Author Archives: Chris Jones

Announcing the Winning Team for the 2016 AdMob Student App Challenge

We’re excited to announce the winners of the 2016 AdMob Student App Challenge, an app building competition for students. Over 100 student teams from around the world took on the challenge to build a great app and monetize it using AdMob, with a chance to win awesome prizes.

After reviewing our 4 regional finalists, our judges have selected the global winner who will receive will receive a trip to San Francisco, including a visit to the Googleplex. Chris Akhavnr, a judge for the Challenge and President of Publishing, Glu Mobile, enjoyed reviewing the apps, noting that “After reading the business reports, I was impressed by the amount of thought each team put into their app. I'm sure these finalists will go on to have a big impact in the mobile ecosystem."



Drumroll please…



Global Winner - Turbo Rocket Games
App: Dragon Sim Online

About the team. 
Turbo Rocket Games is a team of four: Vladimir, Yaroslava, Illya, and Serhii from Kiev, Ukraine. Vladimir and Serhii are studying informatics at National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Yaroslava and Illya are studying computer science at Brock University. To build the app effectively, the team divided the work so everyone could focus on the aspect they were best at. As the project lead, Vladimir focused on managing the development process while Yaroslava took charge of game design. As programmers, Illya and Serhii worked in tandem to write the code for the game.
About the app. 
Dragon Sim Online is a game where you can become a dragon and play online with friends or by yourself. The app provides a true simulation experience by challenging players to maintain their dragons’ health and energy, raise a family of dragons, fight dangerous enemies and explore the massive 3D world. The app has been downloaded over 500K times worldwide with an average review of 4.5 stars.

Congratulations to Turbo Rocket Games and thanks again to every single student who participated! Until next time, be sure to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ page.

Henry Wang
Product Marketing, AdMob

Source: Inside AdMob


India-based Neurosurgeon Mohan Noone Builds Popular Travel App and Grows it with AdMob

“This experience has been life changing. From a hobbyist, who would have at most written apps used by a few friends, I have now an app used by millions, every day! It is just unbelievable... I am extremely grateful for this opportunity, and it has been the defining story of my life!” - Mohan Noone
Dr. Mohan Noone is a neurosurgeon who was interested in programming. In 2011, he came across a service that provided live updates on train schedules and envisioned bringing that information to mobile devices. With that spark of inspiration, Noone purchased an Android book to start learning code. As he was building his app, he made sure that it was simple, functional and compact to create the best user experience. After listing his app on the Google Play store, he saw his app Indian Railway Train Status grow to over 5M downloads in just 3 years. Today, the app has over 500K daily active users.

The problem
Several months after the app was released, Noone looked for ways to monetize his popular app. He decided to implement banners, but didn’t see great results at first due to poor ad placements.

The solution
Noone then decided to move the banner ad to the homepage and saw his revenue skyrocket about 10X. Afterwards, Noone decided to add interstitials, which helped him triple his revenue overnight. He believed that it was important not to overwhelm users with ads. Instead of showing interstitials in every session, he randomly triggered the loading, which meant fewer ads for the users.

The results
Over the years, Noone’s dedication to creating a positive user experience helped Indian Railway Train Status achieve over 5M downloads.

Indian Railway Train Status’ banner ad
To check out Mohan Noone’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, LinkedIn and Google+ page.

Posted by Henry Wang, AdMob Marketing

Source: Inside AdMob


Mobile Ads Garage: Episode 8 – Rewarded Video Mediation

Episode eight of The Mobile Ads Garage is live on YouTube! If you haven't seen it before, The Mobile Ads Garage is a video tutorial series that covers how to use the Mobile Ads SDK to display ads from AdMob and Doubleclick For Publishers. Each episode covers one aspect of the SDK, breaks down the feature, and shows screencasts of real implementations on both Android and iOS – all in a friendly format.

Did you know that AdMob serves ads to more than two hundred countries and territories? To celebrate, The Mobile Ads Garage presents Episode 8 in two languages! Katie from the Mobile Ads SDK team stops by to help Andrew talk about rewarded video mediation. You'll hear the basics of how and why to use AdMob mediation and the Mobile Ads SDK to show rewarded video ads in both English and Chinese.

Rewarded video is a full-screen ad format in which users watch ads in exchange for something, typically an in-game reward. Because users hold the power of choice, they don't have to see ads they aren't interested in. Plus, publishers can build the view/reward cycle into the mechanics of their games, creating monetization strategies that actually increase user engagement. When you add all that to AdMob's ability to automatically prioritize mediated networks by eCPM, you've got a complete solution.


If you like the video, save the Mobile Ads Garage playlist to your YouTube Playlist collection and you'll never miss an episode.

We’d love to hear which AdMob features you’d like to learn more about. The comment sections for the videos are open, and you're welcome to toss out ideas for new episodes and examples you'd like to see. If you have a technical question relating to something discussed in one of the episodes, you can bring it to our support forum.

Remember to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages.

 - , Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Source: Inside AdMob


Mobile Ads Garage: Episode 7 – Native Ads Express

Episode seven of The Mobile Ads Garage is live on YouTube! If you haven't seen it before, The Mobile Ads Garage is a video tutorial series that covers how to use the Mobile Ads SDK to display ads from AdMob and Doubleclick For Publishers. Each episode covers one aspect of the SDK, breaks down the feature, and shows screencasts of real implementations on both Android and iOS – all in a friendly format.

Have you tried AdMob's Native Ads Express? It's a new native ads format open to all AdMob publishers that can help you slim down the monetization code in your apps, plus give you the chance to update your ad layouts without a redeploy. In this episode you'll see sample ads, implementations in Xcode and Android Studio, and details on how to create CSS templates that'll make sure the ads in your apps look the way you want. If you've been considering a move to native ads, this is a great way to get started.



If you like the video, save the Mobile Ads Garage playlist to your YouTube Playlist collection and you'll never miss an episode.

We’d love to hear which AdMob features you’d like to learn more about. The comment sections for the videos are open, and you're welcome to toss out ideas for new episodes and examples you'd like to see. If you have a technical question relating to something discussed in one of the episodes, you can bring it to our support forum.

Remember to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages

 - , Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Source: Inside AdMob


Supercharge your Game with AdMob at Casual Connect USA 2016

Are you attending Casual Connect USA 2016 in San Francisco from July 18th to 20th? If the answer is yes, come meet the AdMob team at the Google booth (#106), where you’ll learn how to grow your gaming revenue! AdMob specialists will be in attendance to help answer any questions you might have and optimize your account on the spot.


On Monday, July 18th at 11:30am, don’t miss our talk: Find and Engage High Value Users From the Start; Google’s Mobile Ad Platform from Soft-launch through Growth with Google’s mobile ad product management leader, Sissie Hsiao. After this session, you’ll be fully up to speed on how to harness Google’s powerful automation to find high value players and build a thriving gaming business.

After the talk, come check out our workshops from 1:00pm to 4:00pm where you’ll meet with our product leaders and get a deep dive on a range of topics. These workshops are 20 minutes long and open to everyone. Seating is limited so be sure to come 5 minutes early to the workshop you want to attend.

1:00pm - 1:25pmBest practices for finding and engaging high quality players

Find out how Google’s insights and automated ads tools can help you understand what your players value the most and how to find them.
1:25pm - 1:50pmBuild the buzz and get the install – the one-two punch of awareness and intent

Samantha and Connie from the the App Dev team will discuss ways you can improve your keywords to get the best performing Search campaigns.
1:50pm - 2:15pmAligning monetization with player happiness

Gaming BD Lead Alejandro Manchado will discuss how to maximize your revenue across ads and IAP and tailor your monetization by user segment with AdMob and Firebase.
2:15pm - 2:40pmMore than a glimpse – storytelling using engaging formats

As the team lead for Google’s App Developer Sales, Beth will share insights and best practices on how you can use Google’s app promotion solutions to take your app to the next level.
2:40pm - 3:05pmTips for taking your game global – efficiently

Google has made it really easy for you to launch your app globally. Find out how Google helps you identify which market to enter and localize your app content for users.


Even if you can’t attend this year, you’ll be able to stay in the loop. We’ll be live tweeting and sharing the event on our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ channels, using the hashtags #Google #CasualConnect .

Posted by Henry Wang, Product Marketing, AdMob

Source: Inside AdMob


Game developer Balloon Island Increases Revenue by 150% with AdMob Mediation

"With AdMob taking care of the revenue part, we can focus on doing the fun part, which is making great games for our users.” - Tenny Woo, Direct and Frankie Lee, CTO


After working 20 years in a job that didn’t tap into his passion, Tenny Woo decided to quit in 2011 and start developing gaming apps to express his creativity. Today, he’s the managing director of Balloon Island, a successful Hong Kong-based mobile gaming company with more than 1M downloads and popular games like Ultimate Jewel, Star Gems and Lollipops series.

The problem
Balloon Island develops apps for both Android and iOS to make their games more widely accessible. Woo knew that it was important to sustain and grow his company. Woo decided to turn to AdMob because of its reputation for publisher support and global reach.

The solution
To keep user experience intact, Balloon Island used a combination of banner ads and interstitials, showing only relevant ads. After implementing ads, Balloon Island took advantage of AdMob mediation to ensure that it earned the most money possible for ad space.

The results
Balloon Island saw its revenue grow approximately 150% to $2K daily and its ad inventory increase to more than 4M daily, as a result of implementing AdMob mediation. Thanks to AdMob, Balloon Island has continued its growth and connected with users around the world.

Banner ad in Ultimate Jewel
To check out Balloon Island’s success story, or other AdMob 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, LinkedIn and Google+ pages.

Posted by Henry Wang, AdMob Marketing

Source: Inside AdMob


Keep your Android apps nimble with the Google Mobile Ads Lite SDK

We understand how critical it is for apps to be lightweight. A lightweight app means taking up less space on a user’s phone, and faster loading on app launch. That’s why we’re committed to keeping the Google Mobile Ads SDK lean.

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of the Google Mobile Ads Lite SDK, a lightweight Google Mobile Ads SDK that can be integrated in your Android app at a fraction of the size of the regular SDK. We also significantly reduced the number of methods, which will assist in keeping your method count low.

The Google Mobile Ads Lite SDK will help you continue earning money from your Android apps without compromising the size or speed of your apps. Here’s what one of our developers had to say about SDK Lite:
“At Holaverse, we pride ourselves on developing highly-optimized, lightweight mobile apps. Users spend less time downloading and more time enjoying the functionality and experiences we've crafted for them. When system resources or data bandwidth is limited, every byte saved is one more byte we can use to create and deliver greater value. The Android Google Mobile Ads Lite SDK allows us to do this, to do more, to effectively monetize our hard work with Google's powerful advertising solutions without adding unnecessary bloat to our apps, and without compromising our apps' user experience." - Xie Feng, CEO, Holaverse
The Google Mobile Ads Lite SDK has the same capabilities as the standard SDK, but is specific for devices with Google Play Services. Developers publishing Android apps to an app store that is not the Google Play Store should use the standard SDK.

For more information about Google Mobile Ads Lite SDK, visit our developer documentation and stay connected on all things AdMob, follow our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages.

Posted by Alan Ni, Associate Product Manager

Source: Inside AdMob


Mobile Ads Garage: Episode 6 – AdMob with Firebase

Episode six of The Mobile Ads Garage is live on YouTube! If you haven't seen it before, The Mobile Ads Garage is a video tutorial series that covers how to use the Mobile Ads SDK to display ads from AdMob and Doubleclick For Publishers. Each episode covers one aspect of the SDK, breaks down the feature, and shows screencasts of real implementations on both Android and iOS – all in a friendly format.

At I/O '16, Google announced that Firebase has become a unified mobile platform that can help you quickly develop high-quality apps, grow your user base, and earn more money. Part of that platform is AdMob, and this episode features not only Andrew and Gary, but also the Garage's first ever guest star: David East from the Firecasts series! David and Andrew will cover what the benefits of Firebase are for AdMob publishers, how to import both SDKs into a project, and how to link an AdMob app to a Firebase project so you can take advantage of Firebase's free and unlimited analytics.



If you like the video, save the Mobile Ads Garage playlist to your YouTube Playlist collection and you'll never miss an episode.

We’d love to hear which AdMob features you’d like to learn more about. The comment sections for the videos are open, and you're welcome to toss out ideas for new episodes and examples you'd like to see. If you have a technical question relating to something discussed in one of the episodes, you can bring it to our support forum. Remember to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages

 - , Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Source: Inside AdMob


Sonic The Hedgehog Speeds Through 25 Years

If you were on the cusp of your teenage years in 1991, chances are you were listening to grunge, playing Sonic the Hedgehog with school buddies on the SEGA Genesis, or maybe doing both at the same time! Millions of us raced the 16-bit hedgehog at supersonic speeds through six zones - plus special stages - giving Dr. Robotnik (before he was known as Eggman) a run for his money.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the launch of the first-ever Sonic the Hedgehog video game. Each zone came with new challenges of bottomless pits, high-speed chicanes, and the jangle of scattered rings if you ran into buzz bombers! Our fondness for the blue blur grew with more games and new characters like Tails, Knuckles and Shadow the Hedgehog.

These days, Sonic’s success is played out on a variety of platforms, such as smartphones, handhelds, and consoles. On mobile, SEGA partners with AdMob to help monetize hugely popular titles such as Sonic Dash, balancing gameplay with our ad formats to provide a fantastic user experience. AdMob is used by more than 1 million apps to monetize, and you can learn more about how it could help your game with our guide to in-app advertising.

Now’s your chance to test your Sonic knowledge by taking a spin through our infographic. It’s part of a series, Game Stars (#AdMobGameStars), taking a look at classic video game titles through a Google lens. How fast does he run? What was his original name? Find out below!

Posted by Mike Schipper, Product Marketing, AdMob

Source: Inside AdMob


5 tips to get your app ready for the game

Global sporting events tend to cause multi-national companies to spend more on marketing, and with all eyes on football this season, we want to make sure you’re maximizing your apps potential. Here are some tips to help you started.

Let your fans know you’re taking part - promote your app early. 

You’ve built a great app. Now, let’s make sure your audience knows where to find you. Try promoting your apps using AdWords or by creating free house ads with AdMob. If you’re publishing your app in Google Play, check out The Secrets to app success on Google Play. You’ll find features, tips, and best practices to help you build an effective strategy to improve promotion, reach and retention of your apps and games.


Advertise in the best format at the right place.

You’ve got your promotion plan in place. Now, let’s make sure we get the formats and placement sorted. The AdMob Help Center is a great resource to learn more about the ad formats available to you. You’ll also find lots of tips for our rich interactive ad format, interstitials.

Know who’s on your team.

You’ve attracted new users. Let’s understand more about them so that we know how to attract more of the most valuable users. We recently launched Firebase: a new mobile platform for both iOS and Android that helps you quickly develop high-quality apps, grow an engaged user base, and earn more money. Link your apps to Firebase.

Keep an eye on updated match fixtures.

Be the first to know about industry and AdMob updates. Subscribe to our Inside AdMob blog and make sure you’ve opted in to marketing communications to get updates directly in your inbox. Recent updates include rewarded mediation and native ads express. 

Avoid penalties or yellow cards.


Most importantly, make sure you’re playing by the rules! Ensure you’re adhering to AdMob policies, such as our implementation, content and behavioral policies. You can only win if you stay in the game.


Be a part of the winning team with AdMob. If you haven’t yet created an AdMob account, now is your time. It’s simple to get started. We wish you the very best of luck! Until next time, be sure to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages.

Posted by Rachel Barrett, Marketing Specialist and Daniel Rosen Jacobson, Apps and Gaming Industry Manager.

Source: Inside AdMob