MSN mobile search tool to list clickable ads

by admin October 10, 2006 at 3:58 am

Microsoft plans to place advertising on MSN’s Windows Live Search for Mobile service that will let users click on an advertisement to place a call for more information.

The software powerhouse said Monday is partnering with San Francisco-based Ingenio to provide the embedded ads when mobile search requests are performed with Windows Live Search. An ad will be placed above the regular search results when mobile phone users are searching with Windows Live Search. Then users can click on the advertisement and make a phone call directly to whoever is advertising–restaurant, store, service provider and so on.

The database and technology used to serve the advertisements comes from Ingenio. Searching is free for users, but the company charges advertisers for calls that mobile users make when they click on a particular ad. Advertisers vie for the top spot in the list in an online auction, much as in other paid advertising models on regular online search sites, such as Google.

Full article: ZDNet