Google to buy mobile ad network for $750 million

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) -- Google Inc. is stepping up its push to sell advertising on cell phones, announcing a deal Monday to buy a mobile ad network, AdMob, for $750 million in stock.

Google already has a mobile ad delivery system, DoubleClick Mobile, which it got with its $3.2 billion acquisition of DoubleClick Inc. in 2008. Google said buying AdMob will give it more expertise in a market that is expected to grow rapidly over the next several years.

Google shares rose $9.84, or 1.8 percent, to $560.94 in afternoon trading.

Omar Hamoui founded AdMob in 2006. The company, which is based in San Mateo, Calif., provides a market for advertisers to buy space on Web sites geared for mobile devices.

"Mobile advertising has enormous potential as a marketing medium and while this industry is still in the early stages of development, AdMob has already made exceptional progress in a very short time," Susan Wojcicki, Google's vice president of product management, said in a statement.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.