Federal antitrust regulators are reportedly looking into Google’s $750 million acquisition of mobile advertising network AdMob.
A report in the Wall Street Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter,” suggests that the review at the Federal Trade Commission could be merely “procedural,” rather than a more advanced inquiry that could lead to government action to block or attach conditions to the deal.
Google has been growing accustomed to increased government scrutiny, which company executives have explained as a natural byproduct of the firm’s continued growth and a new administration that has signaled its intention to reinvigorate antitrust oversight and other regulatory mechanisms.
Last year antitrust authorities derailed the Google’s proposed search partnership with Yahoo, and the company is currently working with attorneys at the Department of Justice to assuage concerns over its Book Search settlement agreement with authors and publishers.
Google’s interest in AdMob comes as it looks to ramp up its advertising and content offerings in the mobile sector, a market that is young enough that an antitrust action to block the deal seems unlikely.