
Apple to Acquire Mobile Ad Platform Quattro Wireless for $275 Million - AjJi
http://mashable.com/2010/01/04/apple-quattro-wireless/
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gyardley
If I had to guess, I'd guess that Apple will be using Quattro's relationships
to roll out an advertising service for free iPhone & iPod Touch applications -
in exchange for their 30% cut, which is about right for an ad network.

I suspect Apple figured there was simply too much free-app monetization going
on to escape untaxed, especially when they're bearing the costs of free
application delivery. Perhaps Apple also realized that other parties were
getting a bit too much insight into their marketplace through advertising.

If I'm right, this could be very unpleasant for advertising-related startups
in this space that aren't Quattro. Now that Apple's got an iPhone app ad
company, there's no reason why they won't make it _the_ iPhone app ad company.

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seldo
Slightly more charitably, perhaps Apple recognized that for many app
manufacturers who offer both paid and free versions of an app, Apple already
has an existing financial relationship with them, so allowing Apple to handle
the ad payments from the free version of the app is going to be more
convenient.

Of course, there's no reason it can't be both.

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aresant
Apple & Google maintain their collision course with this announcement.

Amazing that a few years back Eric Schmidt was on Apple's board and was not
see as a competitive threat.

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ugh
Months, not years. Five, to be exact:
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/08/03bod.html>

~~~
aresant
I stand corrected. That is nuts.

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richardburton
I'm not sure that I'd go as far as to say there's a conflict of interest going
on here (and in the Google/AdMob camp). However, it definitely feels
uncomfortable.

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jsz0
So... which search engine are they going to buy?

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mahmud
Search engines are a bait to bring users to advertisers, and to study user
behaviour. Apple already has the users, not just by through their bookmarks,
familiarity or desire, but by their actual physical devices.

A google user can quit google. An apple "user" can't quit apple without a
significant investment. By their minority status in the market, they're able
to do what Microsoft always wanted to do with the majority, without incurring
the wrath of the law for monopolistic practices. Apple diversified itself as
well; they're the largest desktop minority platform, but also the largest
smartphone minority platform, largest music store, MP3 players, soon tablets,
etc. They have a finger in a lot of pies, and they're weaving all these
disparate platforms and devices into a giant, highly lucrative meta-platform.

~~~
patio11
_A google user can quit google._

I think this is true in roughly the same sense that an English speaker can
quit English -- not strictly speaking impossible, but it requires a
significant investment and wrenching adjustments to the way you have done
things for years.

Try going cold turkey on Google for a week. I have attempted it before and I
can't even make it 24 hours. And most damningly, I'm generally not even aware
I'm failing at it -- the fingers type google.com for my navigational needs
before my brain even gets involved in the loop.

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developer123
Anyone able to ballpark how much the founders would clear from this deal?

