Count on Mobile to Be Part of Everything Google Does
Google VP Omar Hamoui Points Out That Apple Didn't Invent Good Mobile Creative, They Just Marketed It Better — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — In May, google finally got the FTC's blessing for its $750 million acquisition of the mobile ad network AdMob …
Context & Ripple Effects
This piece lands four months into Google's ownership of AdMob, the $750 million deal that cleared FTC review in May 2010 (Google's official acquisition announcement) after a spring in which Apple's own mobile-ad plans put regulatory heat on the transaction — MediaMemo noted in April that Google was eager to make its case to the FTC once Apple unveiled its mobile advertising push.
Omar Hamoui, AdMob's founder now inside Google as a VP, uses the AdAge interview to flip the narrative: he asserts Apple did not invent good mobile advertising creative, it simply marketed better. The claim matters because it reframes the fight from product superiority to distribution — Google's argument for why its ad network reach, not Apple's format showmanship, wins advertiser budgets.
First-order effects
- Hamoui hands Google's ad sales teams a ready-made counterpitch to Apple's premium mobile-ad format story: compete on network reach and results rather than creative polish.
- Brand advertisers choosing between Apple's and Google's mobile offerings must now weigh a platform-tied format against an ecosystem-wide network.
Second-order effects
- Apple's response pressure rises on the supply side: with Google folding AdMob into its broader ad stack, Apple has stronger incentive to court developers and publishers directly through its own OS-controlled channel.
- Publishers and app developers gain negotiating leverage between two well-funded buyers for mobile inventory, pushing up effective prices for premium placements on both platforms.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, independent mobile ad networks without an OS or handset franchise become acquisition targets or niche players, as mobile advertising consolidates around the two companies that control smartphone distribution.
- Regulators' willingness to clear the AdMob deal despite Apple-era objections sets the precedent for how platform-owner ad mergers are judged going forward.
The trend: Mobile advertising is consolidating around the smartphone platform owners — Apple and Google — who can bundle ad inventory with operating-system distribution.