At AOL's mercy

Fresh off launching its updated AOL Video site — and amidst speculation that Time Warner may dismantle the company and sell it bit by bit — AOL has launched a new mobile advertising service on Third Screen Media, the mobile ad arm of its Platform-A service.

Part of Third Screen Media's MADX ad-serving system, the offering lets publishers sell ad space on mobile phones the same way they would sell it on ordinary websites. Inventory from Third Screen Media will also be available to them.

From a web-based interface, users may allocate ad inventory to mobile sites terraced by ad network, location, device subject area and other criteria.

"With this new feature, publishers will be able to make all ad requests from one location and get back responses to one location," said director Kent Johnson of business operations at Third Screen Media.

Verizon Wireless and mobile ad network AdMob are experimenting with the service. Observing it would "create healthy competition in the mobile media marketplace," VP Jason Spero of marketing at AdMob said they hoped to connect with publishers they might not otherwise reach, reports MediaPost.