Telstra is about to launch a service that will enable sellers to place advertisements on the tradingpost.com.au web site from their mobile phones.

Microsoft is to sell digital marketing agency, Razorfish to France based global advertising and PR company, Publicis Groupe, for $US530m in cash and shares, and the two companies will form a strategic alliance.

Australia's online advertising market has defied advertising market trends, recording growth of 18.5 percent for the full financial year according to figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Australia in its Online Advertising Expenditure Report.

Twelve of Australia's online advertising companies have formed a new industry body, the Internet Advertising Sales Houses of Australia (IASH Australia) to replace Interactive Advertising Networks of Australia (IANA), to "bring greater accountability for online advertisers."

Australia's online advertising market continues to grow, despite the economic crisis and could just pass the$2b mark in 2009, according to IAB Australia's Online Advertising Expenditure Report (OAER).

Not content with just bolstering its web advertising operation, Microsoft has acquired Navic Networks, an interactive advertising provider. The move once again signals the seriousness of Microsoft's intention to diversify its operations away from its traditional desktop cash cow businesses.

Research firm Frost & Sullivan is forecasting Australia's online classifieds advertising market to grow 25 percent annually and be worth $1 billion by 2011. However despite this growth, it has some warnings for would-be investors.