world’s top networks, exclusively providing all the stats and facts that advertisers and publishers require to choose a network. - What’s the best mobile ad network for you? 10 more important questions than size
Since when was biggest best? Why size is the last consideration when picking an ad network.
Are there any good reasons why the FTC shouldn’t put an end to the speculation over market share? Comment below or email editor (at) mobiThinking.com.
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