Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) says it has launched mobile advertising on its MSN Mobile portal optimized for viewing on smartphone and cellphone screens. It's about time -- mobile advertising, as many industry pundits has said for years, is the next frontier of online advertising. Competitor Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is right there as well, and company CEO Eric Schmidt never misses a chance to say how important mobile web access is to global internet users.

MSN Mobile will now feature miniature banner ads suited specifically for each web browser type and screen size resolution based on the type of device each mobile customer uses to visit MSN Mobile. Microsoft services like Hotmail, MSN Messenger, Live Search and others are all available on the portal. The question is whether customers will use them in increasing fashion. When it comes to mobile web access, Microsoft definitely does not enjoy the monopoly it holds with its desktop software and operating system presence.

But there is more -- MSN Mobile allows movie ticket purchasing, and the downloading of background images and ringtones for any customer who visits. With ad backers Bank of America, Paramount Pictures, and Jaguar, MSN Mobile has some decent partners lined up to begin with. That, of course, does not guarantee success. Google's mobile ad efforts are proceeding along at lightning speed too.