Microsoft buys ScreenTonic for mobile ads

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has its own answer to the Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) purchase of ad auction business Right Media and Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) acquisition of ad serving giant Doubleclick. The world's largest software company is going after a different platform -- the cell phone.

Microsoft today announced that it is buying ScreenTonic. The Paris-based company places and manages ads on wireless handsets. As the market for placing and brokering ads on the PC-based Internet gets more crowded, Microsoft is probably smart to look to the next platform that could see rapid ad growth.

The software company told Reuters: "The acquisition of ScreenTonic will be part of our long-term strategy to deliver ad experiences that map to the (mobile Internet)," said Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president at Microsoft's online services group.

Microsoft efforts to build a web presence with MSN and a search platform have been an embarrassing failure. MSFT's search share runs around 12%, about half Yahoo!'s. There are still rumors that the company could buy 24/7 RealMedia (NASDAQ: TFSM) to get into the mainstream ad brokerage business.

But with Google owning the search market, and Doubleclick being in second place, at best, it may not suit Microsoft. So it may be on to greener pastures.