[h=3]By AMIR EFRATI[/h] Google Inc. said it was contacted by antitrust lawyers from the Federal Trade Commission about the company's $1.1 billion acquisition of navigation mobile app Waze Inc., which was completed earlier this month.
A Google spokeswoman declined to comment Saturday on details of the FTC's review of the deal, which was generally expected. The agency also declined to comment.
Waze's revenue is too low to have triggered an automatic antitrust review, but the FTC can examine deals even after they close.
Some antitrust lawyers said it was unlikely the FTC would ask Google to unwind the deal. To break up the acquisition, the agency would have to uncover evidence that the deal would significantly hurt competition in the market for navigation and mapping apps.
Lawyers familiar with the antitrust investigation said the FTC may have asked Google not to integrate Waze into its operations pending the outcome.
The FTC is expected to focus on whether Waze would have become a head-to-head competitor with Google, whose Google Maps software is the dominant digital mapping and navigation service around the world, or whether there is any evidence, such as emails, that show that Google wanted to acquire the company only to keep it out of the hands of rivals.
Among the known suitors for Waze, according to people familiar with the matter, were social network Facebook Inc., which relies on Microsoft Corp.'s Bing Maps, and Apple Inc., which uses some information from Waze in its Apple Maps service, launched last year. The companies previously have declined to comment on the matter. Microsoft has said it was an investor in Waze, but it isn't clear whether it tried to buy the company.
Other digital mapping companies include Nokia Corp., TomTom International BV and the nonprofit OpenStreetMap, which is free for anyone to use.
Waze, based in Israel, has said that 45 million people have downloaded its navigation app and, it has been used in 190 countries. Google Maps is used by a billion people, the company has said. Waze draws on a mobile device's global-position-system information to learn about traffic flow on the roads and to provide drivers with better routes.
Google said in mid-June that it would keep Waze separate from Google but that Google Maps would incorporate Waze's traffic data and Waze would incorporate some of the Google Maps technology.
Google generates an undisclosed amount of revenue from licensing Google Maps to other websites and mobile apps. The Waze deal was the fourth-largest by dollar value in its 15-year history.
The FTC, which earlier this year ended a long antitrust probe of Google's Web-search engine and search-advertising business without ordering it to make changes, recently began examining Google's smaller but thriving graphical-ad business.
—Brent Kendall contributed to this article. Write to Amir Efrati at [email protected]
A Google spokeswoman declined to comment Saturday on details of the FTC's review of the deal, which was generally expected. The agency also declined to comment.
Waze's revenue is too low to have triggered an automatic antitrust review, but the FTC can examine deals even after they close.
Some antitrust lawyers said it was unlikely the FTC would ask Google to unwind the deal. To break up the acquisition, the agency would have to uncover evidence that the deal would significantly hurt competition in the market for navigation and mapping apps.
Lawyers familiar with the antitrust investigation said the FTC may have asked Google not to integrate Waze into its operations pending the outcome.
The FTC is expected to focus on whether Waze would have become a head-to-head competitor with Google, whose Google Maps software is the dominant digital mapping and navigation service around the world, or whether there is any evidence, such as emails, that show that Google wanted to acquire the company only to keep it out of the hands of rivals.
Among the known suitors for Waze, according to people familiar with the matter, were social network Facebook Inc., which relies on Microsoft Corp.'s Bing Maps, and Apple Inc., which uses some information from Waze in its Apple Maps service, launched last year. The companies previously have declined to comment on the matter. Microsoft has said it was an investor in Waze, but it isn't clear whether it tried to buy the company.
Other digital mapping companies include Nokia Corp., TomTom International BV and the nonprofit OpenStreetMap, which is free for anyone to use.
Waze, based in Israel, has said that 45 million people have downloaded its navigation app and, it has been used in 190 countries. Google Maps is used by a billion people, the company has said. Waze draws on a mobile device's global-position-system information to learn about traffic flow on the roads and to provide drivers with better routes.
Google said in mid-June that it would keep Waze separate from Google but that Google Maps would incorporate Waze's traffic data and Waze would incorporate some of the Google Maps technology.
Google generates an undisclosed amount of revenue from licensing Google Maps to other websites and mobile apps. The Waze deal was the fourth-largest by dollar value in its 15-year history.
The FTC, which earlier this year ended a long antitrust probe of Google's Web-search engine and search-advertising business without ordering it to make changes, recently began examining Google's smaller but thriving graphical-ad business.
—Brent Kendall contributed to this article. Write to Amir Efrati at [email protected]