> As such, U.S. regulators have “[taken an interest in Apple’s actions](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e7ae5066-7408-11df-87f5-00144feabdc0.html?referrer_id=yahoofinance&ft_ref=appleinsider&segid=03058),” according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to the *Financial Times*, though it’s reportedly unclear as of yet whether the investigation will be handled by the Federal Trade Commission or passed off to the Department of Justice.
>
> Word of the probe comes less than a month after antitrust regulators concluded a similar investigation into whether Google was unjustly muscling its way into an overly-dominate position in the mobile ad space with its recent [$750 million acquisition AdMob](http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/11/11/google_to_have_larger_iphone_ad_presence_with_admob_acquisition.html). Somewhat ironically, Apple’s announcement shortly thereafter that it would launch its own iAd service [helped the search giant’s case](http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/05/21/ftc_approves_google_admob_deal_cites_competition_from_apples_iad.html), serving as evidence that substantial competition in the mobile space lay on the horizon.
via [appleinsider.com](http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/06/10/apple_faces_new_antitrust_investigation_over_ios_advertising_restrictions.html)
The key words here are “taken an interest.” Translation: They want you to think they care, but this will lead to absolutely nothing.
You can’t be guilty of anti-trust violations if you don’t have a monopoly. The iPhone is clearly not a monopoly, as Apple is not only not the only vendor of mobile devices, it isn’t even the LEADING vendor of mobile devices. AdMob is perfectly free to advertise on Android, RIM, Microsoft, etc. If the public sees Apple’s blocking of AdMob in iOS as an issue, the public will stop buying Apple’s devices.
Having said that, I’m not exactly sure that blocking AdMob is good policy for Apple. If iAd is as good as it looks like it is, developers will choose it over AdMob, anyway, and Google will still lose access to 100 million devices, and thus a giant portion of its future revenue stream.
I think blocking AdMob is perfectly legal, and within Apple’s right, ethically, in other words. I just don’t think it’s necessary. Google is going to lose this fight either way. Might as well not take the PR hit.
