Many people expected that social networks and mobile would be a natural combination, but now the numbers are in.

According to recent statistics from comScore, in the US during September, over 50% of Facebook’s and Twitter’s unique users logged on via their mobile device! more»

Android’s recent momentum has continued with a key milestone as it has dislodged Symbian from its 10-year reign as the leading Smartphone OS.

According to research company Canalys, Android sold 32.9 million devices during Q.4 2010, overtaking Symbian, which sold 31 million. more»

Recent figures from research firm IDC show that the US market for mobile advertising is growing at a rapid rate, doubling over the past year.

Even more interesting is the conclusion that Google currently represents almost 60% of this market revenue! more»

Over the past several months, as the battle for the future of the mobile marketplace has heated up, much of the conversation has focused on Apple and Google, while less attention has been paid to the other two giants in this area – Microsoft and Nokia.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the recent moves by Microsoft related to mobile and mobile advertising to see what may be in store for this high profile company.

They have a long track record of success in technology businesses and big ambitions in the mobile area, but given their recent missteps in mobile, time may be running out. more»

Microsoft has announced the launch of their Mobile Behavioral Targeting Solution.

This means that the various behavioral targeting options that have previously been available only online are now available for Microsoft’s mobile display ad inventory as well, and should enable advertisers to reduce advertising waste and increase campaign ROI. more»

Microsoft has released a list of the application types that will be banned from their upcoming mobile app store. The 12 point prohibited list includes VOIP over mobile, links to other app stores, files larger than 10 MB, apps that show advertising that does not meet the Microsoft Advertising Creative Acceptance Policy Guide, plus several more.

The “Windows MarketPlace for Mobile” app store is expected to open later this year, to compete with apps stores for the iPhone, Android, Nokia, and RIM. more»

Although Microsoft has not really profited at all so far from the iPhone phenomenon, they may have their eyes on a different way of making money: providing the ad network that will serve ads into iPhone applications.

In an interesting post this week over at FT.com/Techblog, Chris Nuttall discusses this possibility and reports on a conversation he had with the head of Microsoft’s Massive marketing division.
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Gartner, Inc has released their latest figures on sales of smartphone devices for 2008.

Overall unit sales grew by almost 14%, but Q4 showed only about a 4% growth.

Nokia is still the dominant vendor, but their share of Q4 units was 41%, down from 51% last year.

Samsung made it to the “top 5” list for the first time. more»

Following several months of speculation, Verizon recently announced that Microsoft will be providing portal, local, and internet search and mobile advertising capabilities on the Verizon network. The five year agreement is set to start in mid-2009. more»

Microsoft Corp. and CNBC announced that Microsoft will be the exclusive third-party provider of mobile WAP site display advertising on CNBC.com’s U.S. mobile sites. more»

With much of the mobile content action moving off-portal, the pressure is on publishers, now in command of their mobile content destinies, to take charge and proactively promote their mobile content and sites through paid mobile search, or top-notch placement in organic search results – or both. Must publishers choose between Google and Yahoo, or are there other alternatives?

By Peggy Anne Salz, founder, MSearchGroove.
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Microsoft has announced that it has rebranded its advertising business under the new name of Microsoft Advertising. The move is a clear sign that Microsoft is taking the fight to Google and its other rivals in mobile and internet advertising. The new brand will incorporate many of the companies that Microsoft has purchased in recent times. more»

In the past week, the internet giants Microsoft and Google both took major steps in their competitive race, each trying to rapidly build up their capabilities in the digital advertising area. more»

Microsoft made two announcements demonstrating their ongoing expansion in the area of mobile advertising. Microsoft has been aggressively growing their mobile advertising business, both in terms of the services they offer and in the regions they cover. more»