Apple Poached Lala from Possible Google Acquisition?

The Wall Street Journal indicates that Apple and Google are becoming even more competitive than we had suspected. According to their sources, Google was also in serious negotiations with Lala Media for possible acquisition right before Apple won the bid. Meanwhile, we had previously reported that Apple was in serious talks with Admob immediately prior to Google's acquisition of that company.

The twin pursuit of the start-ups reveal that the two tech titans have further plans to move deeper into each other's business: Apple wanted to get into advertising, while Google sought a music service.

Apple and Google have become increasingly competitive which resulted in the resignation of Google CEO Eric Schmidt from the Apple Board of Directors. As Apple moves towards more web-based services and Google into the mobile phone market, the lines are continuing to blur.

The Wall Street Journal even indicates that Apple's interest in Admob may have been defensive, an attempt to prevent Google from learning details of the App Store economy. Apple is believed to be looking into more iPhone-related acquisitions.