1.
Monetization 101:
The Attention Gap
Sandra Schneider
Director of Publisher Relations in ironSource

2.
A little bit
about us

3.
OUR MISSION
Be the monetization
platform of choice for
game developers

4.
Mediation
215M DAU
Last weekend
64%
Growth in 2017

5.
In numbers
80K+
Partnered Apps
1.2B
People Reached Each Month
4,200
Apps Installed Every Minute
with the ironSource Platform
150B
Registered & Analyzed Data
Events Every Month
Beijing CHINA Shanghai CHINA Bangalore INDIATel-Aviv ISRAEL
Shenzhen CHINA London UKNew York USASan Francisco USA
SEP. 2010
ESTABLISHED
7.5B+
INSTALLATIONS TO DATE
720
EMPLOYEES
380
R&D EMPLOYEES

6.
IAPIAP
Ad
Monetization
Ad
Monetization
Share of Revenue / Impact
The Attention Gap
Share of Attention

7.
● System-initiated → User-initiated/rewarded:
Rewarded ads are more complicated than we
think
● Rewarded ads are also a user engagement
tool, but aren’t treated as such
● CPM → CPA/I/E/L:
Performance campaigns are more complicated
than we think
● Lack of information and data
Why?

8.
Rewarded
Ads

9.
Rewarded ads - the magic ad unit
Great
eCPMs
(= great revenue source)
Great
UK

10.
Rewarded ads - the magic ad unit
Definitely doesn’t hurt
retention
Definitely doesn’t hurt
session length
Important to make
sure it doesn’t
cannibalize IAP

11.
Rewarded ads - the magic ad unit
Definitely doesn’t hurt
retention
Definitely doesn’t hurt
session length
Important to make
sure it doesn’t
cannibalize IAP
Can actually
improve it by
~10% - 25%
Can actually
improve it by
10% - 30%
Can actually
improve it by
0 - 8%

12.
Maximizing Revenue - WHAT KPIs? Publisher Network
Impressions
*
Bids
Implementation -
Placements, Flow
Engagement Rate
Usage Rate
(Imp/engaged user)
Visibility
Attractiveness
Timing
Alignment with virtual economy
eCPM
IPM
Creatives
Targeting
Relationship (granular bidding,
post-install events,
suppression…)
Revenue =

13.
Engagement Rate and Usage Rate
6 Videos a day
100%
Users
40%
Users
1M DAU 400K EU
2.4M
impressions
=
Usage Rate

14.
Session depth and its effects
Imp IPM
1st
6
2nd
5
3rd
4.6
4th
4.1
5th
3.5
6th
3
7th
2.75
8th
2.5
9th
2.25
10th
2
· Sum of RV IPM · Sum of playable IPM

15.
Benchmarks
and Targets
= Goals

16.
DAU --> Impressions
Engagement Rate
At least 30%
aim for 50%
Usage Rate
At least 4
aim for 8
Total imp/DAU rate
At least 1.2
aim for 4

17.
Impressions --> Revenue
IPM
At least 3
aim for 5
tier 1 / tier 3

18.
How can we optimize impressions?
Current
Placements
Reward - amount, type
dynamic rewarding
Visibility & clarity
(is it self-explanatory)
Awareness - Pop ups? DCP?
New
Placements
User flow & timing
(visible + convenient)
You know your users
Testing
Testing
Testing

19.
How can we optimize eCPMs?
Optimize Bids
Choose the right
partner to work with
IPM
● Monitor it - be aware
● Add placements with the right timing
● Increase ER

20.
Offerwall

21.
OW: Differences
Much longer
process for
the user
> 90% CPE
Definitely not
part of the
game flow
(unlike what RV should be)
Alternative
payment
method!
● Store, main screen
● Hard currency
● Awareness - pop ups, DCP

22.
OW: Benchmarks & Targets
Engagement Rate
At least 5%
aim for 10%
Usage Rate
At least 1.2
aim for 2
OW/RV revenue
(ARPDAU) rate
At least 40%
aim for 80%

23.
What does good
implementation
look like?

24.
RV + OW + IS

25.
RV – 3 placements
Free Reward
Main screen, reward is changing
(Time Warp, MegaBucks), pace -
every 2 hours
Free Reward
Main screen, fixed with a timer,
reward is 4 hrs Boost, cap to 6
impressions a day
Speed boost
Main screen, timer clock, reward
is speed boost, cap to 3
impressions a day

26.
What does good implementation look like?

27.
OW – 2 placements Gold – hard currency
Main Screen Free gold Store Free gold

28.
What does good implementation look like?
● Place - accessible and visible - Helps ER
● Simplicity - clear call to action, explanation page - Helps ER
● Reward - interesting and valuable - Helps ER + UR
● Available in high quantity (10-12 imp a day) – Helps UR
● Dynamic rewarding – keeps the ER + UR at good values
● User flow - a convenient time to make an install - Helps IPM
● Reward type – soft currency for RV, hard for OW

29.
Display
Ads

30.
Display ads
50% of users won’t
pay, and won’t engage
with rewarded ads
Display ads – the only
way to monetize them
(+ incremental revenue for the rest)

31.
Display ads
With no strong virtual
items (= weak IAP) - display
becomes the main
monetization option
Can hurt UX, impact
retention & session
length, and affect
probability to purchase
Potential risks

32.
Display ads - mitigating the risks
● Timing
● Frequency
● Segmentation
● Rewarded Interstitial
● ‘X’ button

33.
Summary
● More than a revenue tool -
Can improve many of your most important KPIs!
● Requires love, attention, professionalism
● know what KPIs to monitor, what GOALS to set,
and HOW to get there

34.
Market
Trends

35.
Ad Usage Trends in Games
● User segmentation and advanced targeting tools
● Accelerated growth in tier-3 traffic
Casual: Midcore:
Legacy: Legacy:
Future: Future:
Rewarded
Video
Rewarded
Interstitial
Banner Interstitial
Rewarded
Video
Offerwall
Rewarded
Video
Offerwall
Rewarded
Interstitial

36.
✓ Correlating revenue to impression
on the user level
✓ Allows smarter User Acquisition
✓ Identify “ad whales”d data
Segments & Placements - Taking it to user-level data
User-level
data

37.
The brands are
coming
● Direct brand deals are increasing
● Brands are growing as buyers
within ad networks
● Increases in brand buying on
networks will reduce the need
for direct deals

38.
✓ Able to support complex ad units
(video, interactive, AR, etc.)
✓ Puts UX at the center
✓ The more advanced the game, the greater
the need to outsource ad tech
✓ Advanced targeting, viewability,
segmentation features
✓ Full-stack monetization solution
SDK will remain the predominant method for monetization
SDK-based
monetization

39.
The challenges of programmatic mediation
for video:
✓ Caching
✓ Low Use Rate
✓ Performance ads
✓ Device vs. Server side
✓ SDKs & payment funnel
The future of SDK mediation: Programmatic - 2018 forecast
What is
Programmatic
SDK Mediation?