Yahoo and T-Mobile are joining forces to serve targeted display advertising on mobile Internet services in Britain. The first ads for T-Mobile's Web 'n' walk mobile browser will be rolled out during the first half this year.

Yahoo signed a similar deal with Vodafone last year, which provided it with a key role in display ads on two of the United Kingdom's top mobile services. It also reflects Yahoo's strategy of making advertising and distribution deals with carriers and handset makers in key markets, such as Europe, Asia and Latin America, according to a Media Post article.

"We are focused on extending our leadership in both display advertising and in mobile services, and this new partnership demonstrates our continued momentum," a Yahoo spokesperson said, according to Media Post.

"This is another proof of how buoyant the mobile advertising market is," Thomas Husson, a JupiterResearch mobile analyst, wrote in a blog. He noted that Web 'n' walk had 2.8 million users as of the end of September 2007.

In December 2007, Jupiter projected that mobile ad revenue in Europe will grow from less than $85 million in 2007 to $1.9 billion by 2012. In five years, mobile will make up 9 percent of European online ad spending, Media Post reported.

Husson also pointed out in the blog post that "of marketers having used or planning to use mobile marketing, 64 percent planned to use banner advertising on mobile portals, and 68 percent planned to use banner ads on off-portal mobile Internet pages during the next 12 months," which is based on a recent Jupiter executive survey.

However, Yahoo seems to be losing out when it comes to mobile search - Both T-Mobile and Vodafone have chosen Google as their mobile search engine. T-Mobile also played a key role in the wireless coalition Google formed in late 2007 to develop its "Android" open mobile platform.