• Bloomberg et al, Monday, September 27, 2010 12:58 PM

Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo are in trouble, or at least in the area of mobile advertising.

"Apple may be gaining share in the U.S. mobile advertising market this year at the expense of Google and Microsoft," reports Bloomberg/Businessweek.

Apple will end the year with 21% of the market, estimates researcher IDC. Google's share will drop to 21% from 27% year-over-year -- when combined with results from AdMob, the ad network it bought in May.

Advertising online is a huge business and the leader of the pack traditionally is Google with its massive and very popular advertising network," writes DailyTech.

Noting Apple dramatic rise in market share, Fortune says: It's an indication of how the winds have shifted."

Microsoft's share, meanwhile, will drop to 7% from 10%. This year, ICD predicts that mobile advertising may more than double domestically to almost $500 million.

Also gaining ground on the ad titans, Bloomberg/Businessweek notes, are independent rivals such as Jumptap and Millennial Media.

In January, Apple acquired Quattro Wireless, which had 9% of the market in 2009, according to IDC. Apple's iAd network didn't launch until July.

"According to Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris, the number of advertisers committed to running iAd campaigns has doubled since June, when Apple officially announced the launch of the program with 17 companies on-board for $60 million in spending for the second half of 2010," reports MacRumors.com.

Regarding IDC's findings, Google's director of mobile Jason Spero tells Bloomberg/Business: "If we are losing share, this market is growing faster than any one we've seen."

Meanwhile, Yahoo spokesman Scott Lahde tells the magazine: "We are confident in our strategy and focus moving forward."

Read the whole story at Bloomberg et al »