mobile ad monetization for games | christian calderon

Monetization for Game StartupsChristian Calderon

Chief Revenue OfficerKetchapp

Who am I?

Ketchapp

Rank 2014 2015 2016 YTD1 Google Apple Apple

2 Apple Facebook Tencent

3 Facebook Google Google

4 Tencent Tencent Facebook

5 Gameloft Gameloft  

6 King Electronic Arts Baidu

7 Disney   Electronic Arts

8 Electronic Arts Baidu King

9 LINE Corporation King Gameloft

10   LINE Corporation Cheetah Mobile

Source: AppAnnie

Overview

• What’s going on in the market• Terms you should know• Ad monetization landscape• What to look for in a partner• Business development tactics to improve revenue• Product features to improve revenue

The mobile ads market

2014 2015 2016 2017 20180

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Smartphone Penetration

Smartphone users % change

Smartphone Users (Billions)

Grow

th %

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018$0

$20

$40

$60

$80

$100

$120

$140

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Mobile Ad Spend

Mobile % Growth

Mobile Ad Spend ($Billions)

% Growth

2014 2015 2016 2017 20180.0x0.5x1.0x1.5x2.0x2.5x3.0x3.5x4.0x4.5x

Spend Growth / User Growth

Spend / User Growth

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018$0.00

$10.00

$20.00

$30.00

$40.00

$50.00

$60.00

Mobile Ad Spend per User

Spend Per UserSpend per U

ser ($U

SD)

The mobile ads market

2014 2015 2016 2017 20180

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Smartphone Penetration

Smartphone users % change

Smartphone Users (Billions)

Grow

th %

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018$0

$20

$40

$60

$80

$100

$120

$140

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Mobile Ad Spend

Mobile % Growth

Mobile Ad Spend ($Billions)

% Growth

2014 2015 2016 2017 20180.0x0.5x1.0x1.5x2.0x2.5x3.0x3.5x4.0x4.5x

Spend Growth / User Growth

Spend / User Growth

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018$0.00

$10.00

$20.00

$30.00

$40.00

$50.00

$60.00

Mobile Ad Spend per User

Spend Per UserSpend per U

ser ($U

SD)

The mobile ads market

Developers, don’t undervalue your worth!

Ad monetization metrics and terminology• Impression: each time an ad is fetched and it is countable• CPM: cost per thousand impressions• Calls: the number of times you request an ad impression• Fill Rate: % of calls that serve an ad impression• Adoption rate: unique ad engagements / unique users• Ads ARPDAU: average revenue per daily active user for ads• Retention: daily cohorted user retention • Ads LTV: lifetime value from ads• CTR: click-through-rate• CVR: conversion rate• ATTAV: average time to ad view

Ad monetization metrics and terminology

Freemium Economics

By Eric Seufert

Ad landscape

Ad monetization landscape

Advertisers

Ad monetization landscape

Advertisers

Demand Partners

Ad monetization landscape

Advertisers

Demand Partners

Ad Technology

Ad monetization landscape

Advertisers

Demand Partners

Ad Technology

Games

Ad monetization landscape

Advertisers

Demand Partners

Ad Technology

Games

Analytics

Ad monetization landscape

Advertisers

Demand Partners

Ad Technology

GamesPlayers

Analytics

Mediation technology

Should you use mediation?

Mediation technology

Mediation technology

Mediation

Mediation technology

Mediation

Demand Source 1

Demand Source 2

Demand Source 3

Demand Source 4

Demand Source 5

Demand Source 6

Demand Source 7

Demand Source 8

Demand Source

Mediation technology

Mediation

Demand Source 1 $20.00

Demand Source 2 $9.00

Demand Source 3 $18.00

Demand Source 4 $25.00

Demand Source 5 $14.00

Demand Source 6 $14.00

Demand Source 7 $21.00

Demand Source 8 $10.00

Demand Source eCPM

Mediation technology

Mediation

Demand Source 1 $20.00

Demand Source 2 $9.00

Demand Source 3 $18.00

Demand Source 4 $25.00

Demand Source 5 $14.00

Demand Source 6 $14.00

Demand Source 7 $21.00

Demand Source 8 $10.00

Demand Source eCPM

Mediation technology• Mediation is good• Algorithms are different, it’s important to understand

them• Technology should improve over time• Not real time--reporting APIs are too slow• New entrants are entering the market• Incumbents are improving tech to compete against

each other• Important to understand how mediation partners

make money – it’s actually pretty hard for them – and each mediation partner has a different revenue model

Demand sources

How many demand sources should you

integrate?

Demand sources

S1

Q1

Demand sources

D1

Q1

S1

Demand sources

D1

Q1

S1

P1

Demand sources

D1

P1

Q1

S1

Demand sources

D1

D2

P2

Q1

S1

P1

Demand sources

D1

D2

P2

Q1

S1

P1

Evaluating the best demand partner

Demand

Tech

Choosing the best demand partner: biz

• What’s the revenue share?• Are they open to CPM guarantees and

floors?• Can they throw in user acquisition?• Will they offer buyouts?• What does your dedicated account team

look like?• Will they let you make modifications?• Can you build a relationship with the

partner?

Biz

Choosing the best demand partner: tech

• Test the SDK before you sign• Is there a serverside integration?• Do they support your game engine?• Is the documentation up to date?• Is it flexible enough to make

modifications?• How’s the tech on the demand side?• What items are they passing in their

reporting API?• How often can you hit the reporting API?

Tech

Evaluating demand

• You don’t want too many SDKs in your app

• Does the demand partner have a sizeable salesforce?

• What types of advertisers? Is there brand demand and performance demand?

• How much are advertisers spending?

D1

D2

P2

Q1

S1

P1

Ad UnitsBanner Interstitial Rewarded Video

Ad Units: banner ads

BannerCons• The Industries most unpopular ad unit• Not as performant• Lower CPM

Pros• High adoption• High revenue Potential

Ad Units: interstitial ads

InterstitialCons• Intrusive if improperly integrated• Medium CPM• High CPM (for playables and video)

Pros• High adoption• High revenue Potential

Ad Units: rewarded video ads

Rewarded VideoCons• The Industries most unpopular ad unit• Lower Adoption

Pros• High revenue potential• High CPM

Ad Units: other…

• Native has had much higher adoption outside of games

• Standardized ad formats have proven demand

• Some ad units can offer higher CPM, why is the CPM higher? does it hurt retention?

Other…

CPM Decay

Frequency

CPM

($)

CPM ($)

Tactics: first impression CPM + adoption

Adoption (%)

CPM

($)

First Impression Revenue

Product feature: multi-ad format

• Stack by Ketchapp• Currency rewarded to players for

watching a video• Banner unit during gameplay• Interstitial served if rewarded video was

not activated • Combines multiple ad formats for a

simple, fun, and thoughtful ad experience

Multi

Product feature: daily reward re-roll

• Two Dots by Dots• Daily prize served to every player• Create a compelling prize to increase

adoption rate• Combine the high adoption rate with a

high first impression CPM

Rewarded Video

Product: multiplier high frequency re-roll

• Doomsday Clicker by Pik Pok• Monetization mechanic tied to a core

game loop within the game• Monetization mechanic speeds up

progression in a core way• You can re-roll the multiplier • Combines high frequency ad viewing

with higher CPM ad format in a fun way

Rewarded Video

Product: hourly rewards

• Nonstop Knight by Flaregames• Monetization mechanic is a function of

progression• Coins, tokens and consumables

available through rewarded videos every 3 hours

• Need resources to upgrade your knight to progress through the game

Rewarded Video

Product: native

• Pele by Cosi Productions• Incorporates native format as a function

of level progression• Impressions served every second with

every kick at every level• Realistic and beautifully incorporated

into the background like an actual soccer game

• High deal value and cash component

Native

Thank you!Christian Calderon

christian@ketchappgames.com

@ketchappgames@caldie