UK regulators eye up Facebook's $1bn Instagram bid
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Facebook's bid to buy photo-sharing app Instagram for $1bn will be probed by the UK's Office of Fair Trading, according to the watchdog, which invited informal submissions of comment on Friday.
The dominant social network's takeover plan of Instagram has concerned the OFT, which is worried that the photo app market could be stifled if Facebook's acquisition completes.
The watchdog could refer Mark Zuckerberg's Instagram bid to Blighty's Competition Commission in late August. Before that, it is offering a window of just two weeks for interested parties to air their views to the OFT.
Separately, on the other side of the Atlantic, the Federal Trade Commission is also probing Facebook's planned buyout of Instagram to see if such a merger might deaden the air for other photo app players in that market.
In the US, the FTC automatically pokes at planned acquisitions valued at more than around $70m.
Facebook acknowledged the investigation and said it would "continue to work closely with the OFT and look forward to answering any questions that arise."
The Guardian reported that Facebook had already responded to the regulator's initial questions about the deal. But it's unclear if the OFT has jurisdiction over the proposed buyout.
The Register asked the OFT to comment on this story. It hadn't immediately got back to us at time of publication. ®
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COMMENTS
"photo app market could be stifled if Facebook's acquisition completes"
Good! I see one more 12 year old posting a wonky picture from a mobile, applying a shitty brown "retro" filter 'cos they think they're really doing something new and exciting, I'll scream! Photography is an art, it takes skill and practice to make a decent job of composition and editing, simply slapping a high-key filter on a picture of your mate not smiling is not really a skill. Let's not even start on the countless shots of "kitties & titties"...
I bet Deguerre and Adams are spinning in their graves!
Re: Ooops. Correction.
4 downvotes? Must be a lot of teenagers around here.
Look little boys, if not for Mr Andreessen we'd all be stuck in portals like Compuserve, AOL and maybe Microsoft Network. Oh shit you don't know what that is do you? Well imagine if the whole web was Facebook.
Show Mr Andreessen some respect. He fought Microsoft and saved all our souls.
Yes. that's all fine and well...
... but how do we *monetize* this sucker, dammit!
Therein lies the ultimate problem here - and why Facebook shares plummeted like a hot potato.
Yep, there's ad revenue, we've got that - sorted.
And then there's ... erm, well, what exactly?
Aha - yes - of course - more advertising, but this time, smarter.
If I'm selling a product and I can get it in front of enough eyeballs, I can offer a discount.
However, I need to pay the eyeball provider - and guarantee an exclusive deal.
Got that.
The other big trump card is data.
Data makes ad targeting more accurate - instead of the old 'throw shit at a wall and see what sticks', we can now throw shit at a specific brick to see what sticks. We can also throw the kinda shit that sticks better on that brick.
It's a great analogy - lets face it, most the stuff you see advertised online is ... shit.
But if it's shit that appeals to you, then it may just stick.
I've no bloody idea where I'm going with this...
Ah yes, Instagram, how can we *monetize* it. (Note the use of American spelling - important)
Grab the data, throw shit at it. Money rolls in. Everyones a winner.
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