Financial Times: US antitrust regulators plan to investigate Apple's mobile advertising practices
By Donald Melanson 
posted June 10th 2010 12:23PM
posted June 10th 2010 12:23PM
There's not a lot of details on this at the moment, but the Financial Times is reporting that US antitrust regulators plan to investigate Apple's mobile advertising practices to see whether they unfairly restrict rivals like Google and Microsoft. As you'll recall, Apple recently revised its rules on outside advertisers and, specifically, their ability to collect analytics on ads for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, effectively cutting out Google's AdMob in the process -- something the company's CEO has publicly complained about. What's next? That's still not certain -- the Financial Times says that while US regulators have taken an interest, it's still not clear whether the FTC or the Department of Justice will handle the investigation going forward.
@Slammer
Really?
And Apple going sue happy over Android, not to mention anyone who dares to use the letter "i" is not?
Good for Google and Admobs. This type of monopolistic practice is not good for anyone except the control freaks at Apple.
Has anyone considered the impact of iAds on the new 2GB/month limit?
If you go over 2GB, you will be paying for Apple to push ads to you without your control.
@chack
Ha
This is an excellent point. Let's say you buy an iPhone 4 for one of your kids with 200mb package and your kid uses apps with built in live advertising every day. Who is going to pay for the bandwidth on those adverts if he goes over 200mb? Lol
We know compressed image lads will probably take up little bandwidth but still it is a ver intriguing point. We pay our AT&T bill , advertiser pay apple for iAds , if we go over our data limit because of pestering adverts who pays our overage? Heck who pays any of our bandwidth on those ads? Or are they built into our contract?
Is it me or does Apple get less competitive the larger it gets?
@LanMark
Actually, I had an Apple IIC back in the 80s. Apple was so closed that I could not get an affordable disk drive for it - the sued anyone making a compatible model. The result was higher prices. But, back in the 80s Apple didn't have the propaganda machine they have now. That's the only difference.
Apple: Hey Google, we don't think it's a good idea to reveal user's analytical data to advertisers.
Google: Hey, that's not fair!
Antitrust: What seems to be the problem?
Google: Apple is starting their new advertising program and they're not letting advertisers snag - erm, we mean "inspect" user's analytical data! TISNF!
Antitrust: Did they force you to do the same?
Google: ...
Google: No, but it's not fair! We hate competition!
Antitrust: Words of wisdom. Let's see what we can find out here.
Super Antitrust to the anti-rescue. Again. What's wrong with a good business, anyhow? America is about good competition. Monopoly, no, but I don't seem to recall iAds killing AdMob or iTunes wiping Amazon off the web... Seriously, the competition is doing well too.
And so the copy and paste war from google fans continues. And also they'll claim Engadget is biased for Apple when the next non-negative Apple article gets posted.
Yes, the FCC has taken notice and they will look into it. I suppose they have to since there's been a complaint. I am not a lawyer, but it seems pretty clear to me that Google/AdMob is a direct competitor and that Apple is not obligated to let a direct competitor earn advertising money from Apple's mobile OS platform, by collecting usage data from its apps (they are welcome to put advertisements in them, just not collect metrics). Plus Google can still make lots of advertising buckolas from the iPhone by continuing what they've been doing, and feeding Apple users ads via the browser, which will continue unchecked. Oh, and lets not forget that Google doesn't let Microsoft insert Bing search results and ads in their search results pages. Also, Google could try to win the hearts and minds of iPhone users everywhere and get them to switch to an Android phone ... and then feed them AdMob advertisements based on data they collect from them, to their hearts content. Or maybe Google could just try not being such an ass and see if Apple starts to not hate them any more. Like, how about making a deal with Apple that would bring Google Maps Navigation and Google Goggles to the iPhone?
@cruncis
+1
@cruncis The issue is does the data that is being restricted directly effect the competitive nature of the ad services. So does an add without data generate less money than an add with data. If so then that means that Apple is giving itself a build in advantage when it comes to ads. That is clearly anti-competitive. Is it illegal? that I can't answer as I'm not a lawyer but IMO anything that is anti-competitive and will obviously impact customers needs to be investigated.
So going on what you're saying, shouldn't Bing be allowed to place their ads on Google's search results pages, because far fewer people use Bing to do searches then Google, and that puts Bing at a disadvantage. It is better for Bing not to have to make Bing better in order to draw customers to their search platform, rather for Bing to be able to make money from Google's search platform. It's better for customers because Bing doesn't have to get any better, and neither does Google. Do I have that right?
How in the world are Steve Jobs and his Apple people so tone deaf to this stuff? Every time I see a story like this I wonder how they could not have predicted that the regulators would get their panties in a bunch. Apple's moves of late have been such epic bad behavior that of course they would attract the regulators. Duh. Even having the former Mrs. Gore on the BOD isn't going to protect Apple from scrutiny.
And to be clear, I'm not at all fond of arbitrary regulatory oversight, even when used for the noble cause of kicking Steve Jobs in the nuts.
(points at Apple) HA - HA !!!
Regulators won't intervene here, just like they won't force NBC to run ads for CBS, or force the Mets to run ads telling people to go to Yankee games. If you think otherwise, then you're naive. Wait. . .this is Engadget. . .naivete was a 9 in 10 shot anyway.
The fact that AdMob/Google even cares about iPhone advertising is proof that Android is not succeeding with consumers. I guess that's what happens when the Nexus One belly flops, Sprint has to revise down their sales of the Evo 4G, and Google suddenly realizes that incredibly expensive AdMob acquisition (relative to AdMob's value) is now an absolute joke that must now be explained to shareholders.
It's safe to say that when Google mouthed off last month, they never saw this coming.
@Perspective name one ad that can run on CBS that can't run on NBC? or did you post a whole paragraph missing the point?
@RawheaD
No, I didn't take it from Samsung PR, I took it from actual tests and reviews. I'm sure some people took it from Samsung PR however.
And so it begins.....................
about freakin time!
@pinktacoyummm I agree. I can't wait to see how this turns out. Maybe Google will be forced to open up their closed search platform to 3rd party search engines like Bing. It will be awesome. I'll search on Google, and get results and advertisements from Bing. Of course Bing will have to do the same, so it will be an endless loop and the universe will explode, but that's a minor inconvenience.
@cruncis Bing is come along really good.
I tried to get direction from google map 1st. They were for Tijuana, Mexico to San Lucas, Mexico. Get it this msg "We could not calculate directions between Tijuana, Mexico and San Lucas". Mean while i get directions on Bing.
Hey guys why don't apple re invent the segway market. Call it iSegway. I hope govt throws the book in jobs face.
@chack
My point being that Google/Admob should present their case (like they have} to Marketers. Show that they can provide a better service for the money. Or sue in the courts. Fanboys on both sides need to understand that neither of these companies love them or necessarily care about the sanctity of the web. They are about making money. Last time I checked the government had its' hands full.
It's pretty clear. Steve thought existing ads on the iPhone sucked, so they made iAd, and now they're cutting out anyone else (especially google, whom Steve thinks stabbed him in the back by going ahead with android.) Honestly though, I think Steve has really gotten a bit more arrogant then usual in the past year (flash, app store rejections, and now this)... maybe he's pissed that google, but these moves to block all competition are really short-sighted. Wah, wah steve. It was only a matter of time before apple started getting slapped with anti-trust allegations for this kind of behavior.
On the one hand, I agree that because apple does everything it often times provides a better experience. A lot of other experiences ARE crap compared to the one's apple makes. On the other hand, if apple doesn't do what I want then there pretty much is no alternative other then to stop using their products (not going to happen.)
@enjourni no, they are only cutting out Google/AdMob, not other 3rd parties, who can still collect analytics (with user permission) for advertising purposes only. This makes sense for reasons I've explained elsewhere, but in summary, Google is whining because they aren't the #1 mobile OS and thus will be at a disadvantage when it comes to selling ads because fewer people have Android OS. Rather then working to become #1 (or really, in addition to), they want to be able to make up for that by profiting directly from their competitor, Apple's, mobile OS platform too (above and beyond the advertising they can continue to do via web pages.) So, as I said elsewhere it's the equivalent of Google being forced to include advertising provided by Bing, because Bing is not #1 and therefore is at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to selling ads.
Version 4.1 of IOS comes with an upgrade version of this iAd called iMalware which is much more efficient at streaming content to your IOS products. I can't wait!
@OregonLAN they already come with iTunes
Why are Apple such pusssies
Stop bein' a dick, bro.
I think steve jobs showed his true colors. Steve jobs is darth sidious.
I would rather see the government go after the "too big to fail" banks. How is this unfair to Windows and Google exactly, they now have their own phones where they can sell their own ads for the apps they support? Maybe it's a little more complicated but it really doesn't make sense to me.
another blow for Jobs and his company...
good for him for being "open"!!!!!
Isn't Steve friends with Al Gore? All Apple need to do is twist this into a privacy issue, and the investigating will be towards admob instead.
Why is everyone defending google's "right" to get more information about us? Google has shown that it can and does get our private information any which way it can.
It is a sad, sad day when our government is more interested in protecting ad-based applications, and marketing firms instead of it's constituents. In this case I think "free" should mean that the app is free monetarily and free from ads. I understand if we don't want ads then don't get the apps that support them... Or pay for the full version instead of the ad supported version. I get it, but Apple has setup a closed platform to allegedly protect it's clients from unstable devices, and unwanted content. These are personal computing devices not a public billboard... There should be NO rights considered besides the rights of the person who dished out $200-$800 or more for the device.
Steve Jobs is not an honest man.
apple is going to get whats coming to them. act like the old microsoft and suffer the consequences.
Like always: Apple move a finger and the whole world goes crazy.... ohhh the haters have nothing else to do....
Learn the lesson already: Apple knows how to sale products of good quality and they look awesome to!!!. They are making lots of money out of it and yes they are setting an standard... deal with it, they are really good at selling and making products for certain targets... deal with it.
Haters, just let it go...
Cheers
AD'S ARE EVERYWHERE......
Ad's are on everything. Every page, every TV show. even this site has ad's. I know they bring in money for people, but ad's should be like that old saying seen but not heard. Ad's should be there but not taking from the content.
Apple is getting very big now and if apple does not put a pinch on ad's now we will have problems like we do on windows. With pop-ups and malware and so much more this is very limited as of now for mac users. Apple is letting people have ad's just in more controlled way to make sure that the content and medium we use stays true.
I do understand google has the same feelings as apple and i am sure they will come to a agree'd use. Note that google get's its data from information most of the time sent willing by a user.
On the other hand I found on mates phone he just got had no data plain did not think he needed it as he was always in wi-fi never got one found he was getting charged few cents a month. Turned out one of his FREE app's with ad's was sending data. You pay for the app no matter if you want to or not.
All in all remember and think back to games like Need for Speed at one point had to pay to use some cars in there games. Now days car companies pay them. Games have billboards , drink machines and even take-away stores. has anyone every notices the water marks when watching football.
Ad's should be there but only to add to the content.
IF YOU WORK WITH AD"S WAKE UP TO YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WRECK EVEN THE PHONES WE USE.
Anyone know when. The iPod touch gen 4 comes out and how much is it?
Apple is not allowing anyone to stealthily collect data from devices without the express consent of users. Advertisers and developers can collect data, within the allowed guidelines. If AdMob, or another advertising firm has a problem with not following the guidelines, why don't they just collect data from the referred client's site? Perhaps I am not understanding what the problem is.
@corylulu
Or you can look at it this way, Steve Jobs is a drop out.
One that missed the class that mentions if you sell your soul to Wall Street, they own your life, your company, your profits, and your private parts if you know what I mean (They got Apple by the bazzls). If that stock price went down 50 point, Apple would be in a panic mode.
Don't worry Google's heading down the same path. It's because of their original VC investors (basically the SAME): they demand their ROI... TODAY.
And while they are at it they should investigate the link between a new advertising program and a new LIMITED and mandatory data plan.