SEATTLE (Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp., seeking to boost online advertising sales, bought the assets of WebFives to add software for sharing videos and photos between mobile devices and personal computers.

The transaction closed on November 2, Adam Sohn, a director in Microsoft's online services group, said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Terms weren't disclosed. WebFives was founded as Vizrea Corp. by ex-Microsoft executive Mike Toutonghi.

Microsoft will combine some of WebFives' technology with its Windows Live Internet programs to lure more users and advertisers. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, trails Google Inc. by a margin of seven to one in internet ad sales.

WebFives will close its own photo-sharing service by the end of the year, according to its website. Toutonghi will return to Microsoft to work for the ad engineering team.