Header Bidding: The New Code in Mobile App Monetization

Today, header bidding is the most touted topic in mobile ecosystem. It can help ads publishers to crack the secret code of mobile app monetization. One thing that creates problem for publishers and developers is scaling in-app advertising as it often results in wasted impressions or low fill rate.

But header bidding can help them solve this problem. Want to know how? Read on to find out how header bidding is helping publishers maximize in-app monetization.

How header bidding works?
Header bidding helps publishers to control the impressions by intercepting the initial request. In this process, publishers send out an initial ad call to multiple buyers simultaneously before even the page starts loading. In such scenario, buyers can get first look at the ad inventory and then submit pre-bid to server-side mediation.

Publisher use SDK to compare the bid prices received from the ad exchange to determine which ad should be served. Instead of relying on averages and estimates, ads publishers have full transparency into the real value of their app inventory.

Advantages of Header Bidding
There is a diversity of demand in the mobile ad ecosystem. Mobile ad marketplace has diverse ad types such as standard 320×480 banner ads, rich-media ads, native ads, mobile video ads.

With header bidding, publisher can identify the best programmatic buyer and deliver the appropriate ad type. It also helps to drive the ad demand and CPM of any of these ad creatives.

In-app monetization is a high priority for ads publishers. Header bidding for in-app inventory will help them diversify ad demand, reduce wasted opportunities, maximize revenues, and help buyers publish apps with maximum CPM. Review header bidding can help publishers to increase ad revenue. Two things that publishers need to consider for using header bidding method is to review ad serving setup and the buyers they are working with.

Mobile Ad Viewability: A headache for Mobile Advertisers and Publishers

Vewability. Viewability. Viewability. Currently, this is the topic du jour in the entire mobile ecosystem. From mobile advertisers, ads publishers to vendors, everyone is working tirelessly to define what constitutes mobile ad viewability.

What is mobile viewability? It seems like a straight-forward question, but in reality, it requires layers of technology which makes it really difficult to answer what exactly is mobile viewability. If we go by the definition, then mobile viewability is mobile ads that are actually seen by users. Mobile Rating Council of the US defines a mobile ad viewable only when the following criteria are met:

•  Pixel requirement: The advertisement must have greater than or equal to 50% of the pixels on the viewable space of any mobile device to qualify as viewable ad impression.

• Time requirement: Greater than or equal to one continuous second, post ad render.

• Video Time requirement: It is required that 2 continuous seconds of the video advertisement is played to qualify as viewable video ad.

Mobile advertisers want 100% viewability guarantee from publishers. They want publishers to make sure that every impression in a paid campaign is actually viewable to a human audience. However, publishers aren’t currently looking to drive viewability up because they think the yield from the campaign doesn’t make sense right now.

For instance, it is believed that when advertisers pay for viewable ad impressions at a rate of 50%, then publishers see a rise of 100% in CPMs to achieve the same revenue growth as before. However, in reality, the publisher CPM increases in the range of 20-30%, which discourages the adoption of viewability concept from the publisher side.

Advertisers want to invest in ads that could be viewed so that their ad dollars are directed towards measurable metrics. But no ad can be guaranteed 100% viewability. On the other side, if publishers can’t guarantee 100% viewability on inventory, then they can lose the scale that advertisers need, thus creating headache for both advertisers and publishers.

So what should ads publishers do to improve mobile viewability? The answer is simple. Mobile advertisers will have to pay a premium for guaranteed viewability for their mobile ads.

In-App Ads & In-App Purchases: Two Monetization Strategies Are Converging

Are you a mobile app developer looking to better monetize your app via in-app purchases? Or are you a mobile advertiser wishing to make money through in-app ads.

To succeed in the multi-billion dollar mobile app business, you need both of these monetization strategies. Here are a few statistics that will make it clear why both in-app advertising and in-app purchases are essential to win in this competitive mobile app landscape.

• Only 5% of mobile app users spend money on in-app purchases. The total sales from in-app purchases are projected to increase to $37 billion by 2017.

• There are two million apps in two major app stores: Apple and Google. The mobile device your audience owns can have a great impact on how much you will earn from mobile app monetization strategy. A survey has found that iOS app users spend 2.5 times more than Android users on in-app purchases.

• The options for mobile in-app ad formats have increased as well as improved in the past few years. From rewarded video to designed banners, in-app ads are available in rich media formats, which app publishers in partnership with mobile advertising companies can use for better conversion.

• Since more and more Internet users are moving from desktop to mobile device, brands are also shifting their branding strategy to mobile app advertising. A recent survey has found that mobile ads are 2-3 times more effective than desktop ads in raising brand awareness.

From the growing trend of in-app purchases to great app advertising format options, the app monetization opportunity has increased than ever before. App publishers and mobile advertising companies can now better monetize their mobile apps utilizing both in-app purchases and in-app ads strategies. So, what’s your app monetization strategy? Let us know in the comments section below!

3 Critical Mistakes You Should Avoid in Your App Monetization Plan

Your mobile app is now ready, but has it been able to create enough buzz in the mobile landscape? Only app developers & advertisers who have the right strategy are able to earn in thousands per day from their app. As an app developer, you too want your app to get into the ‘top ten’ app list of major mobile app stores and give you higher returns.

Going after revenue through a paid app can be a risky endeavor for your mobile business. If you are an app developer or marketer and have an ambition to make money from your mobile app, then you need a solid monetization plan. But are you making these egregious monetization mistakes? Check them out below so that you can avoid them in future:

Mistake 1: Choosing wrong monetization partner
Don’t just go for any monetization partner in your mobile marketing journey. Choose your partner wisely to monetize app well. Do make sure you have a clear strategy of how to monetize your app before launching it: either through paid app or through in-app ads. Carefully choose an ad network that has highest global & local reach, extensive network of demand partners, provides high fill rates and better ad inventory.

Mistake 2: Not segmenting ad inventory
Categorize your ad inventory well for better ad placements. You can place in-house ads for existing loyal users to sell them app items and place ads from your partner ad network to all types of users for better ROI. Systemic ad placement will help you generate higher eCPMs.

Mistake 3: Not monitoring ad placement approach
Though you have partnered with the best app monetization company, but still you should monitor the ad placement approach. It is directly linked to your relationship with your app users. How? Advertising in app must not be intrusive or distract attention of your app users. This would defy the original purpose of your app and adverts placed can negatively affect user’s relationship with your brand.

The only way to monetize app correctly is to avoid these mistakes. In short, create a strong monetization plan and partner with a reliable app monetization company to get higher returns from your app.

Fill Rate – The Game Changer in Mobile Advertising

There is no doubt mobile advertising is booming today. The mobile advertising industry is earning revenue in billions annually. When you think about grabbing opportunity in this growing business, one thing that comes to mind is mobile ads. For mobile app developers and publishers, mobile ads are a new stream of revenue generation. However, before starting the mobile monetization game, you must understand the real game changer of this industry – Fill Rate.

What is Fill Rate?

It is not a new term in the mobile ad world. Mobile ad networks have limited number of advertisements available, so they can provide you certain number of mobile ads every time when you send an ad request.
Fill Rate = Number of ads delivered by ad network/Number of ads requested by developer/publisher

Factors Affecting Fill Rate

Fill rate is important in the mobile advertising world as it helps to calculate the wasted ad inventory. An app publisher can achieve maximum click rates for its placed ads by reaching close to 100% fill rate. When requested ad is not displayed in an app when a user is using the app, then publishes loses the chances to make revenue. There are certain factors that affect the fill rate.

• Type of Ad Supplied:
  
  There are two types of advert format: video and banner/image. An advert in a banner format have a fill rate closer to 90% while video ads have a fill rate of 40-50%.

• Monetization Network: Different ad networks utilize different strategies to supply and distribute ads to publishers and mobile advertisers. eCPM is not the only criteria to select ad network. Do consider how many other publishers and advertisers are utilizing the same network as this may result in higher demand and lower supply of ads, resulting in lower fill rate.

• Technical Problems:
  
  Fill rates are also affected by technical problems, but they happen at any one time and not most of the times.
  
  So, how can you fetch higher fill rates for your mobile advertising and monetization game plan? Mobile advertisers and publishers can send parallel ad requests, select the best ad network, carefully monitor ad campaigns & optimize them in order to attain an excellent fill rate and higher revenue optimization.