AOL announced that it has acquired the mobile advertising solutions provider, Third Screen Media. Following the acquisition, Third Screen Media will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of AOL's Advertising.com division and will expand its services to the mobile platforms.

Randy Falco, Chairman and CEO of AOL, commented: "AOL is one of only four at-scale advertising businesses on the Internet, and the acquisition of Third Screen Media gives us a very strong position in the fast-growing mobile space. It also lets us offer advertisers a more complete set of solutions, from display advertising to search and now a superior set of mobile solutions."

The acquisition comes at a time when the mobile advertising industry is growing exponentially. According to research data from eMarketer, in the U.S., mobile advertising is expected to grow from $421 million in 2006 to $4.7 billion by 2011, while globally the market is expected to increase to $11.3 billion by the same year.

"This acquisition brings together two pioneers in the interactive advertising space," said Thomas Burgess, founder and chief executive officer of Third Screen Media. "Advertising.com has long been the advertising network to watch, and Third Screen Media broke new ground in the mobile advertising space with our pioneering technology and industry-leading mobile network. Together, we can now offer advertisers and publishers a comprehensive suite of interactive advertising solutions for every type of device, platform and program."

Third Screen Media is a software and services company dedicated to enabling advertising on mobile devices. Its MADX product suite links advertisers, publishers and mobile phone carriers together on a common platform to increase the efficiency and time-to-market for the buying and selling of mobile advertising in WAP, video, MMS and downloadable applications. Third Screen Media also operates the TSM|Network, the largest single source of mobile advertising inventory.