Mobile advertising was a headache in 2013. Low revenue and poor click-through rates hurt both big app companies and indie developers. But more networks were appearing every month, each with different monetization models, and yet most developers only knew about AdMob.
The networks worth knowing
- AdMob. Google's mobile network and the first one most developers try. Its strength is the SDK: clean documentation, support for iOS, Android and Windows Phone, and formats from standard banners to full-screen interstitials, interactive ads and custom search ads.
- InMobi. A big independent network with strong reach in Asia and emerging markets.
- Millennial Media. One of the largest independent US networks, focused on brand campaigns.
- Leadbolt. App-wall, notification and interstitial formats aimed at Android developers.
- Inneractive, Greystripe and madvertise. Smaller networks we reviewed separately in early 2014, useful for mediation.
- Airpush. Push-notification and in-app formats; it later partnered with OpenX on a mobile exchange.
Mediation: use more than one
No single network fills every impression at a good price. Mediation layers let an app call several networks in turn, or run them in a real-time auction, so unfilled requests go to the next buyer. It is the mobile equivalent of running two contextual networks on a website, and it lifts fill rate and eCPM. See what fill rate means.
Which apps earn most
Games dominate in-app advertising, and casino-style games are among the most valuable of all. Social casino apps with slots, poker and bingo attract players who spend, so advertisers pay high prices to reach them, and the same apps buy huge volumes of ads to find new players. That two-way demand keeps CPMs high in the gaming category. Our guide to mobile casino app user acquisition covers it from the advertiser's side.
