💎 Growth Gems #48 - Gems from "Optimal Ad Monetization"

Hi there,

Today's gems are mined ⛏️  from a GameCamp presentation by Jakub Remiar (Head of Monetization at Traplight Games).

🙏 Thank you to Farid Karimov for this new contribution as a guest miner ⛏️.

💎 #1

There are two parts of game monetization:
- External (outside of the game - not directly connected to the gameplay): eCPM (mediation management, country groups, bidding/waterfalls/direct deals)
- Internal (in the game): ads per daily active user, ads engagement, ads placements

30:22

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💎 #2

Make sure that the static ads icon is visible during the core gameplay/loop (your prime advertising space): you don't want to hide this icon between some other screens and menus. Example below.

34:29

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💎 #3

The other important factor is whether or not an ad has economy (game) impact, whether or not it gives resources to the user. You need to properly budget that into your economy and have a balance with in-app purchases. Jakub advises 15-20% economic gains be from ads.

34:48

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💎 #4

Jakub sometimes uses 25-30s cooldowns between static ads to reduce eCPM degradation.

36:32

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💎 #5

Using a consecutive reward mechanism by building a chain of three ads that can be shown in a row (each time with a better reward) makes it psychologically easier for the user to view all three ads.

36:55

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💎 #6

Jakub recommends Archero as a masterpiece game in terms of ad integration into the core economy. One example below.

37:38

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💎 #7

Rewarded ads should thematically fit your game. You should not just copy some placement from another game. Example: your character meets a master who gives you extra HP. You know that there's a long and difficult quest ahead - so you would be glad to take these extra HP. You need that.

38:40

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💎 #8

It is a good practice to use rewards that do not affect the game economy but rather make the game easier or reduces time spent.

39:22

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💎 #9

Dynamic conversion tries to adapt to each specific user to find the rewarded ad conversion sweet spot. Example: the reward is random (sometimes it doesn’t even open a pop-up and gives immediate rewards), the type of currency that you are given may be different and if you close the pop-up window then the next time the reward offered will be even better.

42:05

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💎 #10

Add a difficult challenge that makes the user perceives viewing ads as a reward and be happy/excited about it. Example: Flying Piñata in Burrito Bison, where you need to catch the Piñata, which is not easy. Having caught the Piñata, the user sees the following screen with a reward (when watching the video).

46:45

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💎 #11

Sometimes a community plays a big role in the appearance of an ad placement. For example, this is how the game Bounty Hunter got to adding a re-roll window which gives the opportunity to change the number of contracts (quests) in exchange for an ad view. It does not give the user resources, but allows him to save time - it gives him convenience.

53:57

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That’s it for today.

Stay savvy!

⛏️ Sylvain