The Federal Trade Commission voted five to zero to give regulatory approval to Google’s acquisition of the mobile advertising network AdMob. The deal was first announced last November. The Commission concluded the acquisition is unlikely to harm competition in the mobile advertising networks market. The Commission relied on recent evidence demonstrating Apple will be a strong competitor in the mobile advertising market. (Apple recently acquired Quattro Wireless for use in connection with the Apple iAd service.) The deal may signal increased interest in acquiring businesses in the digital advertising space — Gavin D. McElroy
Amazon.com announced yesterday that it will pay authors and publishers who use Amazon’s Kindle Digital Text Platform up to 70% of the revenue from each Kindle book Amazon sells, net of delivery costs. For authors and publishers accustomed to royalties in the range of 7 to 15 percent for physical books, this is an enormous change, and one that will undoubtedly encourage more authors to “go direct” to Amazon.
The new royalty plan comes with some strings, many of which seem designed to force publishers to lower their e-Book prices (thereby generating greater sales for Amazon). The plan includes the following elements: Read more »
So you think an iPhone app would be a great way to promote your business, but you fear the development costs? 
BusinessWeek reports on an increasingly popular and affordable alternative: Do-It-Yourself (”DIY”) iPhone Applications. For a fraction of the price of custom development, you can now create a game, blog feed, quiz, streaming video, or other application, without hiring a costly developer to write a single line of code. Read more »
The FCC has released a letter in which Google says an Apple executive rejected its iPhone application for Google Voice, a statement that appeared to contradict Apple’s own claims to the FCC.
More on Apple App Store rejections here. The bottom line, according to Don Reisinger at CNET: “Apple wants nothing to do with apps that can be found “objectionable,” have functionality similar to Apple-built features, or might conflict with a contract it has established with AT&T or other partners.”
In letters to the Federal Communications Commission, both Apple and AT&T have denied that AT&T played any role in determining whether the Google Voice application would be approved for use on Apple’s iPhone. Apple also indicated that it has not rejected Google Voice, but is “still pondering” whether to allow the application, which includes functionality that could replace several programs on the iPhone.
Apple’s decision-making process regarding its approval or rejection of specific iPhone applications has always been something of a mystery. Yesterday, Phil Schiller, a senior Apple executive, took the unusual step of e-mailing John Gruber of Daring Fireball to comment on the approval process for the Ninjawords application, a dictionary application that was rejected multiple times because it, apparently, contained more offensive language than standard, published dictionaries. As a private company, Apple will assert its right to determine which apps it wants to sell. This was most starkly illustrated recently with Apple’s decision to reject the Google Voice application, a decision that caused considerable outrage in the tech world. One hopes, however, that this is a first step by Apple towards greater transparency respecting its decision-making process and application approval criteria. I know that our clients – whether they are the application programmers or the creative forces behind them – would certainly appreciate more disclosure from Apple in this area.
The Federal Trade Commission voted five to zero to give regulatory approval to Google’s acquisition of the mobile advertising network AdMob. The deal was first announced last November. The Commission concluded the acquisition is unlikely to harm competition in the mobile advertising networks market. The Commission relied on recent evidence demonstrating Apple will be a strong competitor in the mobile advertising market. (Apple recently acquired Quattro Wireless for use in connection with the Apple iAd service.) The deal may signal increased interest in acquiring businesses in the digital advertising space — Gavin D. McElroy
Advertising, Apple, Google | editor | 
May 24, 2010 10:53 am | 
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