Microsoft Mobile's reputation is such that, whatever tactic it pursues, it will find criticism from one or more members of the analyst community. The launch of Microsoft Mobile Marketplaces is no exception. In this post on Moconews, Tricia Duryee makes the particularly harsh observation that the new service "hints at how far behind Microsoft is in mobile advertising", and goes further by noting that Google has purchased AdMob to move on to banners while "Microsoft is still meddling around in mobile search."

I dunno, on the other hand, what choice does Microsoft have. It is not as if it has to choose between banners and search marketing. Especially as it builds the Bing.com brand, we would argue that it is wise to link mobile marketing and advertising campaigns to all of the resources and capabilties baked into the Bing brand. That includes a shopping engine that provides "cash back" as well as the potential to build additional vertical or specialized mobile search engines that leverage off of the Bing platform for purchasing sponsored links. 

Sure, today's results are modest. The service only supports search of Ringtones. But it is a good test case for future offers that establish marketplaces for a wider variety of products and services, both for download and order from real-world merchants. The Ringtone Marketplace may be a pale precursor to what's ahead, but before we concede all mobile advertising and commerce to Google and Apple, let's not totally discount Microsoft's ability to build a business around mobile search marketing and Bing.