AdMob has announced that it has launched its first advertising unit for Android applications.

The move by the world’s largest mobile advertising marketplace will give developers an option for monetizing their applications on the open source device platform.

The first developers to leverage AdMob’s new Android ad unit in their applications include AccuWeather, Jirbo, and TapJoy.

AdMob’s presence will add another dimension to Google’s Android Market.

While it now has more than 800 applications, that figure is dwarfed by Apple’s App Store, which has more than 15,000 apps.

One reason for the gulf – aside from the fact Android only launched three months ago – is that Apple has the ability to offer paid apps.

So the flood of developers rushing to the platform following the launch of T-Mobile’s G1 last October never happened.

This is despite Google being seen as far less restrictive with regard to what apps could be created for Android.

Android Market’s lack of a payment system is one reason.

AdMob’s new Android ad unit will also allow brand and performance advertisers to reach consumers engaging with applications on their Android device.

Advertisers will be able to use these ad units to drive customer actions such as going to the Android Market to download an application.

AdMob already serves ads on mobile Web sites on the Android platform and received more than 27 million requests in December 2008.

Building on the initial success of the G1 device, several new devices expected to come to market in 2009.

More than 6,000 mobile sites and 450 iPhone applications are a part of AdMob’s publisher network worldwide.

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