Google is negotiating a $1 billion deal to acquire Indian mobile advertising specialist InMobi, it emerged on Wednesday.
An unnamed source cited by Reuters said the companies are "ironing out issues" that will help them reach agreement on price. In particular, Goog le wants to ascertain how many unique users InMobi reaches, a key factor in determining its value, the source said.
Bangalore-based InMobi claims its platform serves advertising on 1 billion devices in 200 countries. 43% of those devices are in developed markets in Europe and North America.
"InMobi would be a good acquisition target for Google," said Eden Zoller, principal analyst, consumer, at Ovum.
Buying InMobi "would remove a key competitor to Google’s own ambitions in application-based advertising, which are based on AdMob, the mobile advertising network that Google acquired in 2009," she said.
InMobi’s strong position in emerging markets would also help Google defend against Facebook, Zoller explained.
"Facebook is launching products and advertising propositions specifically designed to tap into emerging markets, which are now the fastest growing part of its total user base, and where many users are exclusively mobile," she said.
