• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, October 18, 2011

Clickable has completed a $12 million round of equity financing, including an undisclosed amount from American Express, which has been utilizing Clickable’s platform to provide white-label search and social marketing services to small businesses via American Express OPEN. Existing investors in the round include Union Square Ventures, Founders Fund and FirstMark Capital.

Clickable said it would use the new funding to “accelerate product innovation and market development,” but a company insider said the goal is to “become the AdWords of social media.” AdWords was the automated advertising platform Google created that became an organizing principle for the search advertising marketplace.

The company also announced that it is aggressively hiring to staff its expansion plans, and Founder and CEO David Kidder posted a link to Clickable’s jobs site, noting: “We’re hiring across a range of areas, including sales, user experience, product and engineering. It’s an exciting time. We have real, tangible purpose, and we’re looking for the best and brightest to help realize our vision. We are built from the ground up to make you thrive. Join us.”