The mobile landscape is a crazy place these days as the rate of mergers and acquisitions seems to accelerate every day. We are literally in a living version of Monopoly where the major players are scrambling to buy up properties so they can start laying down [advertising] real estate to really make the big bucks.
The biggest news this week was undoubtedly Facebook's $19 billion purchase of messaging service WhatsApp. A less publicized purchase for PhiSix (3D virtual try-on technology) also came from eBay this week. Though almost all of the major players (Apple, Google, Facebook, eBay) are gobbling up properties at lightening speed, their reasons for doing so seem to be very different. Some have likened Facebook's acquisition strategy to that of P&G, in which the company is hoping to have a hand in various properties, competitive or not, to make sure they have a hand in the revenues long-term. eBay's acquisition history however reflects more synergy to grow the related benefits of each of its properties (the company has presented advertisers with multiple scenarios via an NYC pop-up store to show how their technology stack works together to improve customer experiences). Google on the other hand has been very clear about their objective to unify products to connect user experiences across devices and use cases to improve tracking attribution and targeting.
Regardless of the varying strategies behind these acquisitions, the thing that is most clear is we are no where close to seeing them end. Many technology platforms are already planning their exit strategies and even the most niche partners are open to buying vs building (media networks, creative shops, you name it). Mobile may be a very fragmented ecosystem today, but we are starting to see the varying sides emerge and the potential impact they may have on consumers and advertisers alike in the future. So I guess the question is, are you betting on the value of Park Place & Broadway or do you favor the diversity of quantity in your properties?
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