Microsoft is the future of advertising. I can go ahead and say that without blinking an eye. It is in the process of redefining what it means to have interactive advertising. Imagine this. You're watching a rerun of Friends or Entourage and you want to know what Rachel's wearing, or you want to know what jersey Turtle has on and all you'd need to do to find out is to click on it. That's right, if you're watching an online movie or TV show, all you'd have to do is click on the item to see detailed product descriptions and information on where the products can be bought.

This revolutionary advertising technology is actually called the Microsoft adCenter Incubation Lab (adLab). It was unveiled from REDMOND, Wash., on Jan. 13 to the public. It's a combination of MSN's adCenter and Microsoft Research which is in fact a state-of-the-art lab in Beijing with a "mission to research and incubate advanced technologies for MSN's adCenter" according to Microsoft. More than 50 researchers are working on this latest project that plans to emphasize Microsoft's already stated goal of competing in the online advertising market.

This technology was shown at the adCenter Demo Fest. Only around 15 of the total 40 products were presented, but that means it's only the tip of the iceberg. Online advertising solutions, video opportunities, and television and mobile-based advertising products are some of the broader product themes of the show. Tarek Najm, general manager of adCenter at Microsoft, said "The exciting work being shown at adCenter Demo Fest and the new Microsoft adLab reflects Microsoft's commitment to innovation in the field of ad products… The Microsoft team of top researchers in this field is unsurpassed and certain to produce compelling advances that will impact and ultimately change the game in online advertising. With this long-term applied research, we will continue to help improve advertisers' return on investment by delivering rich audience intelligence information and enabling simple and complete control over all aspects of the advertising campaigns."

The service might even be able to launch as early as June of this year in the U.S. This is news that rivals Google and Yahoo probably didn't want to hear, but it might be interesting to see the counter reaction from the two. It's apparent that Microsoft wants a slice of the Online Advertising cake, currently a $14.6 billion market, and adCenter is something that will definitely boost it in that direction. They're making up lost time with this latest surge of techno-gadgets and services.