Getting a decent eCPM - admob

So I use admob banners and interstitials in my app. Just hit 4 million impressions today and the rest of the stats are in the screenie below:

a.jpg

6 months and I’ve made ~ $600. So, how to get a decent eCPM? It’s at a ridiculous 15 cents right now :-/

I show like 30 times as much banners as interstitials (approx), both get extremely low clicks (around 100 total). Is there something else I should be doing?

you should be making $4000 with that much impressions (refresh rate 60 seconds and CTR around 1.50%). So put all your efforts on increasing CTR.See if my code for adding banners for different size devices help. Its there in Android Development section of this forum.

Thank you for the suggestion! It’s quite surprising that smart_banner doesn’t do this on it’s own! I just integrated it in my app.

Any more suggestions for increasing CTR/eCPM will be appreciated :slight_smile:

P.S, In my app I show text tutorials that freely scroll up and down with a banner stuck on top (framelayout), pressing back after ~30 secs shows a interstitial
Other than that I’ve got banners in menu’s but I reckon ~90% of my impressions come from above.

Xeus, offtop, but why your app is not available in all countries? ) I can’t download (Germany)

I was getting A LOT of 1 star votes because the application is only available in english even though the first line in the app’s description is “Available only in english”.
I couldn’t find an option anywhere to restrict app availability to phones with English language So I ended up removing whole countries.

But, after the 11 Dec google incident (rate widget in play store), I might make the app open to the world again since those 1-stars are nothing compared to the ones I’m receiving now. So painful.

If you really want to try the app, check out:
APK Downloader [Latest] Download Directly | Chrome Extension v2 (Evozi Official)

(an APK downloader)

that ctr % looks like something of a blind banner on the bottom of every screen. Only people that click it are coincidence.

Here is my take on your revenue problem. Your app is for hacking tutorials, regular joe and his mom are not interested in hacking, therefore your audience is primarily nerds and nerds don’t click ads. Solution: start another app.

I guess you’re right, most of the focus is on the content, never on the ads.
I’m waiting for inspiration to strike either for a new app idea or how to expand this app, make it a little more inviting to non-nerds…

well, not all hope is lost. look at it this way. to make money with ads you need lots of mainstream users, your users are probably nerds, so you wont scale up to the point where you make truck loads of cash from ads… even tho nerds dont click ads, they are usually smart and have a lot of money (like all android developers on this forum, lol) so I would propose selling featured hacking tutorials or extra content for in-app purchase. I think this will work :wink:

to add to that, i think nerds are nicest people and they will always support a fellow indie developer, so they will buy in-app stuff from you for sure.

Hmmm, good idea! Technically, my users comprise of <Nerds + 12 year olds + Ppl who want to hack FB>
I reckon I can put in some “Pro Content” where the user has to pay to open up a section. I can add tapjoy incentive option too for the noobs :slight_smile:

Or maybe you need to be more agressive, they don’t click ads? well make them click using interstitials ( a launch interstitial ), if they like your app eventually they’ll come back again.

Well it just comes down to how I want the user to experience the app. I don’t want to put in anything that I myself don’t like in other apps and ridiculously intrusive ads that pop up after every 30 seconds are at the top of the list.
Surely getting an average eCPM and CTR shouldn’t need the user experience to be greatly harmed (I hope)…

Maybe you’re right, but let’s face it you are giving your hardwork FOR FREE!! You must make some decent revenue with those impressions otherwise it not worth it, the average developer is making 4000$ with 4000k impressions.
I don’t know how but you should get at least 3000$.

Yeaa, I guess you’re right… But then again a hobby is more fun than a job :slight_smile:
I just want to stay at the average, maybe earn enough to keep buying more stuff to put in my app, pretty graphics, videos, maybe get a server in the future… :slight_smile:

But I only just found out I’m way below average and also that a lot of my previous impressions were false (off-screen). I’ve fixed it now and am looking for ways to become normal…
Have you had any experience with alternate ad formats? Other than banner?

This is a combination that most developers i know use in their apps:

  • A standard banner showing every level with 45-60s refresh rate. ( Airpush or Admob )
  • Interstitial At launch( this will give you decent revenue, how? well good CTR = good Ecpm), use admob they pay good for android apps.
  • A “MoreApps” button for extra cash. StarApp nuff said !!

Of course if you want to be a little more agressive you can always add an Exit ad using StarApp again.

You only have 50-100k installs in google play this is not that much for 6 month and as others already said: nerds don’t click.

Yes absolutely, I just fixed my ad placement that was giving off-screen impressions… Now I’m getting quite less impressions than I was earlier but my eCPM and CTR are now rising slowly… That’s something I guess…
…and *95k downloads is more than what I could have ever anticipated, given that this app started as a week-long project XD

I’m looking to stabilize my ad revenue, find a way to get non-nerds into my app and get them all to click ads :slight_smile:

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