Play to Profit: Navigating the Mobile Game Monetization Landscape
Basics
Mobile game monetization is a crucial aspect of the gaming industry, focusing on how developers turn player engagement into revenue. Understanding key metrics is essential for optimizing monetization strategies.
Formats
There are a ton of formats available that you can employ in games, chiefly App Open, Banner, Interstitial and Rewarded Video.
Each format has special characteristics, usually differing by resolution and / or static, video or playable formats (not available on every network).
Places that you want to put an ad are called placements, and you need to create ad units on the network dashboard for you to use them.
Usually 320×50 px, these can be placed at the top or bottom of the screen depending your game. You can also employ MREC ads that are 300×250 px.
As the name suggests, these are used before or after content, such as level completes, and are usually full screen. Interstitial ads can be static or video, although using only static reduces the amount of revenue that you can earn.
These are optional video ads that you can use to reward the player with in-game items. Usually very high eCPM especially in T1 Western countries, use these to boost your game revenue to new heights.
This is a recent ad format introduced especially for when users are opening the game. Use with caution so that users aren’t bombarded with ads every time they open your game.
Metrics
Measuring ad revenue is done through evaluating metrics such as eCPM, Impressions, Show rates, Requests / DAU. Take a look below for some of the main metrics you will be looking at on a daily basis.
After your SDK initializes, you need to “Request” the ad that you want to display. Networks bid in real-time to show the user an ad with the highest eCPM
Short for effective cost per mille, it is the revenue you earn for displaying 1000 impressions. eCPM varies due to multiple factors, country, inventory and seasonal variations to name a few.
Whenever someone sees your ad, it is counted as an “Impression”
The amount of times a user was shown an impression, usually shown on network dashboards split by ad format.
KPIs
Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as Daily Active Users (DAU), Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), and Retention Rates provide insights into player behavior and game performance. Cost Per Install (CPI) helps gauge marketing effectiveness, while Lifetime Value (LTV) estimates the total revenue a player will generate throughout their engagement with the game.
Daily active users. The total amount of users who played your game on a certain day.
Average revenue per daily active user, measured by dividing the total revenue by the total number of users on a certain day.
Usually measured in %, D(x) where x = number of day since install. For example if 1000 users played your game on the day of install (D0), and only 200 come back on the day after (D1), your D1 Retention will be 20%.
This metric calculates the revenue generated on D(x) since install. This is useful for figuring out if your user acquisition efforts have been generating profits. If you acquired a user for 50 cents, and your LTV is 60 cents at D7, you have generated 1.2 ROAS (return on ad spend).
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