Microsoft starts offering U.S. ads on MSN Mobile

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. began on Monday to place advertisements on its U.S. MSN Mobile page, moving into the nascent mobile phone advertising business.

Computer-based Web usage dwarfs mobile Internet use in the United States, but companies like Microsoft, Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. see advertising tied to mobile phones as potentially more lucrative than the $40 billion online advertising market.

The company will start with advertisements from Bank of America, Paramount Pictures and Jaguar. Microsoft already sells mobile phone advertisements in Belgium, France, Spain, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Microsoft's idea is to offer customers the option to place advertising across a wide range of platforms from the Internet to mobile phones to its Xbox Live online video game service.

Microsoft also plans to bring new features such as astrology and movie ticket buying to its MSN Mobile page.

(Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)