In-App Ads and Top Ads Platforms for App Publishers

Among various ways to monetize mobile apps, in-app advertising is mostly chosen by publishers. Being the most common form of increasing ad yield for apps, in-app advertising is also considered to be a prominent tool for mobile marketers, especially when it comes to user acquisition enhancement.

Though it is a great strategy to boost revenue, showing ads to users while using an app requires both user engagement with ads and undisruptive user’s experience to be ensured. In this article, PubFuture will take a dive into the basics of in-app advertising, how it works, why it is important, and finally the best in-app advertising networks to consider for publishers.

What Is In-App Advertising?

In-app advertising (IAA) is a strategy that publishers use to monetize their applications (also apps) on mobiles or tablets by allowing advertisers and agencies to serve ads to users. Simply speaking, IAA are ads that appear within a mobile application. During the whole process ad networks serve as intermediaries to connect advertisers and agencies via programmatic advertising.

In-app advertising can be seen in different types and formats. They are applied according to the needs offered by publishers, for examples to fit the viewable ad spaces. Despite the fact that boundless as in-app formats may seem, they are mainly categorized as follows: Display ad, Native ad, Video ad, and Rewarded ad.

How Does In-App Advertising Work?

The in-app mobile advertising ecosystem is generally similar to other digital advertising channels which include the buy side and the sell side. Through ad networks and ad exchanges, they play the leading role in conducting trade between advertisers and app publishers (the buyers and the sellers) as well as delivering and measuring in-app ads.

• An user opens an app and then triggers an in-app ad request while using the app (for instance, the lack of in-game currency requests a rewarded ad for the user to earn and continue the game).
• The app sends the request to the publisher’s ad network or ad exchange to serve an ad after taking a multitude of user datum (such as user’s gender, age, interest, behavior and geolocation) into account. The request contains specific information, such as the type of ad and the floor price.
• The ad network or exchange processes the request against offers from the demand side of the ecosystem.
• Thanks to the algorithm of programmatic advertising, the network identifies the best match for the request (i.e., an ad that has the highest price and fits all the other criteria), the ad is then served to the mobile app. The whole process occurs in real-time.

Why Is In-app Advertising Ideal for App Publishers? 

In-app advertising is pivotal for app publishers, advertisers, and users in distinct ways. It enables publishers to reach a potential source of revenue, advertisers to approach their target audience, and users to discover the products, services and other information about discount campaigns that they are concerned about.

To app publishers, especially ones who run free apps, in-app advertising becomes the key means of monetization. When compared to mobile advertising (ad monetization on mobile websites), in-app advertising has more monetization opportunities. According to Statista, over seven billion mobile users worldwide are spending more time on their devices than ever before, mobile app advertising is becoming an increasingly important component of any mobile app’s success. In fact, mobile ad expenditure has grown dramatically over the last decade and is expected to reach about $400 billion in 2024.

Furthermore, it is reported by Smaato that mobile users are spending up to 90% of their time using apps. This is a good indication for mobile app monetization at the moment and in the near future.

The mobile app audience belongs to the top deeply engaged audience group. Owning this preferably ideal characteristic, in-app advertisement attracts higher interest, ad conversions as well as click through rates (CTRs), which ultimately lead to impressive ad revenue for app publishers. Specifically, according to research on in-app advertising statistics, in-app ads have a CTR of 0.56% vs 0.23% for mobile web ads. In-app ads offer a threefold greater customer conversion rate than traditional ads. 

The mobile app audience is targeted accurately. When a mobile user visits a website, advertisers and publishers can only collect data about them through cookies, which have some limits. However, with applications, additional targeted information is collected via device ID, such as age, gender, Internet IP, operating system, device type, location, and more. Therefore, in-app advertising allows a more precise user targeting and can be more personalized. 

Recommended Ad Networks for App Publishers

Together with the rapid development of in-app advertising landscape, app ad networks also enhance their business to align specific needs of app publishers.

PubFuture have compiled a list of ad networks depending on their exceptional performance and contribution to the advertising industry. Among the vast range of top ad networks, a breakdown of how they work and what services they offer may be necessary for publishers to find the most suitable and reliable format.

AdMob

Among advertising agencies, AdMob is working on its AdSense advertising platform which is well known as a prime market leader in the online advertising ecosystem. It offers a great number of ad formats, including native, rewarded video, interstitial, and banner ads. Its AI technique enables automatic generation of ads to fill on available ad space of the application. 

Publishers can visit the Help Center of Google AdMob to have general information on how to have apps reviewed and approved. Furthermore, it will also help you to learn about the conditions as well as compliance deciding ad-serving readiness on your apps.

If you are a newbie, AdMob is a great place to start because it’s simple and straightforward.

PubStar

PubStar is a typical brainchild solution for app publishers other than PubFuture. We allow multiple world-class demand channels to bid your ad inventory in real time and maximize the ad yield by our machine learning. Our auctions get automatic control and optimization.

PubStar, an all-in-one platform provides every type of publisher with multiple ad formats: Video Instream, Outstream, Display Banner, Sticky Banners, Interstitial, Native Ads, Reward Ads, Audio Ads, Open Ads for Apps… which are responsive for all mobile devices. 

PubFuture

PubFuture provides various solutions for app publishers. Especially, they are famous for in-app game monetization by connecting to premium direct and programmatic demands. This platform supports a vast range of ad types to meet your business needs such as Banner, In-app Native, Interstitial, Rewarded, and Video ad. 

They apply offerwall as a primary app monetization strategy that effortlessly increases revenue, user engagement and in-app purchase. It has enabled publishers to monetize with AdX, helped advertisers acquire users with GROW and optimize yields, and fill their inventories with SDK X. So, PubFuture is an all-in-one platform that supports publishers’ app growth needs.

Unity

Alike PubScale, Unity stands out as an effective game monetize platform, specifically through video ads. Unity Ads solutions are trusted by thousands of game publishers and advertisers. From independent to enterprise studios, customers around the world rely on Unity Ads to monetize their games and acquire new users.

Thanks to its compatibility with other platforms and engines, it is favored by most publishers. Other than supporting in-app ads, this network also has tools and expertise to help app publishers to market to potential audiences. 

Regarding ad formats, this platform includes all kinds of mobile ad formats. Unity also has an easily navigable dashboard so publishers of all levels of expertise can get instant reports on their campaigns.

SmartyAds

Belonging to top networks in programmatic advertising monetization platforms, SmartyAds brings about a full stack of ad tech tools and attends to both app and website audience optimization. 

Regarding ad types, SmartyAds offers high-impact mobile web and app monetization formats including video, native, interstitials, rewarded ads, and CTV via competitive technologies.

Also, the platform gives precise targeting for mobile and app advertising, including target audience according to GEO, OS, IP, dayparting, device type, and more.

Other Networks

AppLovin

MoPub

InMobi

Smaato

To Sum up 

Other than above-mentioned mobile ad networks, probably each publisher has their own consideration to maximize their ad revenue. To any ad network, publishers should focus on their technology solution, their commitment in the traffic optimization process and their eagerness to thrive. PubFuture nailed it, so will PubStar – our new exclusive product for app publishers. 

We would like to highlight again the pivotal role of app networks in mobile advertising ecosystem, who are key intermediaries connecting the publishers and supply sources with advertisers and demand sources. The more effective the connection is, the more optimal ad-serving process is. 

Which app network is on your mind now? We hope this article is informative for you.