• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, January 29, 2009

Mobile ad network AdMob has secured $12.5 million in third-round financing from Draper Fisher Jurvetson's Growth Fund and Northgate Capital, bringing its total raised to $12.5 million.

San Mateo, Calif.-based AdMob is using the new funding to hire local staff in key global markets including Western Europe, India, South Africa and Japan. It's also investing in improvements to its mobile technology, expanding its products for publishers and advertisers and building up its sales and business development teams.

"We believe that now is a critical moment for us to cement our leadership position by making the investments that will help us to come out of this challenging economic environment even stronger than when we went in," said AdMob founder and CEO Omar Hamoui in a statement. "As mobile Web and application usage continues to grow rapidly worldwide, and smartphones--from the iPhone to the G1--gain in market share, we see a real opportunity to expand the mobile advertising market."

AdMob has capitalized on the spread of smartphones by introducing specialized ad units for both the iPhone and the Android mobile operating system that powers the G1 phone from T-Mobile and Google. The company said it served 6.3 billion mobile ad impressions worldwide in December, up 9% from November.