VentureBeat

Facebook has announced that third-party developers can integrate features from web-based Facebook applications to work on mobile devices.

Most of the world uses mobile devices, and in many countries, people use phones more than they do computers. With Facebook’s audience rocketing upward around the world, this latest move could encourage higher participation, at least among people who use Facebook applications.

It comes as the company reportedly prepares New York for its new “SocialAds” ad network and tries to finalize a financing deal with either Microsoft or Google that includes rights to its international advertising. We can only assume the deal would include international mobile advertising in Facebook.

We also have to wonder if mobile ad network startups out there, like AdMob, Buzzcity and Millenial, will look more seriously at building ad networks for social network applications. Buzzcity, for example, already has experience with mobile social networks: It started in 1999 as Mygamma.com, an international mobile social network that currently has over 2.1 million active users.

However, at least one big app developer — RockYou — is choosing to focus first on integrating with other social networking platforms in order to get more users.

Web, not mobile is how Facebook’s core demographics of users in the US, Canada and the UK access the site, RockYou co-founder Jia Shen told us. Countries like China and India that are big in mobile aren’t big in Facebook.

Mobile apps may be a good way to monetize, though, Shen tells us: “Lots of people are thinking about how to run micropayments through phone bills” as high schoolers don’t have access to credit cards for doing things like buying Facebook’s virtual gifts.

Facebook users can choose to send and receive text messages from applications and otherwise poke, prod, needle, “throw food,” and perform other gimmicky actions on applications.

Blackberry owner Research In Motion has also released a customized application for the device (see screenshot).

See our separate story about Facebook’s SocialAds program.

updated

AdMob, which says it has the largest ad platform for mobile phones, has raised $15 million in a second round of financing led by Silicon Valley’s venture firm Accel Partners, and including existing investor Sequoia Capital.

AdMob, of San Mateo, Calif., has served more than 1.6 billion ads in less than a year, and says that is more than any other player, including Third Screen Media, a Boston-based competitor that AOL is reportedly in talks to acquire (see WSJ).

But it isn’t clear whether AdMob is king. It says it served more than 600 million ads in Feb and March combined, an impressive acceleration from the 1 billion ads during the entire second half of last year. However, Third Screen says it shows about 350 million ads every month (we haven’t confirmed this, but this is what it tells the WSJ), suggesting it may be bigger. Third Screen has also announced major customers, from Fox News to Ford Motor Co. AdMob, by contrast, serves smaller companies.

[Update: We wonder if anyone is holding the companies to the fire on their stats. We've just seen a reference at Third Screen's own site to a mere 175 million impressions served.]

The mobile ad trend is just taking off. AdMob has 1200 publishers using it, across 160 countries. Despite this, it isn’t profitable yet. AdMobs lets advertisers target things like geography, behavior, demographics and handset manufacturer.

Other mobile ad start-ups include Ad Infuse, Enpocket, Millennial Media and Rhythm NewMedia. Google and Yahoo, the ad giants of Silicon Valley, serve ads alongside their mobile search ads, but have yet to roll out more general mobile ads.