Tag Archives: Monetization Strategy

Optimizing App Monetization with Google AdMob

All views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author, and not that of Google. This guest post is from Sreeraman Thiagarajan, a Google Developers Expert in the app marketing and monetization space and a published author on the Economic Times. Sreeraman is featured as our guest blogger to share insights and tips from his experience to help AdMob developers grow their earnings. If you’re new to AdMob, be sure to sign up here.

In the introductory post we saw how AdMob lets app developers take control of monetizing their apps - here’s the second part on optimization and measuring.

Optimizing revenue and volume: A counter question I often get goes like this “But other networks offer better eCPM (more dollar for every one thousand impressions served), why must I choose AdMob?” Answer for this lies in understanding two metrics and the two respective fundamentals behind each of these metrics.

The first metric is ‘fill rate’ which means how many relevant ads can the ad network fulfill as requested by your app? A simple demand-supply equation is the fundamental behind this metric, because there are a lot of advertisers on Google, nearly 1million plus advertisers who want to show their ads (demand) to a potential audience who could be using your app (supply). This equation generates a very high amount of ‘ad requests’ of 200 billion per month, globally. With AdMob on your app, you can join the supply side.

The second metric of eCPM is how much money per thousand impression your app can earn? eCPM differs from network to network, however a simple multiplication of eCPM with fill rate answers this question. If network A offers $1 at a fill rate of 85% then you get 85 cents revenue per thousand ad request (aka RPM). Now if network B offers twice as much at $2 but with a lower fill rate of 30% then you only get 60 cents of RPM. That’s a 25% loss on potential earnings.

Choosing the type of ads to show: There a few standard types of ads, namely Banners, Interstitials, Rewarded, and Native. There’s no fixed formula for which type of banner to use, but one principle developers must strongly adhere to is to ‘preserve user experience’ by integrating ads as unobtrusively and as natively as possible.

Game developers have an advantage in using rewarded ads, this a form of interstitial ad units that enables you to reward users with in-app items such as an extra life, a level jump, a feature unlock, etc., for watching video ads.

Native ads is a boon for publishers and content based apps. It is a component based ad format that matches the look and feel of the app where the ad is being displayed. This makes the ads look like they  are  a part of the app and reduces obtrusiveness. A simple example of this is a promoted tweet on Twitter or a promoted post on Facebook. It is essentially a tweet or post like any other, but an identified sponsor has paid to promote it.

Banners and interstitials are pretty standard formats. Apps can choose to display banners at fixed positions on screen like the top or bottom. The full-screen ads are called interstitials, these are displayed at natural transition points in the user journey such as between two levels in a game, between two news articles, etc.

Stop guessing and start testing: App developers often suffer from the curse of knowledge, that is, they assume their users know and use the app the way it was meant to be. But more often than not, this is not true and building the app’s advertising strategy on gut feel is bad for business. Optimal monetization happens when users’ journey from acquisition to retention is deeply understood. Thanks to the integration of Google Firebase with AdMob, app developers can use Firebase’s free & unlimited analytics solution for deploying intelligent ad monetization strategies.

Importing Firebase SDK into apps requires no complicated coding. Once integrated, developers can get details like sessions, demographics of users, revenue from in-app purchases, etc., from Firebase Analytics. Besides this, AdMob’s own reports will give you a ringside view on how revenue is generated.

To optimize monetization, it is imperative developers inculcate a habit of continuous testing and tweaking their product strategy based on data and hard insights.

In conclusion, ads are above fifty percent of total revenue generated by apps. According to data point by App Annie and IDC, in-app ads are projected to grow at 3.2X in next two years1. As stated by Gartner, this year, over 268 billion apps are expected to be downloaded worldwide2; apps have no boundary and you never know audience from which country maybe your biggest fans.

Successful app monetization happens when there’s a mind-set of growth. Grow your audience base, preserve user experience, integrate AdMob, and ad revenue will start taking care of itself. Thus giving developers bandwidth to build more products or enhance existing features.

Google has made a lot of resources available on AdMob and if you are a developer with apps that has over 100,000 downloads you can request a free consultation. Both the resources are free of cost. Godspeed and love to see India rise up in charts for generating app revenue.

1 - https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.appannie.com/reports/App-Annie-IDC-Mobile-App-Advertising-Monetization-Trends-2013-2018-EN.pdf 
2 - http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2654115 

Source: Inside AdMob


Understanding App Monetization with Google AdMob

All views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author, and not Google. This guest post is from Sreeraman Thiagarajan, a Google Developers Expert in the app marketing and monetization space and a published author on the Economic Times. Sreeraman is featured as our guest blogger to share insights and tips from his experience to help AdMob developers grow their earnings. If you’re new to AdMob, be sure to sign up here.

There’s never been a better time to be an app developer in India. According to reports referenced in the Economic Times, app downloads on Google Play from India grew from 3.5 billion downloads in 2015 to 6.2 billion downloads in 20161. Based on this report, India now holds the top spot in the world for apps downloaded on Google Play, even outranking the US and Brazil.

As noted in a recent article by Quartz India, nearly 90% of India’s over 220 million smartphone users have Android smartphones, so the ~6 billion app download figures comes as no surprise2. However, from a revenue perspective, Times of India reported that India is  far behind and does not feature as one of the top ten markets3. (According to Android Authority Japan, U.S, and South Korea rank highest4).

World over, an article in MarketWire states that iOS and Android app publishers earned over 89 billion dollars in 2016 as revenue from their app, which includes paid apps, in-app purchases (IAP), and of course ad revenue5.
Indian app developers are in need of proven app monetization techniques. When exploring revenue generation opportunities by deploying Google’s in-app advertising suite, AdMob is a great starting point.

Here’s how:

Don’t be shy or scared of using in-app ads. In my interaction with many startups and app developers, there’s a disturbing insight I’ve discovered. Many developers think using in-app ads are a clichéd way of generating revenue, and that they must come up with a unique and novel way of making money. Nope, it is not necessary to reinvent the wheel. Ad supported businesses have been thriving for decades . Besides being a source of income for a publisher, advertising subsidizes the price of a product for consumers. For example, if not for ads in a local newspaper, we may have to pay 10x or more than its current selling price. The concept of freemium apps may never have picked up as well.

Many of the largest and most recognizable apps use advertising to support their business model. Rather than reinventing their revenue models, they constantly innovate to maximize the ad revenue. From major sporting events to longstanding publishing houses to new age tech-based content providers, every one of them smartly leverages the power of monetizing the massive eyeballs they receive by showing ads, without disrupting the user experience.

An app or game is no different than our above examples. These apps and games can generate money through ads if they can garner users at scale and engage them frequently (converting them into DAU’s or daily active users). Google’s AdMob can help developers immensely in building an ad-supported app and in diversifying revenue streams beyond paid subscriptions or in-app upgrades and purchases.

Picking the right in-app ad platform:There are many options to chose from when picking an ad monetization platform. In fact, there are over 50 ad networks that app developers can choose from, or they can even build their own ad serving mechanism within the app to show ‘house ads’ - the ability to cross promote other apps or services of yours. Or one can also sell ad inventory (such as a masthead, a branded product placed within an app, or branded power-ups in games, etc.) through direct sales teams. However, building one’s own ad suite or depending largely on direct ads is not scalable, and warrants too much time and effort of developers and ad sales team alike to make this work profitably. This is where AdMob makes its biggest contribution in making life easy for both iOS and Android developers.

AdMob has a built-in mechanism that lets developers show ‘house ads’ to cross promote their portfolio of other apps for free. AdMob can also power your direct deals, which lets you run your own directly-negotiated ad deals with advertisers.

Another exciting feature of AdMob is ‘mediation’. Mediation is a technology which helps apps to maximize the number of ads shown in an app, and thus helps increase revenue. Through AdMob mediation, one can integrate nearly 40 different mobile ads networks and even engage in SDK-less mediation for a select set of networks. With mediation, apps can enjoy the benefit of dynamic bidding and direct integration with other ad networks, which allows automatic CPM updates. This eliminates time and effort taken to manually adjust bidding floors. In terms of in-app monetization, AdMob is one handy tool that has all you need to survive - and thrive.

Watch out for the part 2 in this series where we’ll discuss optimizing and measuring app monetization. Google has made a lot of resources available on AdMob here and if you are a developer with apps that has over 100,000 downloads you can request a free consultation here.

1 - http://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/india-is-top-market-for-google-play-store/56638573
2 - https://qz.com/886985/india-logged-the-most-android-app-downloads-and-usage-in-2016/
3 - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/companies/india-number-one-in-google-play-app-downloads-usage/articleshow/56680067.cms
4 - http://www.androidauthority.com/google-play-performance-q2-2015-google-and-apple-gain-big-from-new-emerging-markets-626622/
5 - http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/app-annie-reports-publishers-made-over-89-billion-as-downloads-reached-90-billion-2016-2188696.htm

Source: Inside AdMob


How Gaming Apps Can Increase Monetization Through Creative Strategies

Many game developers use other successful titles (whether their own or from another developer) as examples of how to best design a game or monetize. This can be a smart move, especially when it comes to user interface elements like control scheme, player progress, and currency economics. However, when it comes to knowing what is the best way to monetize your app, copying other apps may leave you with money on the table.
It's tempting to look at how successful titles in the app market are making money and mimic it. If it works so well for those games, you might say, it should work just as well for my game. While true in some cases, not all titles can bank on the exact same rhythm of in-app purchases and a sprinkle of rewarded video ads to meet revenue targets.
So what can you do? Focus on what makes your game different-- from the art design to the leveling-- and experiment with in-app purchase and ad placements to fit to amplify this experience. Oh, and here’s where a little out of the box thinking can come in handy-- new ad formats can be very effective in holding user attention without breaking the core loop.  Be sure to test how these work in your game-- they could offer a whole new level of return for ads, and even build the suspense for the player journey.
Fantasy world; real solutions - 4 steps to get you started
Let’s travel to a parallel dimension, a place where a strategy game called Collision of Tribes is not doing that well from a monetization standpoint. In fact, it is just one more app in the store. Its core mechanics have great balance, the user base is engaged, but for some reason the revenue isn’t quite there. Here are some steps to consider as to how an uplift in revenue can be achieved using AdMob:

  • Consider new ad formats - the transition point between a battle report and town management screen is a perfect spot to use an interstitial ad. An even better practice would be to target only users that had success on their raid. Combining an ad with a positive experience in-game will increase it’s effectiveness.
  • Test it - there is no need to release the new ad feature to all users. Developers can choose a small segment of their user base (say 10%) to make sure the effect in revenue is positive. 
  • Gauge user response - just as you would when changing a game mechanic or implementing a new one, look at your engagement metrics to see if there is any wanted or unwanted effect. Reading store reviews will give a more personalized understanding of how users perceive the change.
  • Back to the drawing board - even when things are going well, there’s always room for improvement. Use the data you have to balance and rebalance frequency capping, floor prices and placements. On the other hand, if interstitial ads don’t bring the expected results, how about trying native ads or other formats instead?

Following the above steps can help not only for Collision of Tribes’ developers, but hopefully you as well. If following the leader only got you so far, try something new to take that extra step forward.
Until next time, be sure to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages.
Posted by Omri Dolev, Strategic Partner Manager, AdMob.

Source: Inside AdMob


Tips for Monetizing Your App in 3 Huge Markets in Asia

As the world becomes more connected, new monetization opportunities may begin to surface outside of your home country. This is part one of our series exploring markets around the world, providing practical tips on how you can grow your business.

1.4 billion smartphone users are estimated to be in Asia by 2019 – more than all users in other regions combined. 1 Its unique culture, large base of engaged app users, and growing monetization opportunities make Asia a key region to expand to. Here are tips for monetizing your app in some of Asia’s largest countries.

China

When expanding to China, consider investing in a quality translation and localization. 53% of users in China are likely to experience poor app localization. 2 You’ll be able to stand out by providing a polished translation. Be mindful that simplified Chinese is commonly used for users in mainland China, while Traditional Chinese is used more often in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Japan

When localizing your app for the Japanese market, consider polishing your user interface to account for the charming aesthetics popular in the market. Marked by well-illustrated stories, engaging goals, and Kawaii (cute) character themes, Japan’s creative preferences are often unique. Check out the “Big in Japan” category in Google Play to see Japan’s charming style in action.

India

When localizing your app for India, you may be able to successfully test your app in the region using your English version before investing in a thorough translation. While Hindi is the most popular language in India, 57% of the population in urban areas use English to browse the Internet, providing a significant base for you to see if your app resonates with the Indian market. 3

We hope you enjoyed these tips. If you’re not already an AdMob user, consider using AdMob to help maximize ad revenue and monetize globally. Also, stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter and Google+ pages.

Posted by Aksara Sumethkul
Developer Monetization Specialist and the Go Asia team, AdMob

[1] Smartphone Sales in China, India, the US and Worldwide, eMarketer, 2014–2017
[2] AdMob Developer Business Kit, AdMob by Google, 2014
[3] How Non-English Speakers Are Taking Over the Internet, WSJ.com, Aug 2015

Source: Inside AdMob


Watch our new ‘Zen of Monetization’ video series to learn how to make money from your app

So you built an amazing new app and it’s attracting lots of users. You’ve received stellar reviews and your ratings are up, but you don’t hear coins falling into your money box.

How do you change that?

The path to a profitable business isn’t necessarily an easy one. To make the journey less rocky,  the  “Zen of monetization” video series blends instruction, tips, and real-life examples to help you effectively develop, implement, and measure your monetization strategy.


Our series focuses on:
Android In App Payments That Works - Learn how to use In App Payments and make more money from your app.
The Revolution Of Cryptocurrency - Get a quick overview of bitcoin technology. Find out why it's interesting, how it works and what are the main challenges.
The Art of Retaining Users - Learn how to create an effective user retention plan.
In App Payment House Ads - Grow your revenue and create new revenue streams by using In App Purchase House Ads
Introduction to In App Billing - (Coming soon)

If after watching these videos, you’d like to dive deeper into the business of making money,  try our “App Monetization” course with Udacity. Also, stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages.

Until next time,
Ido Green, Developer Advocate

Source: Inside AdMob


[New eBook] Download The No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization

There are many questions to answer when developing a new app. One of the most important being, “what’s the best way to make money?”.

Research firm Canalys predicts that by 2019, there will be 6.9 billion mobile phones in the world, in the hands of nearly 75% of the Earth’s population.* With growing demand in new markets and so many options for monetization, answering this question can be complicated.

Today we’re launching a new ebook “The No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization”, the latest in our No-nonsense series. This guide is designed for app developers starting to consider how to monetize their app. It provides a comprehensive overview of app monetization and shares helpful examples and practical tips to get you started.

In 10 minutes you’ll learn:
  • What the seven primary app monetization models are and the pros and cons for each
  • How to choose the right monetization strategy for your app
  • Important considerations to keep in mind when implementing your monetization plan

Download a free copy here.

The No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization

Also, within the next few weeks, we’ll be releasing blog posts with app developers sharing candid stories and helpful tips on app monetization. Our next post will highlight the tactic Christoph Pferschy, the app developer behind Hydro Coach, used to scalably release 22 localized versions of his app.

Until then, for more tips on app monetization, be sure to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter and Google+ pages.

Posted by Joe Salisbury, Product Specialist, AdMob

* Canalys 2015, “Worldwide smart phones forecast overview 2015-2019”


Source: Inside AdMob


Appkruti, creator of Crazy Helium Booth, doubles income with AdMob by Google

Founded in 2012 in India, Appkruti Solutions’ mission is to put smiles on faces and bring families together through fun, engaging apps. Their popular app, Crazy Helium Video Booth, lets users create videos with funny video and sound effects, and has garnered over 15M downloads worldwide. To monetize its massive user base, Appkruti turned to AdMob because of its global reach. Using AdMob mediation, Appkruti was able to tap many different networks without integrating additional SDKs, helping them to double their income. Watch how Appkruti is growing their business with AdMob by Google.



To check out other success stories, visit us at at the AdMob website. Until next time, be sure to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter and Google+ pages.

Posted by Henry Wang and Deborah Fray-Chaudhuri
Product Marketing

Source: Inside AdMob


Beautiful New Designs for Full-Screen In-App Ads

Nearly 60% of smartphone users expect their favorite apps to look visually appealing. We’ve always believed that in-app ads can enhance an app’s overall experience by being well designed. So today we’re announcing a completely new look for our interstitial in-app ad formats - also known as full-screen ads - that run on apps in the AdMob network and DoubleClick Ad Exchange.

Inspired by Material Design, the new app install interstitial comes with a beautiful cover photo, a round install button, and matching color schemes. Technology called “color extraction” makes the ads more consistent with the brand's look and feel -- we extract a dominant color either from the cover photo or app icon and apply it to the footer and install button. We found that having a greater variety of designs and colors can improve conversion rate.

Other features include the app’s rating, and a screenshot gallery which appears when a user taps ‘More images’, so users can learn more about the app without leaving the ad.
New Version of Full-Screen In-App Ads
The previous design of our app install ads on the left, and our new version on the right.
Different Examples of Color Matching for Full-Screen In-App Ads
Different examples of color matching.             
Our app install formats have driven more than a billion downloads across Android and iOS. You can use these new designs automatically when you run a mobile app install campaign on the AdMob network in AdWords. That’s right, no extra work required!

Next, our new text-based ads are easier to read, and contain a larger headline and a round call-to-action button that clicks through to a website.
prev_wayfair.png               new_wayfair.png


On the left, the previous text ad interstitial design, and the new version on the right. 

As with other ad format innovations, our ads UI team test multiple designs - ten in this case over the course of a year - to find final versions that increase clicks and conversions for advertisers, and a positive experience for users. Both app install and text ad formats appear within the app and can be closed easily, so users can return to what they were doing with a single tap.

As we announced at Google I/O this year, the volume of interstitial impressions has more than doubled across AdMob since last July, so now’s a great time to get your business in front of more app users.

If you’re a developer looking to learn more about earning with in-app interstitial ads in your app, visit AdMob now. These new designs will also be available to developers monetizing their apps with DoubleClick Ad Exchange.















Posted by Pasha Nahass, Product Manager

____________________________
1) Mobile App Marketing Insights: How Consumers Really Find and Use Your Apps, Google & Ipsos Media CT, May 2015

Source: Inside AdMob


Meet AdMob at Casual Connect SF #AdMobCC15

The Google AdMob team is excited to attend the Casual Connect conference in San Francisco this year. If you’re attending, be sure to visit the Google booth. We’d love to hear about your game and share ways that you can supercharge monetization with AdMob.

We’ll be hosting two sessions at the conference. First, Google's US Gaming Partnerships Lead, Alejandro Manchado, will talk about how to use Google Analytics and AdMob to build data-driven monetization strategies for your game at 11am on Wednesday, August 12th.

Secondly, Sampada Telang, Strategic Partner Lead, will talk about native ads and how they have impacted free-to-play games at 5pm on Wednesday, August 12th.

We’d also like to invite you to Google's workshops on how to monetize using native ads and in-app purchase ads with AdMob. There are limited seats at the workshop, so if you’re interested, please fill out this form, and we'll follow up with details.

If you can’t attend the event this year, sign up for our mailing list now and we’ll send you exclusive content filmed live at Casual Connect.

We’ll also be live tweeting and sharing our app-themed musings on Google+ and Twitter, so stay in the loop with what’s happening with #AdMobCC15.

So see you there or online,
The AdMob Team

Source: Inside AdMob


AdMob Story: DivMob

Founded in 2012 in Vietnam, DivMob has produced over 10 gaming apps, garnering over 23M downloads worldwide. Watch their story on how they partnered with AdMob to grow their company. 



To check out DivMob’s success story, or any other of our other success stories, visit us at at the AdMob website. Until next time, be sure to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter and Google+ page.









Posted by Henry Wang
AdMob Marketing

Source: Inside AdMob