Hey all - this forum was incredibly helpful when figuring out how to monetize my app, so I thought I’d share my experience as well.
My app (Song Key Finder) was released 3 weeks ago. My goal is to get it to a point where I can make back my hours in income, though I’m piddling along at the moment.
The app works by recording a sound sample with the device’s mic and returning the key that sample was in. The audio analysis occurs after it’s recorded, so there’s essentially dead time for the user. I used this time to play a video ad (rather than go with an app pre-roll) because it’s less invasive and had potential for multiple impressions per app use. I also have a banner ad at the bottom.
Distribution after 30 days
SlideME: 990 dls (free)
Lots of initial dls (seem to be a lot higher for games, almost zero for paid apps). Not sure if updates are pushed to these users or not. Also, users may not be in countries where networks like AdColony are serving ads.
Google Play: 320 dls (free), 3 dls (paid)
Analytics are good, and potential for Play Store cross-promotion is good. Getting 40-50% active install rate.
Analytics
Playtomic
I used Playtomic for analytics because it was free, but it had a few minor issues with location reporting, and it took me a while to dial in how the analytics work. It has been a useful troubleshooting tool, though, to track ad network behavior and fill rates. I’m getting a 1.5-min average app session length.
Video Ads
I’m getting about 0.5 video ad impressions per app open. So, less impressions that a pre-roll, but I hope the increased engagement will add to the lifetime value of a user.
AdColony
I love this network ($5-10 CPM, pay-by-impression, and fantastic support), but the videos are getting played only 5-10% of the time. I’m not sure if this is a fill rate issue or if my SlideME downloads are in territories their advertisers aren’t buying. It could also be a bug on my end, which I’m dreading, but I’ll keep feeling it out.
Vungle
Vungle is my fallback, and it’s played videos almost every time AdColony can’t. The first couple days saw a $5-10 CPM, but it has since dropped to $0, pulling the average down to less than $1. It’s CPI, so my only guess is that my users aren’t that interested in installing games, or possibly they’d rather get their key finder results than leave the app and install another one.
Banner Ads
Revmob
I use Revmob interstitials as a video ad fallback, but they’re rarely called. I use the adlink ad type in a row with “Rate” and “Upgrade” buttons just above the banner ads. Currently this button gets a 5-10% CTR (per app open, essentially a 90-sec refresh). Before I added Mobclix, this button occupied the entire banner ad slot and got 25% CTR. Despite this high CTR, I only have one Revmob install so far, with about 30% of the CPI as Vungle installs and a current CPM of $0.67 (though that’s counting adlink clicks as a single impression with a 100% CTR, so actual CPM is much lower, more around $0.03-0.06). This is a far cry from what I’ve heard from other developers, so it may be that my audience just doesn’t care about installing free games.
Mobclix
I use a banner ad at the bottom of the app. I started with a 15-sec refresh, but after seeing low CPMs (~$0.07), I changed to 30-sec, which doubled my CTR, which is now at an unbelievable 9%. Impressions are still very low (3000/mo at 30-sec refresh), so my CPM is unchanged. Although changing the refresh effectively halved my income, I’m only dealing with pennies here, so I hope the CTR will encourage advertisers to buy space if my impressions rise (I think that’s how it works??).
Conclusion
This has been incredibly hard. 1/3 DAUs click a banner and 1/2 see a video ad. Still, in 30 days, with 1300 current installs:
Adcolony: $0.70 ($7 CPM video)
Mobclix: $0.15 ($0.07 CPM banner)
Vungle: $0.75 (<$1 CPM video)
Revmob: $0.15 ($0.05 CPM button/interstitial)
Free version total: $1.75 (45% active, 3% “+1’d” it)
Paid version total: $10.50 (0.9% adoption vs. free)
So either most people hate the app and click on an ad to leave it (which reduces a user’s lifetime value significantly), or my users don’t want to install the games being advertised on the CPI networks (Revmob, Vungle). I’m pretty sure the low Mobclix CPM is due to my low monthly impressions. I’ll keep you all updated next month!