AOL Buys Mobile Advertising Startup

Continuing a recent trend of consolidation in the advertising industry, AOL announced Tuesday it has acquired mobile ad provider Third Screen Media. AOL says the purchase, which was rumored in February, will enable it to offer marketers additional reach beyond the desktop Web browser.

While the market for mobile advertising is currently small, it is expected to grow over the next several years. AOL's move follows Google's acquisition of DoubleClick and Yahoo's purchase of Right Media. Terms of the Third Screen deal were not disclosed, although the company will become a subsidiary of AOL's Advertising.com division.