Whether you’re an advertiser or a publisher, partnering up with the right programmatic video advertising platform is one of the most important business decisions you can make. More than half of U.S. marketing budgets are now devoted to programmatically purchased media, and there’s no indication that trend will reverse any time soon.Everybody wants to find the solution that’s best for their bottom line. However, the specific considerations that should go into choosing the right video programmatic advertising solution differ depending on whether you have supply to sell or are looking for an audience for your advertisements. This article will break down key factors for both mobile advertisers and mobile publishers to keep in mind as they search for a programmatic video advertising platform.Before we get into the specifics on either end, let’s recap the basic concepts.What is a programmatic video advertising platform?A programmatic video advertising platform combines tools, processes, and marketplaces to place video ads from advertising partners in ad placements furnished by publishing partners. The “programmatic” part of the term means that it’s all done procedurally via automated tools, integrating with demand side platforms and supply side platforms to allow advertising placements to be bid upon, selected, and displayed in fractions of a second.If a mobile game has ever offered you extra rewards for watching a video and you found yourself watching an ad for a related game a split second later, you’ve likely been on the user side of an advertising programmatic transaction. Now let’s take a look at what considerations make for the ideal programmatic video advertising platform for the other two main parties involved.4 points to help advertisers choose the best programmatic platformLooking for the best way to leverage your video demand side platform? These are four key points for advertisers to consider when trying to find the right programmatic video advertising platform.A large, engaged audienceOne of the most important things a programmatic video advertising platform can do for advertisers is put their creative content in front of as many people as possible. However, it’s not enough to just pass your content in front of the most eyeballs. It’s equally important for the platform to give you access to engaged audiences who are more likely to convert so you can make the most of your advertising dollar.Full-screen videos to grab attentionYou need every advantage you can get when you’re grappling for the attention of a busy mobile user. Your video demand side platform should prioritize full-screen takeovers when and where they make sense, making sure your content isn’t just playing unnoticed on the far side of the screen.A range of ad options that are easy to testYour video programmatic advertising partner should be able to offer a broad variety of creative and placement options, including interstitial and rewarded ads. It should also enable you to test, iterate, and optimize ads as soon as they’re put into rotation, ensuring your ad spend is meeting your targets and allowing for fast and flexible changes if needed.Simple access to supplyEven the most powerful programmatic video advertising platform is no good if it’s impractical to get running. Look for partners that allows instant access to supply through tried-and-true platforms like Google Display & Video 360, Magnite, and others. On top of that, you should seek out a private exchange to ensure access to premium inventory.4 points for publishers in search of the best programmatic platformYou work hard to make the best apps for your users, and you deserve to partner up with a programmatic video advertising platform that works hard too. Serving video ads that both keep users engaged and your profits rising can be a tricky needle to thread, but the right platform should make your part of the process simple and effective.A large selection of advertisersEncountering the same ads over and over again can get old fast — and diminish engagement. On top of that, a small selection of advertisers means fewer chances for your users to connect with an ad and convert — which means less revenue, too. The ideal programmatic video advertising platform will partner with thousands of advertisers to fill your placements with fresh, engaging content.Rewarded videos and offerwallsInterstitial video ads aren’t likely to disappear any time soon, but players strongly prefer other means of advertisement. In fact, 76% of US mobile gamers say they prefer rewarded videos over interstitial ads. Giving players the choice of when to watch ads, with the inducement of in-game rewards, can be very powerful — and an offerwall is another powerful way to put the ball in your player’s court.Easy supply-side SDK integrationThe time your developers spend integrating a new video programmatic advertising solution into your apps is time they could have spent making those apps more engaging for users. While any backend adjustment will naturally take some time to implement, your new programmatic partner should offer a powerful, industry-standard SDK to make the process fast and non-disruptive.Support for programmatic mediationMediators such as LevelPlay by ironSource automatically prioritize ad demand from multiple third-party networks, optimizing your cash flow and reducing work on your end. Your programmatic video advertising platform should seamlessly integrate with mediators to make the most of each ad placement, every time.Pick a powerful programmatic partnerThankfully, advertisers and publishers alike can choose one solution that checks all the above boxes and more. For advertisers, the ironSource Programmatic Marketplace will connect you with targeted audiences in thousands of apps that gel with your brand. For publishers, ironSource’s marketplace means a massive selection of ads that your users and your bottom line will love.

Tapjoy studies have shown that mobile gamers prefer rewarded ads to interstitials 4-to-1. It’s a valuable insight for advertisers and developers alike when it comes maximizing ad revenue, but rewarded ads also have the potential to impact other parts of the user experience and your game’s performance overall.To ensure a healthy portfolio, it’s critical that developers understand the additional impact rewarded ads have beyond ad revenue. This includes their effect on metrics like in-app purchase conversion rate, average user spend, 30-day retention, and daily session count. To find out more, we conducted an in-depth analysis of eight different high-DAU apps across iOS and Android for several varying timeframes to find out how users behave when exposed to rewarded ads compared to those who aren’t.Higher IAP conversion ratesWe studied new app users during a one month period and segmented them into two different groups: Those who engaged with at least one rewarded ad and those who never engaged with an ad. We then compared the IAP conversion rates (or percentage of users that made a first time purchase) for each group.On average, users who engage with rewarded ads are 4.5 times more likely to make in-app purchase versus those who do not.7 out of the 8 of apps studied demonstrated higher conversion rates among those who engaged with ads versus those who did not.In the case of two of the apps studies, we found that users who engaged with an ad were over 9 times more likely to make a purchase.Higher average spend per userWe measured the average spend per user in each app for seven days before and seven days after a user’s first rewarded ad engagement.In all 8 apps studied, user spend increased significantly after they engaged with an ad. The average weighted increase in user spend was 326%. Among the apps studied, the boost in average spend per user ranged from just shy of 200% to over 500%.Increased 30-day retentionWe measured the 30-day retention rates of users who engaged with 1-6 rewarded ads during their first week of using an app. Three types of rewarded ad formats were studied (rewarded video, full-screen interstitial, and offerwall placements) and measured against the average 30-day retention benchmark for all apps.Players who complete just one rewarded ad in the first week — whether a video, full-screen interstitial or an offerwall engagement — have a retention rate of at least 50%, compared to the benchmark of 13%.Rewarded video has the most profound effect on retention of any ad type. 30-day retention steadily increases with each video view, ranging from 53% to 68%, which is 3.5-5 times greater than the benchmark.Higher average daily session countWe measured the average number of user sessions per day — both seven days before and seven days after a user’s first rewarded ad engagement — for each high-DAU app.In all cases, users engaged with apps more frequently after completing a rewarded ad.All 8 apps studied demonstrated a lift in the average number of user sessions among those who completed an ad.The average weighted increase in user sessions across all apps was 34%.What does this mean for developers?4 key monetization strategies became abundantly clear following our research:Make rewarded ads easy to find – To increase visibility, consider adding a button to your app’s home screen or storefront, or utilize in-app messaging or push notifications to promote rewarded offers. Tapjoy’s Native-to-Earn, Message-to-Earn, and Push-to-Earn features make it easy for developers to add and manage these additions right from the dashboard.Explore currency sale promotions – Try running limited-time offers in which your players earn more currency than usual for every rewarded ad they complete. These currency sales can drive serious spikes in revenue. With Tapjoy, it’s easy to personalize your currency sale with custom branding and to control the payout ratio.Introduce ads early – Getting users to interact with ads early in their gameplay increases the chance that they will continue to engage with or make a purchase in your app. Rewarded ads introduce players to the mechanics and benefits of your in-app currency, so it’s important to make ads visible and easy to access during the player’s first few sessions.Integrate multiple rewarded formats – Integrating multiple formats — such as rewarded video and offerwall combined — provides developers with the best opportunity to monetize their users and maximize revenue. Diversifying formats not only unlocks higher eCPMs, but it provides players with the freedom to pick and choose the rewarded offer that appeals most to them.

Programmatic video advertising is a complex, multi-layered topic. Multiple networks serving different audiences — advertisers on the demand side and publishers on the supply side — work together with third-party mediators to serve video ads to billions of end users in the blink of an eye.It’s also a multi-billion dollar industry under constant, rapid evolution, and understanding it is key to reaching your audience and maximizing ROAS. Wherever you are on the demand or supply-side of the mobile ad stack, you should be aware of how the programmatic ad service process works and where things are headed.Let’s dive into programmatic video advertising and go over what it is, identify several key trends for the future, and break down how to choose a programmatic video platform that’s right for you.In this post, we’ll cover the following:What is programmatic video advertising?A timeline of growth for programmatic video advertisingProgrammatic video trends to watchHow to choose a programmatic video advertising platformMake programmatic video easyWhat is programmatic video advertising?For years, direct media buying — where advertisers made direct deals with publishers to determine exactly where their ads would run — ruled the landscape. And while direct media buying still works for static media, the advent of interactivity through the internet and smartphones allows for users to be directly catered to based on their individual interests. That’s where programmatic video advertising comes in.But what’s a good programmatic video definition? Essentially, as ads are served to users in mobile games, through connected TV experiences like Roku, or social media platforms, they are bid on in real-time by ad networks. The value of the bids is determined by characteristics like user demographics, what game they’re playing or app they’re using, and the bid ceiling set by the advertiser. The winner of the bid has their video served to the user.What makes programmatic video advertising so mind-blowing is that all of these bids are happening automatically in the fractions of a second between the moment an ad is called (like when a user taps on a button to double their reward in a game) and when it’s served. Market forces determine the cost of an ad, and data like user acquisition and ROAS can be monitored in real-time. And while the whole market cycle can seem intimidating and highly-technical, platforms like the ironSource Exchange make it easier than ever to integrate and display ads.To learn more about the benefits of programmatic video advertising and the channels best suited for it, read our guide, What Is Programmatic Video Advertising?A timeline of growth for programmatic video advertisingThe programmatic video ad market has seen an explosion of growth over the last few years, and it shows no signs of slowing down.In 2019, surveys showed that programmatic video ad spending grew to more than $24B. Only two years later, that number shot up to $52B according to a 2021 report by eMarketer, with the potential for ad spend reaching $62.96B in 2022. Mobile ad spend accounts for two-thirds of all programmatic video spending, with connected TV following behind and steadily growing.And that’s just in the United States. Global programmatic video ad spending reached $112.9B in 2019, eventually hitting $155B in 2021 and accounting for 34% of all global programmatic ad spend.As smart device and mobile game adoption grows, so too will programmatic video grow to meet the demand.Read more about programmatic video growth and learn about the top programmatic advertising video players in Your Guide to the 2022 Programmatic Video Advertising Market.Programmatic video trends to watchMobile advertising technology moves fast, and it’s important to have a sense of where things are headed so you can stay a step ahead of the competition.In terms of ad content, the rise of TikTok as a social media platform has caused a shift in the kinds of ads companies are creating for the programmatic video marketplace. Ads themselves are starting to look like TikToks, often being repurposed from TikTok itself to suit the more specific needs of mobile games and other apps. Videos are shorter, filled with dances or direct conversations, and often embrace subtitles or other text alternatives like written signs to present information.Privacy moves made by Google and Apple have made waves throughout the industry, as the removal of third-party cookies and updated app tracking policies are forcing mobile ad companies to get creative with data solutions. Advertisers are looking to first-party data to replace information third-party cookies would normally provide, and are implementing solutions like rewarded ads and the offerwall to paint a better picture of user data. It’s also leading to a wider move toward consolidation, as agencies look across the demand- and supply-side stack for opportunities to shore up weaknesses and strengthen their offerings.How to choose a programmatic video advertising platformProgrammatic video advertising platforms integrate with the demand side and supply side of the mobile advertising stack, and determining which platform is best for you will depend on which side of the stack you’re on.Advertisers looking for the best way to increase their return on ad spend (ROAS) will want to find a platform that offers the following:A large audience of engaged usersFull-screen video offerings that won’t go unnoticedEasy testing for a variety of creative and placement optionsSDK integration that provides access to thousands of connected appsIf you’re an app publisher looking to maximize user engagement and revenue, you’ll want to find a platform that can:Connect your app with a large network of advertisersProvide rewarded videos and offerwallsEasily integrate via industry-standard SDKsProvide support for programmatic mediation so you can ensure impartiality on ad bidsCheck out our guide on How to Choose a Programmatic Video Advertising Platform: 8 Consideration for more details on how to pick a platform that suits your needs.Make programmatic video easyThere are a lot of moving parts within the programmatic video advertisement world, and it can seem like a lot to take in. You don’t have to sweat the hard stuff, though. The ironSource Programmatic Marketplace makes putting your ads in front of billions of engaged users in brand-safe environments with complete transparency easier than ever. Contact us today to learn more.

Time spent in apps always peaks during the holiday season. The key to making that uplift work for your user acquisition is tackling it from all angles - from optimizing existing channels to expanding into new ones. That way, you can generate the installs and ROAS you need to start the new year off right.That’s why we invited three ironSource experts to this edition of our Angles of Acquisition webinar series:- Noa Eckstein, Head of Business Operations at ironSource Luna, covered building holiday-themed creatives that spike IPM - Sarah Chafer, VP US Sales at ironSource Sonic, discussed how to set up an offerwall campaign that'll generate record ARPU - Jess Overton, Director of Demand at ironSource Aura, walked through setting up an on-device campaign at a time when everyone's buying new phones Read on for a summary of the webinar or watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvewwdzvVBMConsumer insights during the holidaysTo kick off, Marketing Director at ironSource Lauren Baca set the scene with consumer insights during the holidays pulled from ironSource and M&C Saatchi Performance’s holiday marketing playbook:- 75% of consumers plan on purchasing clothes and footwear as gifts this year, making them the most popular gifts across all generations. - 65% of consumers plan to spend more or the same on holidays gifts this year compared to last year - 28% of consumers plan to start shopping in the fall and 27% of consumers plan to start shopping on Black Friday or Cyber MondayDownload the report for more data and insightsWith a better understanding of how consumers plan to shop and celebrate this season, Lauren passed the mic to our ironSource experts to break down some best practices for optimizing UA - from how to build holiday-themed creatives to making the most of a unique ad unit all the way to how to leverage a time when everyone's buying new phones.How to build holiday-themed creatives that spike IPMNoa explained that while the holiday season feels quite special, the marketing problems you face during the winter months are the same problems you face every other season - you need to find the best content and creatives, you need to optimize key channels, and you need to utilize your data better. The only difference? Your creatives get a holiday makeover.During the holidays, people tend to be their most emotional - it’s a time for nostalgia and thinking about friends and family. This emotion is a key ingredient to building high-IPM creatives - the goal is always to get users to go from seeing a creative to actually feeling something that encourages them to download, and the holidays are a time when that’s even more feasible.So if IPM has the potential to be so high, why wouldn’t you invest in building holiday creatives? Noa covered a few reasons why some studios might choose not to:- Holiday creatives can cost a lot to run and need more resources and attention to build, but may only run for a very short amount of time - Most creatives don’t end up scaling and often fail - it is more challenging to find the winning creative within such a short time period - Users who see a holiday-themed creative may expect to play a holiday-themed game, so you might need to adjust your gameplay or pay closer attention to user quality. - On the flip side, there are tons of data that show why you should invest in building holiday creatives, according to data from the ironSource Luna platform:- IPMs are significantly higher throughout the holiday season due to more engagement in apps and on phones (2021, US, iOS)- In fact, game installs surged 3x during the week of Christmas (2021, US, Facebook)- Advertisers test 2x the amount of creatives during the holidays, which means you don’t want to be left behindLooking deeper, Noa explained that building holiday-themed creatives can have a positive impact on your team and collaboration:- It’s an opportunity to refresh, prevent fatigue, and get creative in a unique way - Holiday elements trigger a lot of emotion leading to higher intent- You can create a really healthy dialogue between your creative team, UA team and product team as everyone works on holiday plansNext, Noa gave us some proof and walked through case studies. First, she presented a game studio that works with ironSource Luna that changed the sword in their playable ad to a Christmas tree, which had a huge impact on IPM during the holidays. It performed so well that the studio chose not to deactivate the creative after the holidays - and it remained the top-performing creative even two months after Christmas day. In another example, the holiday-themed creative was a top performer until the end of April.Last, Noa showed what happened when Luna tested three different Halloween-themed creatives for a game studio. For the first one, the Luna team took an existing high-performing creative and just put a Halloween theme on top of it. For the second one, Luna replaced a mermaid’s head with a pumpkin head and changed the pointer to a witch's hand. Neither of these variations are showing positive results yet - but that may change the closer we get to Halloween! For the third variation, Luna built a creative where the witch is playing the Halloween-themed game, which became one of the most successful creatives for this title and led to a 20% higher D7 ROAS.So how can you find this same success without heavy production?- Use real footage of real people that show pure emotion - Test holiday figures - snowflakes, witches, pumpkins - to spice it up - Give the pointer and buttons a holiday theme, like Santa Many advertisers are taking advantage of this time of year to increase performance, but you need to weigh that against the internal resources you have to build a new set of creatives. There are other ways to optimize your holiday strategy, such as with the offerwall - which leads us to our next angle.How to set up an offerwall campaign that'll generate record ROASNext up, Sarah Chafer discussed best practices for running offerwall campaigns during the holidays. First, she started with a brief background, explaining that the offerwall is a user-initiated, rewarded in app marketplace with three main constituents: developers use the offerwall to grow revenue, user retention, and app engagement, without cannibalizing IAP. Advertisers use the offerwall to reach a unique, quality audience that is looking for a transaction of some sort and will remain highly engaged in the app. Consumers engage with the offerwall for app discovery and brand discovery, all while getting further and deeper into the app they’re already using.So, how does this all work together - how do the advertiser and consumer come together in that moment or transaction? Sarah ran through a few of the most popular offerwall pricing models to help advertisers get campaigns started:Cost per engagement (CPE): Here, advertisers only pay when a user installs an app and completes a specific engagement event. This is all about getting users deeper down the funnel. Ask yourself, what do you want the user to do to remember the app and what would encourage them to use it again?Multi-reward cost per engagement (MR-CPE): In this pricing model, you pay in incremental steps as a user works towards completing a deep engagement event. This way, you can reward the user for completing more actions - not only installing and opening, but installing, opening and downloading a coupon or making a purchaseCost per action (CPA): You’ll pay when a user completes a quiz, action on a website, or purchases from a brand. This is the most common format during the holidays and it can be used in a lot of creative ways. Cost per install (CPI): You’ll pay each time a user installs your app, which is really about getting your app out there in the market and driving app discovery. Surveys: Pay when a user completes a survey to help you better understand user behavior - how they feel, what are their thoughts, what are they into, etc. Next, Sarah dove into best practices for mastering this ad unit during the holidays - saying that the most important thing to keep in mind is timing.There are tons of new devices entering the market - all the major players are releasing the latest versions of their best-selling devices and if you’re an early adopter of technology, you may already have one. Device sales increase heavily starting now and many will end up wrapped up as gifts. Starting with the offerwall now can help you be top of mind as new devices enter homes globally. Second, with holiday shopping starting earlier this year compared to last year according to our report, it’s important to remind users that the holidays are coming and that right now is the time to shop. You can provide this sense of urgency in your messaging, which we will discuss in the next section. Third, level up with currency sales and double down on rewards on key shopping days, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Consumers will be inclined to engage with an offer that gives them extra rewards. As an advertiser, you can double down on your bid - the reward is higher, the traffic is higher. In fact, we’ve seen around a 35% lift in conversions during previous currency sales. Once the timing is right, how do you get your creative to capture all the great offerwall traffic?Stay competitive with special promotions, also known as currency sales. We know that users are looking for deals - 40% said that rewarded ads influence their purchasing decisions according to our report. Whether you’re offering a sale or special package, get creative and switch it up frequently to stay fresh, unique and competitive. Going back to providing a sense of urgency, it’s important to be reminding users not only to shop but who to shop for. Include “gifting” and “holiday” in your messaging and add holiday-themed graphics to your creatives, which are consistent reminders that the holidays are coming. You can even call out someone in particular with phrases like - “for that someone special in your life,” or “for your pet” to get consumers thinking about their gift lists. The Tapjoy offerwall has a shopping tab, which gives consumers a better understanding of what our advertisers do by highlighting their packaging, merchandising, and best-selling products. Give the shopper an idea of who your brand is and what will be shipped to their home.Overall, the offerwall is an excellent touchpoint to reach high-intent users that will drive high ROAS. If you’re looking to expand your touchpoints even further, on-device advertising is a unique way to take advantage of the new phones entering the market - covered by Jess Overton.Setting up on-device campaigns when everyone's buying new phonesJumping off of Sarah’s point that there are tons of new devices sold, unboxed, and unwrapped this time of year, Jess shared that 51% of consumers plan to give a new device as a gift for the holidays. With each new device, consumers get access to new forms of entertainment - Jess even alluded it to the world’s greatest mall. Ultimately, how consumers decide to interact with their devices is a function of the apps they download and engage with.Jess shared that 95% of users that will be unboxing new devices this Christmas will be downloading apps in the first 48 hours. During those 48 hours, consumers will install 60% of the apps they’ll download for the lifetime of the device. If you look at your device's home screen and ask yourself, “when was the last time you downloaded a bunch of apps?”, it’s probably been a while. That’s the power of capturing a download at device activation.ironSource Aura partners with top device manufacturers and mobile carriers to deliver app discovery experiences directly to users on their devices so you can get your app discovered at key moments during the device lifecycle, whether it’s during device activation on Christmas morning or after a major operating system update. On-device marketing enables dynamic bidding and endless opportunities for optimization, which is largely impossible on traditional preload channels. Being able to meet users at moments when they're ready to discover and experiment with new apps along with first-class optimization capabilities means that on-device marketing is a channel that converts potential users into high-value customers.There are three things to keep in mind about running on-device during the holiday season. First, holiday-ify your creatives. Second, you can reach a range of demographics for your app and price accordingly. Third, sit back and watch that LTV rack up.Holiday-ify your creativesData shows that tailoring your on-device creatives to the audience and the placement can generate a significant uplift in performance. For example, you can add a holiday graphic or theme, such as a Santa hat, to your app icon on the device setup placement. Or you can show real people in the holiday spirit on the full-screen offer placement.Reach a range of demographics and price accordinglySecond, you need to ensure the bid for each demographic. This is especially important during the holidays, because you only get one shot. There’s only one Christmas morning, consumers only unbox your device once, which means you as the advertiser have to get your bids right the first time. So pay attention to price and understand which demographics are most important to your campaign.To paint a better picture, Jess broke down demographics of device activations last Christmas: the Boomer group is slightly less represented, with 15% activating new devices. 29% of activations came from Gen X, 25% from Millennials, and 21% from Gen Z. Bottom line? The on-device channel is a great way to get in front of hard-to-reach demographics, such as the older than 55 group. For Gen Z who are bombarded with ads, the on-device channel cuts through the noise and gives you a way to reach these users in a different mindset.Prepare for long LTVOn-device channels are a much slower burn in terms of LTV and app engagement. When you think about Christmas morning and setting up your new device, you might download a travel app, food delivery app, a few shopping apps, a bunch of games, but you’re not ordering food right away or booking your next trip on Christmas. Ultimately, you’ll see users start to engage more at D14 or D30, and this effect is even more significant during the holiday season. After all, we spend a lot more time on our phones and dabbling with apps.Having a multi-channel approach to your holiday advertising strategy is critical, and being well-informed on how to optimize all of those components is a huge benefit. If you’ve made it this far, you should have all of the best practices you need to drive high-performing creatives, create an offerwall strategy that converts, and leverage a time period high in device activations.

Aiming Inc. is a Japan-based game developer responsible for hits like Dragon Quest Tact and CARAVAN STORIES. They wanted to bring in more revenue from their newest hit, Charast Magical Academy a spin-off app of the hit game "CARAVAN STORIES, but had never used an ad monetization model - so the ironSource team helped them get started.ironSource’s Yusuke Toyoshima and Shuichiro Mine sat down with Aiming, to learn all about why they chose ironSource rewarded video and the Tapjoy offerwall, what they learned, and how they managed to boost their engagement rate 80% in the process.Choosing to work with ironSourceMine: This was the company’s first time using ad monetization, right?Saito: Yes. Aiming has a stance that when we see good market trends, we want to adopt and test it by ourselves - so it was only natural to start monetizing with ads. Originally, our company specialized in midcore games, but there were already many competing apps in the market. To generate a stable source of revenue, we decided to develop a hybrid revenue model (in-app purchase and ads) based on "CARAVAN STORIES," which already has a large fan base.Mine: Now you’re monetizing with ironSource and using Tapjoy’s offerwall - why did you decide to go with us?Sakaino: This was our first time integrating ads into our app, so we needed a platform that offered extensive support and a full suite of products. We compared companies from all over the globe, but ironSource was the only one completely that fulfilled our needs.Yusuke: We're glad you chose us! Sakaino: We felt the support immediately - the ironSource quickly responded and drafted financial projections for us.Mine: Publishers who integrate ads in their apps for the first time often don’t have enough information about performance benchmarks. Since ironSource has experience across all game genres in Japan and globally, we can provide our customers with practical ad monetization plans.Sakaino: There were other local options with good products for early-stage companies, but we wanted to get as much operational know-how as possible. That's why we chose ironSource - they offer a variety of report data with a UI that allows us to intuitively understand what’s important at first glance. There was a strong connection between Aiming’s attitude of "challenge new trends and accumulate know-how" and ironSource's push to "provide actionable data for publishers."Mine: At ironSource, we care about providing actionable data. In the long run, we think it is very important to understand the factors behind fluctuations - not be overwhelmed by the ups and downs of CPMs. Ad revenue is always important, but what’s most important for publishers is the success of the game itself. We provide data in a format and UI that every publisher can understand - not just the specific person in chargePerforming beyond expectationYusuke: How was the integration process?Sakaino: It took about two weeks to develop and integrate rewarded video and offerwall into our game. Since the dashboard was easy to understand, even for beginners, we were able to issue and set up placements in one day.Suzuki: From the planning phase, everyone on the team had a shared strategy of how to put ads into our game - so I think it went really smoothly.Mine: I feel that your monetization and game management teams work seamlessly together. For many publishers, this can be challenging - different teams usually have different goals and opinions.Sakaino: Since I joined the project, from the game planning phase to leading ad monetization, I think everyone, including the development team, shared a common goal.Suzuki: It may seem unusual to have someone in charge of ad monetization during the planning phase. Normally people tend to give higher priority to their own department, so perhaps our company's strength is the way that each department can share and coordinate all goals.Yusuke: How was the ad revenue performance?Sakaino: The result was much better than we expected. eCPM for ironSource rewarded videos was more than double our original estimation, and engagement rate reached 80% - even though our original estimation was 65%.Mine: Since the players are mainly from "CARAVAN STORIES," the user quality may be different from the other casual game players. If your game has been around for a while and has a certain income level, eCPM might be higher as a result.Sakaino: I think that’s right.Suzuki: Since the game story is a prequel about the lives of popular characters, fans are highly motivated to play.Mine: It's a successful app strategy for using IP (intellectual property).Sakaino: Tapjoy’s offerwall also performed better than we originally expected. Especially in the beginning, it performed better than the rewarded videos.Yusuke: Since Offerwall provides bigger rewards than rewarded videos, it’s particularly compatible with games that have many users who are willing to pay.Saito: In particular, Android has good KPI compatibility with the offerwall. Android users usually have a lower retention rate, but the offerwall increased revenue and stabilized it.Showing ads to domestic and global usersMine: Did you get any negative user feedback about ads?Sakaino: I don't think there were any noticeably negative reactions.Mine: The key to user-initiated ads like rewarded videos and offerwall is motivating the users to see the ads. "Charast Magical Academy" was designed to use ad monetization from the start, so I think it shows ads to users in the best way possible.Suzuki: Since we set the right rewards for both the offerwall and rewarded video, users connect with the ads and feel satisfied with them.Saito: The rewards we offer are valuable to users. To ensure that users who want to receive rewards don’t miss them, we added badges to places where there are ads that have not yet been seen, and added a jump button that auto-scrolls to that point. However, it seems that some new users thought that they couldn't progress in the game without clearing the ads, so now we only display badges for users who have progressed to a certain stage.Yusuke: I see.Saito: Impressions grew about 2.5x the normal rate during the offerwall's currency sale, but when we displayed the badge on the game screen and directed users to the ad page, it grew 8x - a huge revenue increase.Yusuke: It's a device that tells users that an offerwall event is currently being held.Sakaino: Also, Charast Magical Academy is only available on Japan’s app store, but some overseas fans download and play it. Thanks to the Tapjoy offerwall’s global support, it’s been great to be able to show global ads and rewards to overseas users.Yusuke: Global support is the Tapjoy offerwall's strength. There is no need to separate campaigns, and global ads are automatically displayed for access from overseas, to accommodate overseas users. Also, the offerwall is optimized with an algorithm to automatically display ads that users are interested in on the top of the list, so publishers can maximize their revenue without spending too much time and effort.Continuing to use ad monetization modelsMine: What are your plans for the future?Sakaino: We are satisfied with ironSource’s usability and profitability, and will continue to use both their rewarded video and the Tapjoy offerwall. For the offerwall, thanks to their global support and compatibility with Apple/Google’s regulations - we’re sticking with Tapjoy.Yusuke: That's great news for us.Saito: We plan to continue releasing games with an ad revenue model. Thanks to our new know-how from Charast Magical Academy, I'm including ads in all the proposals for our new games. Since it generates additional revenue and doesn’t discourage in-app purchases, there’s no reason to not use it.Sakaino: In the future, it would be nice to have a verification function that can segment users according to their in-app purchase status and level of loyalty, and optimize ads accordingly.Thank you to Mr. Sakaino, Mr. Suzuki, and Mr. Saito for participating in the interview. And congratulations on your half anniversary!

At Appfest 2022, Noelia Lopez, Blockchain PM and Senior Monetization Manager at Tilting Point, shared her ad monetization strategies for midcore and hardcore mobile games. Read the summary or watch the full video.She kicked off her presentation with the main challenge facing free-to-play games: less than 3% of gamers actually pay for in-app purchases. But, Noelia explains, just because 97% of users aren’t paying, doesn’t mean you can’t monetize them.The pillars of monetizationAs Noelia explains, many hardcore and midcore game developers are concerned that ad monetization may negatively affect retention and/or revenue. She’s heard them say that:“paying users will churn if they see ads”“in-app ads might cannibalize in-app purchase revenue”“ads attract low-quality players or decrease the quality of the game”But, according to Noelia, none of these concerns are true - in fact, it just means these developers aren’t implementing their ad placements the right way (or, as she puts it, “you aren’t doing your job well enough!”).The roadmap of ad implementationSo, how can you monetize with ads in a way that promotes revenue growth and [tooltip term="user-engagement"]engagement[/tooltip]? Follow a roadmap, implementing placements throughout the development lifecycle, from prototyping, soft launch, global launch, and finally live ops.PrototypingMany developers think the prototyping stage of the game is too early to begin thinking about ad monetization, and would rather focus on other in-game features - but in fact, Noelia says it's critical to begin here.That’s because during the prototyping phase, your entire studio is conducting the necessary market research to understand your competition - making it a critical time to also understand the monetization strategies your competitors use and the strategies you’d like to adopt.From here, conceptualize putting these placements into your game and how much revenue they could bring. Understanding each ad placement’s revenue potential will help you prioritize which placements to focus on first. By getting started this early, you can also encourage the product team to prioritize placements and align on your exact strategy.Noelia emphasizes the importance of conceptualization, or mentally preparing yourself and your team for an ad placement, even if there’s no space for it in that moment. You can start preparing by asking yourself: where exactly a placement should go, what it looks like, and what else it needs, like a tutorial.Soft launchAfter prototyping, it’s time for the soft launch, or the testing phase. Noelia broke this phase down into three parts: integration, goal setting, and testing.First comes your ad placements. This starts with integrating ad networks - whichever ones you find perform best - and a mediation platform. The best ads for hardcore games are rewarded videos and offerwalls.In the next stage, you want to always consider your goals - like fill rate, boosting LTV, and finding the balance between in-app ads and in-app purchases that maximizes revenue. As she explains, there’s no need to push for CPMs, or make a complex waterfall because soft launches often run in countries that tend to have lower impressions. That’s why it’s important to focus on fill rate, so you understand your engagement and impressions per day, and that your fill rate is good.As for tests, Noelia suggests conducting multiple tests for your ads - it’s important to test the most challenging ads, or the ones that might cannibalize in-app purchases, affect retention, etc. As you determine your game economy, this is also the time to test the ideal reward amount you want to give - increasing or decreasing it accordingly. Even after launch, you should continually be testing and optimizing to ensure the highest performance.Global launchNext comes the global launch - time to finally monitor how your in-app ads are performing. Noelia recommends viewing the metrics of all your ad placements, like engagement and ads per [tooltip term="daily-active-users"]DAU[/tooltip], on one page so you can see which perform best. The ad engagement rate for hardcore games, according to Noelia, hovers around 60%, ads per DAU ranges from 0-3, and ad revenue can get up to 15%. The goal is to have a 95% fill rate, to ensure there’s the highest opportunity possible to serve impressions.To drive home her point, Noelia shared successful examples of placement strategies from her games, like Warhammer: Chaos and Conquest. For example, they offer a welcome package of hard currency every time a user logs on, which boosts players to get started in the game and keep playing. To get non-paying hardcore users to experiment with your game’s ads, she also recommends using offerwall ads - which also helped increase Warhammer’s engagement rate.Live operationsFinally comes the live ops, or the post launch period, where you should be adjusting your ad placements to optimize performance. Before making any adjustments it’s important to be mindful that these changes don’t impact users’ ability to engage with ads.The live ops period can even be an opportunity to increase revenue. For example, if you establish a leaderboard to incentivize non-paying players, you can use ad placements as “tickets” for getting in. Due to increased competition with non-paying users, paying users can also be motivated to invest more to stay on top.Ultimately, ads are a major asset to monetizing your midcore or hardcore game, but placement strategies can only succeed with the right amount of monitoring and optimizing - even from the initial stages of your game’s development.

2022 on-device mobile advertising overview and 2023 trendsWith new app sectors, device models, and marketing techniques shaping 2022, it’s crucial to stay up to date on the next big opportunities in on-device advertising. As 2023 begins, let’s explore what worked this past year and what will continue to be important.The smartphone industry in numbersLet’s first look at the state of the mobile ecosystem in 2022.- Worldwide smartphone shipments in 2022 were around 1.2 billion (1)- Samsung held 22% of the market share in 2022, maintaining the No. 1 position (1)- Total shipments of 5G-enabled smartphones were expected to reach 650 million units by the end of 2022 (2) - Android maintained its position as the leading mobile operating system worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2022 with a close to 71.8% share (3)- Trends in the market- The amount of devices sold and the technology they’re equipped with has a huge impact on what is possible with on-device advertising.Incorporating CTV into your on-device advertising strategyCTV, connected TV advertising, is expected to receive huge advertising investments in 2023, growing at a rate of 27% according to MarketingDive, making it a great time to consider how you can incorporate CTV advertising into your on-device advertising strategy.First, with a seemingly unlimited number of streaming services available today, it’s becoming harder for users to keep up with paid subscriptions. To create a more sustainable revenue stream, many platforms are working on offering less expensive plans with an ad-supported option.Second, as it stands, 95% of TV ad spend comes from Fortune 500 companies focused on branding, but these companies only represent 33% of US business revenue. With TV bigger than any other social network, the channel needs to be accessible to all kinds of advertisers. CTV advertising, a performance marketing channel (WiFi has a static IP, which allows advertisers to link every device in a household), makes that possible all while delivering 900K impressions per second in the US alone.On top of that, CTV can work in conjunction with your existing on-device advertising strategy, when the app is already on the phone, to increase engagement and retention. For example, CTV advertising can be used as a form of push notifications to encourage users to open your app for the first time or recommend a new way to engage with the app’s features. As the technology continues to evolve, more opportunities will unfold, such as opening the app directly from the CTV ad to start interacting immediately. With CTV advertising, your on-device advertising efforts could have an even greater impact.Listen to our podcast with Vibe, an all-in-one TV ad platform.Using AI to create more efficient on-device advertising experiencesIn the current macroeconomic climate, it’s even more critical to find ways to stand out on channels you’re already using, like on-device advertising. How? Utilizing innovative technology such as AI to make your efficient channels more efficient.AI will create better advertisements by writing headlines and creating ads - you can use generative AI to create text and images for your on-device advertising notifications and full-screen offer campaigns. AI can also enable predictive analytics - discovering insights, making predictions, and unifying your data - when it comes to on-device advertising, these tools can help you determine which audiences you should be reaching and how that audience is engaging on their devices.Most interestingly, however, is the opportunity to improve interactivity with users through creatives. For instance, a full screen on-device ad for an eCommerce app could allow users to try on various items to see which looks best. A full screen ad for a food delivery app could allow you to take a virtual tour from a nearby restaurant to your home to get a feel for how fast delivery can be.Today, AI is well equipped to help you drive productivity and creativity across your media mix.Growing smartphone brandsSamsungAs of January 2023, Samsung has a market cap of $335.28 billion according to Companies Market Cap. On top of that, Samsung’s brand value was evaluated at $87.7 billion in 2022, which represents 17% growth compared to $74.6 billion in 2021, ranking the company in 5th for three years in a row on Interbrand's Best Global Brands of 2022.Samsung’s Galaxy Z series, where their foldable phones live, are the market leaders in the foldable space. In fact, from January to October 2022, the number of foldable smartphones Samsung contracted to enterprise customers increased by 105% compared to the same period in 2021 according to Samsung. At CES 2023, Samsung announced a new technology for foldable phones, Flex Hybrid.Samsung also recently unveiled the Galaxy S23 series. The main upgrade on these devices is the 200-megapixel main camera, along with the use of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, which will allow for better AI performance and power efficiency.On top of that, while many large chip manufacturers have begun scaling back their chip production due to external concerns, Samsung will increase chip production in 2023, especially at its largest semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek. This prepares them to take a big portion of market share as demand for chips returns to normal levels.Learn more about Samsung in 2023.GoogleWith the release of Google’s revolutionary Pixel 6, housing Google’s first Tensor chip, at the latter end of 2021, Google saw massive sales growth in the first half of 2022. According to Canalys, Google sales in North America were up 380% in Q1 2022 year over year and 280% in Q2 2022 year over year. For reference, leaders in market share only saw 1-4% annual growth.In 2022, Google iterated on the Pixel 6 with the Pixel 7, which is powered by the next-generation Google Tensor G2 processor. First of all, Pixel 7 is “sleek, sophisticated and durable” and the regular size is more compact than Pixel 6. The Pixel 7 is also being shipped with Android 13, the best Android experience yet.So, what’s expected in 2023? According to rumors, it might be the best year for Pixels yet, marked by the company carving its own way rather than following others. One new innovation in 2023 includes the Pixel fold, otherwise known as the Pixel notepad. With the release of this device, Google will have beaten Apple to the foldable space. Google also plans to release the Pixel Tablet, which means they’re beginning to challenge the Apple dominant tablet market. Along with new innovations that push the envelope, Google will also improve on their already high-performing devices. We can expect Google to release the Pixel 7a, Pixel 8, and 8 Pro throughout 2023. These are phones that will continue to appeal to the masses and keep Google in the spotlight.Top 5 app categories using on-device advertising in 2023It’s also important to have an idea of which app categories are on the rise, so you can learn how and why advertisers are finding success through this channel.1. Brands with apps are investing in on-device advertisingAs marketing teams face budget cuts, brands are rethinking their spend and focusing on channels where consumers are most active - mobile.In fact, according to Oberlo, mobile advertising spend in the US in 2023 is expected to reach $355.1 billion, surpassing $300 billion for the first time. Ultimately, now that mobile has a larger audience, higher usage levels, and is more reputable, big brands are beginning to look beyond traditional channels, to on-device advertising, to get in front of new, quality users through their phone screens.McDonald’s Spain achieves 64% app launch rate and drives over 34K installs with Aura2. Food and rapid delivery apps are continuing to growCOVID-19 accelerated the shift to ordering in from delivery apps rather than eating out. Since then, many other factors have continued to drive the food delivery app industry forward - convenience, increased demand, safety, etc. In fact, the entire food delivery app industry is expected to reach $320 billion market size by 2029 according to Business of Apps. Ultimately, with more delivery riders and route optimizations technologies, delivery is faster and cheaper than ever, driving incremental growth despite diminishing COVID-19 protocols.Glovo increased Aura installs by 5x and decreased CAC by 60%Rapid delivery apps, or apps that deliver groceries within 10-30 minutes of app order, are also attracting millions of users and big name investors. Rapid delivery apps are largely operating out of major cities across the UK, US, and Europe, with a few first movers leading the market in these areas - Getir, Flink, Gorillas, Gopuff, Weezy, Dija, Jiffy, Fancy and Snappy are all notable names.Read more about rapid delivery apps3. Classified apps are allowing users to buy and sell wherever they areAs the economy faces uncertainty, people are spending time sifting through their belongings and making decisions about what to keep and sell. Now classified platforms, especially on mobile, represent a major opportunity for growth.eBay Kleinanzeigen (Classifieds) boosts installs with AuraSubito looked to Aura to boost engagement 4x, grow scale, and diversify their user acquisition strategyMilanuncios reduces cost per lead 47% with Aura4. News apps are users go-to to stay updated on current eventsThe share of US consumers reading online news on a smartphone more than doubled between 2013 and 2022 according to Statista. “News on the go” through mobile devices has become the norm. This means that news apps are no longer an add-on to people’s typical news source, but the main character - encouraging news apps to focus on their app discovery and user acquisition strategies. We’ve seen a similar trend in Europe as well over the last year.SmartNews drives 35 million installs and meets retention goals with AuraHow Le Figaro reduced costs 70% and reached retention goals in 3 months with Aura5. eCommerce apps are making it easier to shop from your phoneSimilarly to news apps, eCommerce apps have also seen immense growth, creating a more competitive environment - more than half of all internet traffic comes from a mobile device. This is most likely due to the effects of COVID-19, which turned people away from brick and mortar. In 2023, smartphone retail eCommerce sales are expected to pass $432 billion, up from $148 billion in 2018 according to Statista.OTTO sees over 100% MoM growth and significantly increased ROI for their ironSource Aura volumeAliExpress Russia drives over 400K installs and exceeds their KPI goals with ironSource AuraOzon drives over 900K installs and exceeds KPI goals with ironSource AuraOverall, the state of the smartphone industry, key trends in the Android market, and the growing app categories, all have had an impact on the success of ironSource Aura. With on-device advertising becoming more prevalent, Aura saw a record year in 2022.The growth of AuraIn 2022, the team at ironSource Aura focused on expanding the on-device channel’s available touchpoints so advertisers like you can continue to drive value and meet valuable users at scale. New placements - such as the Discovery Widget that offers new apps to users directly from their device’s +1 screen on a daily basis - use contextual information to reach users in the right ways and at the best times for maximum, long-term engagement.ironSource Aura also expanded to new carrier and telco partners in 2022 beyond our current partnerships with Samsung, Vodafone, Orange, and Boost - announcing our Samsung partnership in MENA.It’s been an incredibly successful year thanks to both our advertiser and telco partners. Looking forward to continued success in 2023!Full list of Aura’s on-device advertising content from 2022Case StudiesFugoVery/DentsuInspired SquareDish Retail Wireless engages its 8M customers with AuraBlogsLaunching a new report "5G: The consumer perspective"4 ways advertisers can optimize their 5G on-device advertising strategyThe mobile advertising ecosystem in SpainHow agencies can drive incremental growth through mobile on-device campaignsHow to leverage on-device advertising to create a frictionless install experience7 questions to ask yourself when evaluating a new user acquisition channelThe first 30 days of an on-device campaignLooking to boost your game’s LTV? Try an on-device advertising campaignNo guts, no glory: MAD//Fest 2022 with ironSource AuraThe 3 most important KPIs running an on-device acquisition campaignAn inside look at the Japanese mobile economyThe what, why and how of web-to-app acquisition campaignsArticlesHospitality Tech | Four Ways Hospitality Marketers Can Innovate in the Post-Pandemic Future via a Mobile AppRCR Wireless News | The new device experience: How mobile carriers successfully ‘get in’ on the app economyTotalRetail | How to Leverage Your App to Get More CustomersPodcastsAdam Hadi, Current | How to deeply integrate influencer marketing into your productJean-François Grang, Purchasely | How to succeed with a subscription monetization model for your appDave Edwards, Audiomack | Bridging the knowledge gap between music creators and the app economyAndre Kempe, Admiral Media | Back to the basics: How will performance marketing survive?Tobias Boerner, Fastic | The real people behind your app: community-based apps and the growth loopPeter Fodor, AppAgent | Storytelling and mobile apps: a tale as old as timeKaran Bhavnani, Tripledot | Growth trends: team structure and experimentation in a high growth environmentGreg Turtle, What3Words | Gaining a growth edge with media for equity dealsAdrienne Rice & Sarah Chafer, M&C Saatchi Performance | What consumers want from brands this holiday seasonThomas Petit | How to optimize your subscription app today to grow tomorrowResearchBack to school shopping trends for your app or brand in 2022Travel is back in-style: 6 trends advertisers should keep in mind in 20228 key findings to help you master your holiday advertising strategyWebinarBuilding your 3 pronged holiday UA strategy: Creatives, offerwall, and on-device advertisingReports5G: The Consumer PerspectiveOn-device advertising 101: A report by Singular and ironSource AuraThe 2022 modern mobile consumer: app discovery and monetizationThe mobile marketers’ guide to mastering the holiday seasonResourcesCanalys QualcommStatista

The more downtime we have, the more we’re on our phones - which is why app engagement typically spikes during weekends and holidays. By doubling down on this uplift in traffic with special promotions, otherwise known as currency sales, developers and advertisers can both boost their revenue and acquire high ARPU users at scale. Here’s some data on how special promotions, also known as currency sales, can impact your business - plus tips on when to run them and how to make them stand out.What are special offerwall promotions?On holiday weekends throughout the year, like Christmas or Thanksgiving, these time-limited promotions offer users anything between 1.5 to 10x the standard offerwall reward in return for completing a task like playing an advertiser’s game and reaching the end of a level.What are the benefits for developers and advertisers?It's not just users who reap the rewards: a long list of our developer partners use special promotions to increase performance metrics like engagement rates, ARPDAU, and revenue. In fact, our data shows that, compared to a regular weekend, doubling rewards during special promotions can generate a 70% increase in revenue while tripling them can generate a 110% increase. Meanwhile, engagement rate jumps 60% for doubling rewards and 65% for tripling them. The benefits for developers don't stop there: special promotions also boost long-term retention and in-app purchases, as the credits enable users to progress further in the game and give them a "taste" of what IAPs can offer them.This boost in revenue sparks a cycle of growth - once the developer multiplies their rewards, it’ll attract more players to engage with the offerwall. Then advertisers leverage the increased traffic and raise bids to increase the rewards even more, resulting in even more traffic, installs, completions, and D7 ARPU. Our data shows that advertisers who raise bids during special offerwall promotions see a 56% increase in completions, compared to just 7% for advertisers who don’t.Here are some best practices to run a killer special promotion, which we’ve tested with some of the biggest mobile game developers in the world.When to run special promotionsAs a general rule, try running a special promotion at least once and up to twice a month. Less than once a month, you’ll miss out on potential revenue, but more than twice a month, you’ll risk flooding your in-game economy. When you run them, be sure to notify your ad network partner in advance, so they have enough time to encourage the biggest advertisers to focus their CPE efforts on your game. Here are a few times you can run the promotions:US holidays are a good way to stay on track with your special offerwall promotions, since they usually land once a month or so - from President's Day weekend in February to Labor Day in September, plus Thanksgiving and Christmas. Running promotions during holidays enables you to capitalize on increased traffic: people play games more during breaks from school and work.Each month, ironSource organizes cross-network special promotions so both developer and advertiser partners can enjoy maximum impact. Here’s the calendar for 2023, which you can bookmark:January - New Year's, mid-winter weekendFebruary - Valentine’s day, booster weekendMarch - Beginning of spring, St. Patrick’s Day April - April Fools’, Easter weekend May - Mother’s day, Memorial Day weekend June - Summertime weekend, longest day of the yearJuly - Independence day, Mid-summer weekendAugust - Summer booster, Back to school promotionSeptember - Labor Day weekend, Start of AutumnOctober - Columbus day weekend, Halloween November - Mid-autumn weekend, Black Friday December - Christmas, New Year’sHow to increase engagement for special offerwall promotionsTo generate revenue from special promotions, first you need users to engage. Here's a few ways to catch their attention and encourage engagement.Notify your players with alertsYour offerwall traffic drivers should always be visibly and strategically placed in your game. Special offers should follow the same logic: while the promotion will be automatically highlighted in the offerwall store, be sure to run pop-up ads in your game and push notifications outside of the game. Our data shows that these pop-ups can boost your player engagement rate by 190%.Not only do notifications like these boost engagement from users already familiar with the offerwall ad unit, they’re also a great way to educate non-offerwall users about the benefits.By running clear notifications about their offerwall special promotion, a partner (the turquoise line in the chart below) increased engagement rates for their offerwall campaign by +257%, while another game without notifications (the blue line) saw an increase of only +14%.Use the right messagingTo make sure the notifications work as best they can - users need to clearly understand just how much their rewards multiplied and that it’s only for a limited time. This way, players can understand how short-term this opportunity is, and are more motivated to claim their rewards immediately.For example, to encourage users to act fast try adding a countdown. In Pixel Federation’s Train Station 2, for example, they include a specific timer and clearly state the special promotion - including both “2x” and “get twice the amount of free gems” in their pop-up.Make sure to test different kinds of messages (more vs. less text, for example) and keep the one that generates the greatest uplift.Try higher reward multipliersThe more you put into your promotion, the more you can get out of it - if you offer a higher reward to your players, they’ll be more likely to engage.That’s exactly what we found during a recent special promotion. During Thanksgiving, people were already spending extra on their phones, so developers enjoyed a small uplift in offerwall revenue - but by doubling offerwall rewards, their daily revenue jumped 70%. The impact was even larger when our developers tripled them - daily revenue skyrocketed 110%.Measuring the full impactBe sure to measure the impact of the special promotions both during the promotion and after it expires. The time-consuming nature of completing offerwall events means that in addition to an initial spike in revenue, more revenue will be generated in the days or weeks following the end of the offer. That’s because even after the promotion ends, completions roll in along with revenue. The time period depends on the type of offers selected by the users: the deeper the events are, for example completing 10 levels of the advertiser’s game, the longer you should measure their impact.Measuring this way allows you to more accurately evaluate the impact of your special offerwall promotion, and understand how aggressive you should be for the next promotion. For instance, if you’ve waited to measure its full impact and it turns out to have underperformed, you can push more notifications, or increase the credit multiplier for the next promotion.The graph below shows the impact on revenue of a partners' offerwall special promotion. They achieved an initial spike while the promotion was live, and also saw a revenue uplift in the week after the promotion expired, due to more completions kicking in and an increase in the overall engagement rate with the offerwall.Getting startedironSource’s team are experts in maximizing your game’s offerwall ad revenue. Here’s how to join the long list of partners working with us to level up their offerwall strategy:Log into the ironSource platform Go to your ad units and placements, then select OfferwallClick on activate special promotion Set the start date, time and duration according to the dates belowUpdate your account manager so they can notify advertisers about your upcoming promotionIf you don’t have offerwall set up on ironSource, get it here on iOS and Android.

Now that players’ budgets are tightening, it’s becoming more important for midcore and hardcore games to diversify their monetization strategy beyond in-app purchases. According to data.ai, consumer mobile gaming is on a downward trend - it dropped 5% in 2022, and will drop another 3% in 2023 to $107 billion.How do developers fill that gap in monetization? They can do it in a way that won’t require players to spend a penny: carefully placed ads.In fact, based on Unity LevelPlay data, ad revenue for in-app purchase based genres (RPG, casino, puzzle, simulation, lucky rewards) has been steadily on the rise since 2020. As consumer spending continues to decelerate, we’ll likely see a major uptick in 2023.As you explore an ad-based monetization model for your mid-core or hardcore game, it’s worth determining which ad units get you the most bang for your buck. Based on our data, the answer is clear: rewarded videos and offerwalls. Here are four best practices to get started.1. Make your offerwall stand outIt’s likely easiest to start with the ad unit most similar to the in-app purchase model: the offerwall. Like in-app purchases, this mini-store offers valuable hard currency to users. But unlike in-app purchases, no cash is required - just the user’s time.The more accessible you make the offerwall to users, the bigger your revenue potential - so make sure your traffic drivers get users’ attention by putting them in the right spots. Here are the most effective traffic driver locations that maximize your offerwall engagement:Home screen: The best traffic drivers are the most visible ones - so your game’s home screen is an ideal spot to promote your offerwall, and increase impressions as a result. Store: The store is filled with users already looking to increase their hard currency, making it a great place to tell users they can get this currency for free.Breaks in gameplay: Placing traffic drivers during natural breaks in the gameplay (out of currency, end of level) can improve the user experience by giving players currency when they need it most. Start small with new placementsThe other critical ad unit to include in your ad monetization strategy is rewarded video - they’re completely optional, and offer players an enticing reward for a short amount of their time. They work well with every type of game - including traditionally in-app placement-based games, because their soft currency doesn’t interfere with paid hard currency. And the best part is - because offerwalls and rewarded videos work with different currencies - you can implement them both at the same time.During implementation, we’ve seen one common mistake: adding too many ads right away. If you build a complex placement system and add it to a game, it will be extremely hard to analyze its performance. This is especially true in in-app purchase-based games - since the deeper a game economy is, the harder it will be to attribute certain successes to certain placements. That’s why we recommend starting with one or two placements.As you set your ad placement strategy, make sure your ads are checking all the boxes:Optimizing exposure (e.g. placed in busy areas like the main screen)Helping players reach their goals (e.g. offering extra soft currency to upgrade a weapon). Once you see your placement is performing well, you can double-down on your strategy and start adding more rewarded videos.Balance your game economyAs you’re adding new soft currency placements to your game, like rewarded videos, there’s a chance they can impact your in-game economy - so you need to adjust it accordingly.Let’s say you’ve added a new rewarded video placement - even though they’re optional for users, you should always assume that every player is watching them, so you can balance your economy accordingly.The chart below, for example, shows how you can always incorporate ads into your economy without impacting the total amount a player receives per level. With each amount of currency your ad is offering, you can simply reduce that amount from your end-level winnings - keeping everything balanced. For example, in Level 4, users can win 20 coins through in-app purchases. If you incorporate ads, you’ll need to split that 20 into 10 for in-app purchases and 10 for ads.It’s important to remember that your new placements should only offer soft currency, not hard currency. This way, you can avoid cannibalizing your in-app purchases and the hard currency they offer.A/B test your placements as you goOnce you’ve added a new placement (rewarded video and/or offerwall) and adjusted your economy accordingly, it’s time to test how your new ad system is working and make adjustments as needed.Let’s say you added a new offerwall traffic driver and rewarded video placement to the home screen. Now you optimize. How’s your engagement rate? For the rewarded video placement, is the amount of currency affecting people’s interest in making in-app purchases?By understanding how players are engaging with your ads, you can adjust accordingly - and eventually apply your insights to any new placements you add.Once you’ve found a baseline placement (rewarded video and/or offerwall) that meets your KPI goals and you’re ready to A/B test, start with the basics:The ad’s location in the game (e.g. home screen vs. store) The placement’s design and messagingAnd, for rewarded video placements, go even deeper by testing:Currency type and amountCapping and pacing the ad’s frequencyTo accurately measure A/B test results, make sure to only perform one test at a time on any given placement. Your best measuring tools are retention and ad revenue per user (ARPU). If you’re making changes that boost ARPU while retaining high retention, you’re on the right path.Ultimately, as the industry adapts and changes, developers - particularly those who make traditionally IAP-based games - can adapt accordingly. Offerwalls and rewarded videos are key for increasing monetization, and with the right implementation strategy and A/B tests to optimize performance, there’s only room to improve.