Apple plans to buy mobile ad company Quattro Wireless for $275 million, a blog owned by the The Wall Street Journal said Monday, a move that would intensify Apple's growing competition with Google.
Apple could announce the plans as soon as Tuesday, the All Things Digital blog said, citing unnamed sources.
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The news comes after Google announced plans in November to buy AdMob, another mobile ad provider, for $750 million. Both Quattro and AdMob focus on in-application and other types of mobile ads, which are displayed on smartphones like the iPhone or those that run Google's Android operating system.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt last year resigned from Apple's board of directors over concerns that Google was increasingly competing with Apple in its main businesses, including smartphones.
U.S. antitrust regulators are examining Google's buyout of AdMob and consumer groups have urged them to block it.