• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, March 4, 2008

Mobile ad network Ad Infuse has opened a New York office to help strengthen its ties to Madison Avenue. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company works with wireless operators to provide highly targeted ads based on mobile user demographic and behavioral data. In return, carriers get a share of ad revenues for sharing non-personally identifiable customer data with Ad Infuse.

As mobile advertising begins to hit the radar of large agencies, mobile ad companies are increasingly seeking a New York presence. Competing mobile ad network AdMob and mobile consultant BrandinHand have also launched New York outposts since the start of the year.

Advertisers using the Ad Infuse network so far include Unilever, Procter & Gamble, EA Mobile, BMW and Microsoft. Among agencies working with the company are OMD, MindShare and Ogilvy Interactive. Carol Jackson, global vice president of ad sales for Ad Infuse, added that many of its advertisers are expanding activity after making initial forays into mobile marketing in the last several months.

The new office, located at 230 Park Ave., will be led by Trevor Hamilton, director of national ad sales for Ad Infuse. "We've seen a significant percentage of our revenue in the past few quarters coming from New York-based agencies and brands," said Jackson. "So it was a very easy decision for Trevor to move to New York."

Separately, Ad Infuse announced the appointment of Steve Bair as vice president, business development for content publishers. Bair, previously vice president for business development at Jingle Networks, will be in charge of building relationships with mobile content providers.

In January, Ad Infuse raised $12 million in a second round of venture financing led by SoftBank Capital and including existing investors ComVentures and Storm Ventures. The company has raised $18 million total in funding to date. Last month, the company introduced an ad-serving platform specially tailored to the iPhone.