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The deal between Microsoft and pay per call advertising provider Ingenio will place ads on the Windows Live Search for Mobile service.

Ingenio has fared well with its partnership with AOL in offering these pay per call ads, and Microsoft wants to follow suit.

The two companies announced a partnership today to embed ads from Ingenio's ad network in mobile searches performed with Windows Live Search.

Big returns have been forecasted for such advertising.

Pay per call becomes more important when considering the context of local search along with it, but as it stands now pay per call could be a multi-billion dollar market shortly:

"Our current forecast indicates the market for Pay Per Call advertising is poised to reach $3.7 billion in the next four years, and the rapid growth in mobile search is certain to further Pay Per Call adoption among top-tier advertisers and publishers," said Matt Booth, Program Director, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group.
Pay per call and local search go together because millions of people carry cellphones regularly.

Although usage of cellphones in the US for data services like search has not taken off as it has in Asia and Europe, where faster connections can be found, the wireless companies are trying to catch up and drive more data service adoption.

When that does take place, Microsoft has to fight a host of competitors, including Google, Yahoo, and AOL among others in establishing itself as a mobile search choice.

That can happen if Microsoft can make the kind of deals others have made to be default choices on a particular hardware maker's phone.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.