Microsoft Brings Behavioral Targeting to Mobile Network

Microsoft has begun offering behavioral targeting capabilities on its mobile network, following a similar move by Yahoo in May.

The launch of Microsoft’s Mobile Behavioral Targeting Solution means that the full range of its online targeting segments and categories are now available to advertisers buying mobile display inventory. Those categories span financial services, technology and travel, news and entertainment, health, lifestyle and about 100 other categories.

“Mobile behavioral targeting enables advertisers to reduce advertising waste and maximize the impact and ROI of their mobile campaigns by targeting consumers who have already demonstrated an interest in specific product categories,” Jamie Wells, director of global trade marketing for Microsoft Mobile Advertising, wrote on the company’s blog.

Behavior tracked by Microsoft mobile includes keyword search behavior from Bing, visits to Web sites within the Microsoft network, profile data from Window’s Live and Microsoft network data gleaned from properties such as Hotmail and Xbox .

Yahoo opened its Smart Ad platform to third-party vendors in May, effectively bringing behavioral targeting capabilities to its mobile network.

Advertisers are likely to be seeking more behavioral targeting capabilities on handheld devices as the mobile browsing audience grows. The mobile Web audience in the United States surpassed 55 million unique visitors in June, according to Nielsen. Microsoft’s network ranked fourth in terms of size, with around 25 million users.