FTC Staff Planning to Block Google AdMob deal

Lawyers working in the US regulatory have planned to recommend that the government is trying to block the Google’s proposed acquisition of mobile advertising firm AdMob on antitrust grounds.

“The staff working with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission believes the presence of a significant competitive problem and are prepared to make a recommendations to sue” the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Google faces lot of competition around United States and Europe. Google, which has generated 97 percent of its $23.7 billion in 2009 revenue from advertising, faces a growing list of investigations.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the FTC has planed to assemble for an internal litigation team to make themselves prepared for a possible effort to challenge Google’s AdMob deal, and that it had explained the Congress about its concerns regarding the deal.

Regulators have been reviewing Google’s $750 million deal to acquire AdMob for months. Google announced the deal in November and said in December that it had received a second request for information from the FTC.

In January, Apple acquired Quattro Wireless, a mobile advertising firm that provides similar services to AdMob, for an undisclosed amount.

On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, the chairman of the antitrust subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary committee, sent a letter to the FTC urging “close scrutiny” of the deal.

In an earlier statement to the Wall Street Journal article, Google said it was continuing to work with the FTC and that there was “overwhelming evidence that mobile advertising will remain competitive after this deal closes.”

The U.S. Department of Justice has challenged Google’s settlement authors’ groups that it would allow the search giant to create an online digital library.