Facebook Under Investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Instabook or Facetagram?

In an earlier post, Your Mobile Life discussed a major purchase that was the talk of the town - the Facebook and Instagram deal.  Well, now that major purchase is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.  But why?  If the price tag didn't alarm them, nothing would have.


After Facebook purchased Instagram for a whopping 1 billion dollars, it didn't take long before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decided it was time to investigate.  Although it's mandatory for any deal over $66 million to go under the microscope, what really sparked the investigation was the hefty price tag that Facebook paid for Instagram.

The FTC promotes consumer rights and helps prevent and eliminate potentially harmful anti-competitive business practices.  The FTC wants to ensure that Facebook's acquisition of Instagram won't prevent competitive business behavior - which could result in unhealthy monopolistic practices.

What does this investigation really mean for the merger between Facebook and Instagram?  Well, the investigation could delay the merger between the two for several months and maybe even up to a year. So, "Facebook won't be able to integrate Instagram into its big blue empire as soon as it'd like" says The Techno Buffalo.

What do you think about the investigation?  Do you think that Facebook should be worried with its up and coming IPO?