The following is a guest contributed post by Fernando Saiz, CMO at Tappx.

The rewarded video ad format is adored by the mobile gaming and advertising worlds. We now finally have an ad format that satisfies the needs of advertisers, publishers and gaming audiences. Rewarded video ads provide gamers with a reward for watching the entire length of a video ad. In the mobile gaming world, this format works extremely well in mobile games. For developers, rewarded video ads offer the potential to increase in-app purchases and lengthen play session times, therefore increasing loyalty and retention. Also, they provide advertisers with advantages that stimulates higher ROI and engagement levels. Finally, many users express greater amenability for watching rewarded video ads over any other ad format.

Can rewarded video ads help drive in-game purchases?

Imagine if you’re playing a game, and you’ve just finished an end-of-level boss with a life remaining. Following this level, you watch a rewarded video ad and you’re then given an extra life. This method of non-disruptive advertising gives players the chance to extend play time, without hassle or interruption to game play. Extending the amount of time spent in a game is perhaps the single most important way players become more invested in games, thus building loyalty. This then translates to increased gaming session times and retention. As players invest more time and energy into their games, this leads to greater levels of excitement, therefore increasing the probability that they will conduct in-game purchases. Also, developers can receive a higher CPM for rewarded video ads than static ads. In addition to earning more, developers benefit from displaying ad formats that positively contribute to the overall user satisfaction within a game.

Facebook commissioned mobile games research has reported that mobile gamers are a staggering 18% more likely to conduct an in-app purchase when served a rewarded video ad, versus non-choice based advertising. See the May 2017 report here.

The key point is to build the right rewards, and to then decide when are the optimum moments to serve rewarded video ads, and balance the timing for delivery of ads during gaming sessions. The main objective is to provide gamers with a taste of all the benefits of a game, whilst earning a remnant revenue. Don’t let these ads eat into your main source of revenue, so be considerate about your content and it’s delivery times.

Constantly review your metrics and decide whether or not to deploy rewarded video ads. What’s the conversion rate from player to paid player? What’s your ARPDAU? Or what are the valuable items that remain unsold and should be promoted? Rewarded video ads can serve as a research A/B machine for testing new features and getting acceptance from your current ones.

How do Rewarded Ads benefit the Advertiser?

The key thing for advertisers to note is that users choose to engage with rewarded video ads. Therefore, the user is engaged with the video and is incentivised to complete watching the video ads. What’s more, the video is guaranteed high viewability. The developers also have the incentive to place as many rewarded video ads as is practical, such as between game levels or during loading screens. This provides the potential for repeat ads within the game, thus promoting brand recall. Some of the key benefits which rewarded video ads offer advertisers include high viewability, engagement, and completion rates, as well as increased brand recall.

Why are users excited about rewarded video ads?

In one survey done, almost 80% of gamers expressed interest for watching rewarded video ads in exchange for in-app benefits. For mobile gamers, these benefits could be in the form of in-app virtual money, extended gameplay life or other in-game assets. All of these examples enhance the quality of the user gaming experiences, which makes gamers increasingly happy. In the best case scenarios, rewarded video ads can deliver rewards that extend the user’s play-time, which benefits both the gamer and the developer.

Secondly, rewarded video ads work best when they give the user the option to engage with them. This way, the user feels that they themselves have made the decision to exchange their time for watching an ad for a reward. Game apps which provide the option to pay or watch ads receive a 10-15% boost in user reviews.

The proportion of mobile users that does conduct in-app purchases is relatively quite small, so it’s advisable to deploy rewarded video ads to convince users about the benefits and value of additional (paid) game features. A comprehensive survey conducted by Facebook reported that 71% of mobile gamers prefer to ‘pay’ for in-game content by watching video ads. The same survey reported that almost half of US gamers prefer rewarded video ad over any other ad format. This all clearly shows that rewarded video ads are hugely popular and effective, as they expose players to paid in-app features, they assist in increasing retention, LTV and more importantly, revenues.

The post How Rewarded Video Ads Can Drive In-Game Purchases appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed post from Tim Mahlman – President of Advertising and Publisher Strategy, Oath.

It’s time to rethink mobile ad engagement.

We know that the average U.S. consumer spends a total of 5 hours a day on mobile devices. So why hasn’t innovation on the mobile advertising and content experience followed these usage trends? We know that traditional display ads just don’t play in a mobile environment, and ad blocking is a good indication of how consumers feel about the content. Mobile is the most important screen for global audiences, which should make it the most coveted real estate for brands and a place for innovation. Ready for a real shake up in the mobile ad format space? Me too. Get ready for publishers to introduce new ad formats that actually improve the consumer experience and boost engagement as a result. We’ll see a heavy focus on transforming mobile native and video ads this year. It’s about time!

Programmatic will be more well-lit.  

Programmatic spend has grown more than 72 percent over the past three years. It’s now the backbone of digital advertising. It gives buyers smarter, data-driven transactions at scale. But some advertisers are concerned over transparency challenges in the programmatic ecosystem, and recent issues have weakened trust.

Still, four out of every five dollars spent in digital display are transacted programmatically today. Advertisers are cautious about brand safety, but they’re also mindful of the unique value programmatic provides. We’re also seeing programmatic marketplaces and DSPs evolve to bring together the benefits of automation with increased quality controls such as blacklists and whitelists, as well as transparency with well-lit auctions and improved attribution. These gains will continue in 2018.

Publishers will get on board with ads.txt in 2018.  

Just a few months ago, the IAB launched ads.txt to bring more transparency to the programmatic supply chain. It’s a more secure way for publishers to publicly identify the platforms authorized to sell their inventory, helping to limit bad actors. The idea being – as more publishers adopt ads.txt and post it to their domains, advertisers can avoid counterfeit inventory and have more confidence in what they buy.

In 2018, ads.txt adoption will explode among publishers. It’s still relatively low right now. But advertisers are increasingly demanding more tools for transparency. They want an accurate representation of media impressions and who’s selling them. And they want to safeguard against counterfeit inventory through arbitrage and spoofing. Ads.txt helps. At Oath, we’ve supported ads.txt from the beginning and we’ve already implemented it across many of our properties, with plans to complete across all our sites. We’re also collaborating with publishers and approved resellers, and we’ll begin enforcing ads.txt across our platforms and filtering inventory on domains where our DSPs buy.

Video will change the measurement status quo.

Agencies, vendors and publishers are finally beginning to embrace more advanced measurement techniques to provide advertisers more context around performance. Expect that trend to continue in 2018. Video’s emergence, in particular, has changed the way we measure success. It’s chipping away at traditional, flawed measurement systems. The industry is realizing that it doesn’t make sense to pay attention only to views, for example. Instead, it’s finally beginning to migrate to a performance curve with clearer intelligence on what works and what doesn’t. This fuels more credible insight into ROI and elevates transparency across the board. The shift away from the strict CPM-focused model — even if that shift has been slow — is a good sign for all parties and will engender more accountability from the ground up.

The post Oath President of Advertising Shares 2018 Predictions appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed post from Daniel Meehan, Founder & CEO at PadSquad

The internet is made for advertisers. Unfortunately, most brands are not taking advantage of this. For example, the majority of ads are still in the same format as they were 10 years ago: squares and rectangles.

It’s no secret that there has been a serious investment on the technological, tactical elements of how ads are delivered (DSPs, SSPs etc…), but this should never come at the expense of the actual creative.

Sure, you need DSPs and SSPs to serve up ads programmatically, and collecting data is imperative to deliver more relevant advertisements. But these elements of the industry’s back-end have now taken center stage. As a result, the idea of advertising — at least, modern advertising — has lost the appeal it once had.

We’re not waxing poetic about the bygone era of Don Draper and Mad Men. The old (10 years ago) emphasis of ads used to be about the actual content and how it resonated with consumers in a meaningful way.

Today’s advertising, which is mainly focused on the infrastructure, is full of bad actors spraying and praying terrible user experiences all over the web. Millennials don’t respond to ads? Maybe it’s not their fault. Perhaps, it’s the product of an ad ecosystem overrun with terrible creative. It’s time to blame the brands for not understanding how consumers want to be communicated with, versus forcing consumers to simply suck down the message, regardless of delivery method.

Programmatic delivery makes things easier for advertisers and publishers, but only if the inventory and formats are easily digested. It was never okay to slingshot banner ads, whether transacted programmatically or not. The same goes for takeover ads and other disruptive formats like full screen interstitials. You can’t blame users for hating their reading/viewing experience being interrupted by full pages of distracting, harmful (to the brand) messes.

Creative work IS advertising. So the process must start there in order to be successful. Then, marry those ads with engaging experiences and innovative formats that appear politely in-line. Once you’ve checked those two boxes, the delivery method can be whatever you choose in order to target the best consumer fit. Programmatic is the means to an end: a successful ad experience for the end-user. Just delivering programmatically is not the end of a brand’s work.

Advertising as we once knew it, is on its deathbed. But it’s not too late to resuscitate an industry that once thrived on challenges beyond the data it collected and the pipes through which ads were delivered. Brands can use ads to embrace their respective stories, their customers, their audiences — and in doing so, be cognizant of how users interact with those ads.

By collecting data from respectful brand creative (versus disruptive, poor advertisements), it’s likely advertisers get more valuable data. And since you’re not pissing off consumers, you’re probably getting more sales out of the deal, too. Isn’t that one of the main goals of advertising anyway?

The post Op-Ed: Consumers Shouldn’t Be Blamed for Bad Ads appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed post from Daniel Meehan, Founder & CEO at PadSquad

The internet is made for advertisers. Unfortunately, most brands are not taking advantage of this. For example, the majority of ads are still in the same format as they were 10 years ago: squares and rectangles.

It’s no secret that there has been a serious investment on the technological, tactical elements of how ads are delivered (DSPs, SSPs etc…), but this should never come at the expense of the actual creative.

Sure, you need DSPs and SSPs to serve up ads programmatically, and collecting data is imperative to deliver more relevant advertisements. But these elements of the industry’s back-end have now taken center stage. As a result, the idea of advertising — at least, modern advertising — has lost the appeal it once had.

We’re not waxing poetic about the bygone era of Don Draper and Mad Men. The old (10 years ago) emphasis of ads used to be about the actual content and how it resonated with consumers in a meaningful way.

Today’s advertising, which is mainly focused on the infrastructure, is full of bad actors spraying and praying terrible user experiences all over the web. Millennials don’t respond to ads? Maybe it’s not their fault. Perhaps, it’s the product of an ad ecosystem overrun with terrible creative. It’s time to blame the brands for not understanding how consumers want to be communicated with, versus forcing consumers to simply suck down the message, regardless of delivery method.

Programmatic delivery makes things easier for advertisers and publishers, but only if the inventory and formats are easily digested. It was never okay to slingshot banner ads, whether transacted programmatically or not. The same goes for takeover ads and other disruptive formats like full screen interstitials. You can’t blame users for hating their reading/viewing experience being interrupted by full pages of distracting, harmful (to the brand) messes.

Creative work IS advertising. So the process must start there in order to be successful. Then, marry those ads with engaging experiences and innovative formats that appear politely in-line. Once you’ve checked those two boxes, the delivery method can be whatever you choose in order to target the best consumer fit. Programmatic is the means to an end: a successful ad experience for the end-user. Just delivering programmatically is not the end of a brand’s work.

Advertising as we once knew it, is on its deathbed. But it’s not too late to resuscitate an industry that once thrived on challenges beyond the data it collected and the pipes through which ads were delivered. Brands can use ads to embrace their respective stories, their customers, their audiences — and in doing so, be cognizant of how users interact with those ads.

By collecting data from respectful brand creative (versus disruptive, poor advertisements), it’s likely advertisers get more valuable data. And since you’re not pissing off consumers, you’re probably getting more sales out of the deal, too. Isn’t that one of the main goals of advertising anyway?

The post Opinion: Stop Blaming Consumers For Terrible Ads appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Ahead of the weekend, the IAB published its Internet Advertising Revenue Report prepared by PwC US.

All told, this marks a 19 percent rise over the $23.1 billion in ad revenues for the first-half of 2014.

Accelerating the pace of already impressive growth in the half-year, 2015’s second quarter internet ad revenues rose by 22.5 percent to $14.3 billion, up from $11.7 billion in Q2 2014. This also reflects 8.5 percent growth from the first quarter of 2015.

“Advertisers are more committed than ever to connect with audiences on digital screens,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB. “Content is key to winning consumer attention – on mobile, in digital video, on desktop, and more – throughout the day.”

To check out the full report, click here.

The post Digital Ad Revenues Pop in First Half of 2015 appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“Connect to an AT&T WiFi hotspot now, and there’s a good chance you’re going to see a screen full of ads,” writes Lee Mathews. “It’s an experience that reminds me of the glory days of the frame tag on the Internet, when we had to click a link in a header bar to “break out.”

The problem? AT&T “free” hotspots that make people pay in ad overdose.

“AT&T’s motivation is obvious enough,” explains Mathews. “These are free wireless hotspots we’re talking about, after all, so you’ve got to expect them to be scrounging for revenue somehow. The last time I connected to the WiFi at Toronto’s Pearson airport I was greeted by a Tim Horton’s interstitial.”

Mathews thinks there’s a better solution.

“AT&T is certainly within its rights to want to reap some benefit from a free service, but how about offering users an alternative? Let us non-AT&T customers pay a fee to remove the ads for a 24-hour period. Heck, offer a subscription for a few bucks a month. Plenty of people would be willing to pay for nationwide hotspot access instead of suffering through one littered with ads –assuming they haven’t figured out what an ad blocker is already.”

But maybe no solution is required. Turns out, AT&T was just experimenting.

“AT&T has decided to shed some light as to what’s going on. Here’s their official statement: “We trialed an advertising program for a limited time in two airports (Dulles and Reagan National) and the trial has ended. The trial was part of an ongoing effort to explore alternate ways to deliver a free Wi-Fi service that is safe, secure and fast.”

The post AT&T Free Hotspots Inject Ads, Cause Controversy appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Marin Software, a provider of cross-channel performance advertising cloud, told MMW on Thursday that the company has been building an Instagram Ads API integration.

Marin Software gained access to the newly developed Instagram Ads API, and has released support for Instagram advertising through the Marin Social platform.

By supporting the Instagram Ads API, the Marin Social advertising platform is designed to help brands and agencies create, target, and optimize their Instagram campaigns conveniently alongside Facebook and Twitter and gain performance insights and management efficiencies across their advertising programs.

A provided statement reveals that during Instagram’s Ads API integration, Marin Software is working with a variety of advertisers to launch and test brand awareness and direct response campaigns.

“We are thrilled to have access to the Instagram Ads API as our clients are eager to connect with the Instagram community,” said John McNulty, Head of Global Marketing at Marin Software. “Moving forward, Marin Software will play a prominent role in expanding and optimizing advertising on this growing mobile property.”

The post Marin Software Confirms Integration With Instagram Ads API appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

That’s the latest from Bing, which recently announced the availability in beta of “Bing Native Ads.”

Bing Native Ads is designed to expand the reach of Bing Ads platform to target user intent even outside search.

What signals does Bing watch for? Some of the signals the platform views as most powerful include data on “users’ interests expressed by their prior search queries; intent signals from the content of the experience in which the users are at any given point; and user actions like looking for products or taking actions on advertiser sites.”

What Bing Native Ads aims to do is combine these intent signals with native experiences that are relevant and natural.

“In addition to matching intent signals, Bing Native Ads offer the same advanced targeting or bid boosting capabilities available from Bing Ads including location, device type, time of day, day of week, and site remarketing,” notes the post.

Bing Native Ads will launch in the U.S. market on MSN, a leading premium online portal with broad reach, high quality content, and rich user intent signals. The ads are designed to naturally align with the placements in which they appear.

The post What’s Your Intent? Bing Native Ad Targeting Wants to Know appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Billed as being a whole new way for advertisers to understand their customers’ behavior across devices and platforms, Audience Attribution gives mobile advertisers “the power of cross-device attribution and targeting to reveal incremental attribution lift, all while maintaining the high standard of security and privacy.”

Kochava says that most attribution models use a single-device identifier to represent a person who is served an ad. “In today’s reality of heavy multi-screen, multi-platform usage,” however, “users are not accurately represented by a single-device ID. Kochava created the audience attribution model to overcome this limitation.”

With Audience Attribution, advertisers can, for the first time, view and correctly attribute installs to ads served on one device that also drive incremental installs across various devices in a household. This audience-specific data allows advertisers to attribute the whole household, exposing the real reach of an ad, versus a single attributed user and several “organic” installs.

“Savvy advertisers know their mobile ad is reaching more than just the person who installs, or is impacting more devices than the one that converts, but up until now they had no way to measure that influence,” says Charles Manning, Kochava CEO. “That all changes with Audience Attribution. We’re essentially exposing a whole new segment of influence-based installs that were falsely attributed as organic, and new KPIs, like household LTV, are all of a sudden a reality.”

The post Audience Attribution Comes to Mobile Advertising with Kochava appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

In a bid to earn more ad revenue (especially since the company’s split with PayPal is pending) and ostensibly help EBay merchants, the company will soon launch ads that merchants will pay for only if the ads result in actual sales.

“The service, called Promoted Listings, will let EBay sellers specify what percent of a product’s sale price they’re willing pay in order to run an advertisement,” reports Bloomberg. “The higher the percentage, the more prominent the ad will be, although EBay will also consider a product’s popularity and the seller’s reputation.”

This ad strategy is obviously an attempt to reinvigorate EBay’s e-commerce business, now trailing the rest of the industry. It’s risky, to be sure. Most don’t consider cost-per-sale tactics due to the risk of posting ads that turn out to be no-profit freebies.

“Instead, most companies, such as Google Inc., rely on cost-per-click ads, which charge marketers each time someone clicks on a link,” explains Bloomberg. “EBay’s new ad offering will help smaller merchants, which make up the bulk of the company’s 25 million sellers, because they won’t have to track the effectiveness of ads or pay before a sale.”

Alex Linde, EBay’s vice president of advertising and monetization, hopes the strategy will work out for both his company and EBay merchants.

“This way, there’s no upfront risk for the seller,” Linde said. “The only lever these sellers had in the past was price, and nobody wants to grow only by discounting.”

There’s no telling yet whether this gambit will do the trick for EBay, once the king of the e-commerce hill. EBay has sold banner ads to brands for years that used the site to promote their names and reputations. But ads from individual sellers — even smaller ones — is something decidedly new.

“It’s risky to guarantee a return on an ad,” said Lauren Fisher, an analyst at EMarketer Inc. “They could end up giving away a lot of advertising.”

Plans call for these Promoted Listings to be launched over time. The program is slated to commence in June with a few hundred sellers in the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Germany.

The post EBay Launches New Cost-Per-Sale Ads for Web Sellers appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.