Friday, May 4, 2007

Microsoft acquiring mobile ad company ScreenTonic



Microsoft agreed to acquire European mobile phone advertising company ScreenTonic to gain a foothold in the rapidly growing business for placing ads on mobile phones.

Paris-based ScreenTonic is one of the first companies in Europe to develop a platform to manage and place ads on the mobile Internet. ScreenTonic also serves as an advertising agency for companies looking to develop marketing campaigns on phones.

Mobile phone advertising is still a nascent industry compared to Web advertising, but it is an area being targeted by Microsoft and Web rivals Google and Yahoo.

The road ahead for mobile advertising is just going to get more exciting. With many startups in the mobile advertising getting funded, and ScreenTonic acquired by Microsoft, its just to demonstrate and endorse how important mobile advertising will play apart in the future of all marketing mix strategy. Wonder who will be the next target?
Whats the effect of Microsoft's acquisition of ScreenTonic?
I don’t think Microsoft’s acquisition of ScreenTonic is a signal that the Internet Giants have arrived. Whatever marketing Microsoft does to alert businesses to mobile marketing will hopefully lead to an accelerated acceptance of this channel. We need to get the word out, and the marketing dollars of the big advertisers can exponentially grow this industry.

I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before we see Google’s pay per click, or pay per action mobile text ad network. They are either working on it, or plan to acquire a company like Ad Mob, Third Screen Media and Madhouse Inc.

Its clearly a signal that mobile advertising is heading prime time.

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