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WASHINGTON — Two consumer groups urged the US Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) on Monday to block Internet search and advertising giant Google’s
proposed purchase of mobile advertising company AdMob. In a joint letter, Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital
Democracy (CDD) asked the FTC to oppose Google’s acquisition of AdMob
on anti-trust grounds and said the deal also raises privacy concerns.
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Two consumer groups asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to block
Google Inc.’s (GOOG) proposed $750 million acquisition of mobile
advertising company AdMob Inc., as they allege the deal would diminish
competition to the detriment of consumers. "Consumers will face higher prices, less innovation and fewer choices,"
said John M. Simpson, a consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog. "The
FTC should conduct the appropriate investigation, block the proposed
Google/AdMob deal, and also address the privacy issues."
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Two consumer groups urged U.S. regulators on Monday to block Google
from acquiring mobile advertising provider AdMob, citing potential harm
the deal could cause to users, advertisers and application developers. Google’s plan to acquire AdMob for US$750 million, announced last
month, "would substantially lessen competition in the increasingly
important mobile advertising market," said the letter,
signed by representatives of the groups Consumer Watchdog and Center
for Digital Democracy. It was addressed to the Federal Trade
Commission, the regulatory body that Google last week said had asked the company for more information about the deal.
Press Release
Deal To Buy Mobile Advertising Company Is Anti-Competitive And Raises Privacy Concerns
WASHINGTON, DC — Two consumer groups today asked the Federal Trade
Commission to block Google’s $750 million deal to buy AdMob, a mobile
advertising company, on anti-trust grounds. In addition, the groups
said, the proposed acquisition raises privacy concerns that the
Commission must address. In a joint letter to the FTC, Consumer Watchdog and the Center for
Digital Democracy (CDD) said Google is simply buying its way to
dominance in the mobile advertising market, diminishing competition to
the detriment of consumers.
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Google recently revealed that the Federal Trade Commission was intensely reviewing the search giant’s recent $750 million acquisition of mobile ad network AdMob. Last week, Google said the FTC has made a second request for further information about the deal. Today, two consumer groups, Consumer Watchdog and the Center For Digital Democracy, have asked the FTC to block the deal on anti-trust grounds and possible privacy issues.
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NEW YORK – A federal judge has rejected Amazon.com Inc’s request that he withdraw preliminary approval of a settlement between Google Inc and groups of authors and publishers to digitize millions of books. Critics of the deal have been a varied group that includes Amazon,
Yahoo, Microsoft, the National Writers Union, Consumer Watchdog and
singer Arlo Guthrie.
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Google Inc.’s settlement with authors and publishers over the digital
scanning of books got a preliminary approval from a federal judge last
week, but the controversy may be far from over. In fact, legal experts and industry observers who have been closely
following the case believe the fight over Google’s ambitious
book-scanning efforts is just starting all over again.
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The revised Google Books settlement agreement may quiet international opponents, but it still gives Google a monopoly on commercializing out-of-print books where the copyrights are unclaimed and fails to protect consumer privacy, opponents said on Monday. Also troubling to critics is the fact that the revised settlement circumvents traditional copyright provisions by allowing Google to digitize orphan works without first getting rights holder permission, while any Google competitors are blocked from doing so barring legislation granting them licensing rights. “For the millions of volumes of orphan books that Google has already scanned in, they can offer those without risk of anyone coming forward and suing them for infringement,” said John Simpson, a consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog.
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Google and US authors and publishers submitted a revised settlement to a US judge Friday seeking approval of an agreement that would clear the way for millions of books to be sold online. Rival technology companies, privacy advocates, consumer watchdog groups
and the French and German governments are among those who filed
objections to the original settlement with the US District Court in New
York hearing the case.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Google and the
Authors Guild filed a new version of a deal to create a massive
online library on Friday in hopes of answering antitrust and
copyright concerns in the United States and overseas. Critics of the deal have been a varied group that includes
Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft, the
National Writers Union, Consumer Watchdog and singer Arlo
Guthrie.
