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The Android platform might still be in its infancy, but AdMob, one of the world's largest mobile advertising marketplaces, launched its first dedicated advertising unit for Android applications today. Even though the Android platform was developed by Google, Google itself has yet to release a dedicated advertising service for Android applications. While the iPhone and iPod touch now dominate AdMob's business, the company is clearly hoping for the Android platform to gain some market share in the near future.

The latest data from AdMob, the world's largest mobile advertising marketplace, shows that Apple now dominates the mobile web in the U.S. with a 48% market share. This growth, interestingly enough, does not just come from the iPhone, but the iPod touch also saw a meteoric rise in usage during the last month. Traffic from the iPod touch to AdMob's network in the U.S. increased 3.4 times from November to December.

According to the latest report from AdMob, 42% of all requests from iPhones to Admob's partners worldwide are coming in over WiFi instead of through the networks of mobile operators. This puts the iPhone in a league of its own, given that on average, AdMob is only seeing about 10-20% of all requests from Wifi capable phones actually coming in from WiFi networks. From T-Mobile's Android phone, for example, only about 10% of all requests were made on WiFi.

Google today announced that it has added a new option for AdWords advertisers to specifically target iPhones, T-Mobile's G1, and other mobile devices that have 'real' Internet browsers. Unlike the standard mobile AdWord ads that were targeted to appear on mobile web sites, this new feature will allow advertisers to target any mobile device with a full HTML browser. Google also points out that it is seeing 'a lot' of searches from iPhone and G1 users and the iPhone drove more traffic to Google.com during last year's holiday season than any other mobile platform.

While there has been a lot of doom and gloom around venture capital funding during the current economic crisis in the U.S., some of the more established later-stage companies are still finding it relatively easy to get funding. AdMob, a leading mobile advertising platform, just announced that it has raised $15.7 million in a Series C round led by Sequoia Capital's Growth Fund, with participation from Accel Partners. AdMob, which is already seeing positive cash flow, is planning to use this money to expand its international operations, especially in India, South Africa, and Europe.