What are the best practices for Rewarded Video? Examples of successful integrations. What are good benchmarks for Rewarded Videos?

1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE
GOOD REWARDED VIDEO?
BOŽO JANKOVIĆ
October 2019

2. ABOUT US
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We are a consulting firm for the video games industry, working with talented game developers, publishers, investors as
well as brands and rights holders.
OUR CLIENTS
Hora Games
Demagog StudioGold Town Games
WE HELP GAME DEVELOPERS WITH
● Publishing
● Ads monetization
● Licensing

3. AGENDA
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WHERE DOES MONEY
COME FROM?
Going back to basics. Understanding where
in the value chain impact can be made.
FOCUSING ON THE
RIGHT METRICS
What are the key metrics to focus on? What
are the benchmarks?
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
Aspects that should be taken into account.
Best practices.
AD SERVING
Aspects that should be taken into account.
Blacklisting and multiple instances.
VALUE BEYOND
YOUR YARD
Contributing to other aspects of the
business. Cross-promotion and UA.
CASE STUDY:
VIOLA’S QUEST
Results of recent improvements on Viola’s
Quest game.
+

4. WHERE DOES MONEY COME
FROM?
1.

5. WHERE DOES
MONEY COME
FROM?
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IMPRESSIONS
# WATCHERS
# IMPRESSIONS
PER WATCHER
Visibility
Reward
Timing
Segmentation
eCPM
BIDS
Creatives
Targeting
Relationship
Placement
Flow
DEVELOPER PARTNER
IPM
AD REVENUE =
*
COUNTRY MIX
PLATFORM MIX

6. FOCUSING ON THE RIGHT
METRICS
2.

7. FOCUSING ON
THE RIGHT
METRICS
SLIDE / 7
ENGAGEMENT
RATE
USAGE
RATE
IMPRESSIONS
PER DAU
ECPM FILL RATE AD ARPDAU &
REVENUE
30% - 50% 4 - 8 2 - 4
$1 - $40 90% - 99% up to 7¢
GENRE
IMPLEMENTATION

8. IN-GAME IMPLEMENTATION
3.

9. SLIDE / 9
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
● In-game location
● Timing
● Reward
● Visual appearance
THINGS TO DO:
● A/B testing
● User segmentation

10. Bubble Island 2
Wooga
Golden Boot
NordeusSLIDE / 10
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
WELCOME SCREEN

11. Idle Farming Empire
Futureplay
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IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
WELCOME SCREEN

12. Dragon City
Social Point
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IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
WELCOME SCREEN

13. Subway Surfers
Kiloo
My Story
NanobitSLIDE / 13
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
SHOP

14. Top Eleven
Nordeus
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IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
SHOP

15. Asphalt 8: Airborne
Gameloft
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IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
HOME SCREEN

16. Best Fiends
Seriously
Archero
HabbySLIDE / 16
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
HOME SCREEN

17. Football Strike
Miniclip
Golf Battle
Miniclip
Choices: Stories You Play
PixelberrySLIDE / 17
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
HOME SCREEN

18. Crypto Idle Miner
Hora Games
Compass Point West
Next GamesSLIDE / 18
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
HOME SCREEN

19. Plank!
Kwalee
Rodeo Stampede
Featherweight Games
Talking Tom: Gold Run
Outfit 7SLIDE / 19
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
SAVE ME

20. Brick Ball Crusher
Poseidon Games
Fastlane: Road to Revenge
Space Ape GamesSLIDE / 20
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
ENERGY

21. Kim Kardashian: Hollywood
Glu Mobile
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Jam City
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IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
ENERGY

22. Choices: Stories You Play
Pixelberry
Flip Master
MiniclipSLIDE / 22
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
AFTER THE MATCH

23. Head Ball 2
Masomo
SLIDE / 23
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
AFTER THE MATCH

24. Hill Climb Racing 2
Fingersoft
C.A.T.S.
Zeptolab
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IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
TIME DIMINISHER

25. Angry Birds 2
Rovio
Head Ball 2
Masomo
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IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
FREE ENTRY

26. Angry Birds 2
Rovio
Angry Birds 2
Rovio
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IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
OTHER

27. Wordwhizzle
AppropeSLIDE / 27
IN-GAME
IMPLEMENTATION
OTHER

28. AD SERVING
4.

29. SLIDE / 29
AD SERVING
THINGS TO DO:
● Optimizing
● Experimenting
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
● Partners of choice
● Bidding solutions
● Multiple instances
● App-ads.txt
● Blacklisting
● GDPR

30. SLIDE / 30
BIDDING
$$$ Buyer 1
$$ Buyer 2
$$ Buyer 3
$$$$$ Buyer 4
$ Buyer 5
Waterfall - based solution
$$$ Buyer 1
$$ Buyer 2
$$ Buyer 3
$$$$$ Buyer 4
$ Buyer 5
Bidding - based solution

31. SLIDE / 31
MULTIPLE
INSTANCES
30%
5%
40%
30%
x%
x%
x%
x%
x%
$$$
$$$
$$$
$$
$$
$$
$$
$
$
$25
$23
$21
$18
$15
$12
$8
$5
$0
Buyer 1
Buyer 2
Buyer 3
Buyer 1
Buyer 2
Buyer 3
Buyer 4
Buyer 3
Buyer 4

32. SLIDE / 32
MULTIPLE
INSTANCES
$$$
$$$
$$$
$$$
$$
$$
$$
$$
$
$
$26
$24
$20
$18
$15
$12
$8
$5
$0
Buyer 1
Buyer 3
Buyer 1
Buyer 2
Buyer 1
Buyer 2
Buyer 3
Buyer 4
Buyer 3
Buyer 4
$28

33. SLIDE / 33
MULTIPLE
INSTANCES
BEST PRACTICE
● Biggest GEOs
● 3 - 5 instances
● Check fill rate
● Check eCPM
● Consult with AM
EFFECTS
● More
competitiveness
● eCPM increase
20% - 30%
BEWARE
● Latency
● Manual labor
● Better than
traditional
waterfall, not
bidding

34. SLIDE / 34
BLACKLISTING
PRO ARGUMENTS
● Players see these ads in
other games anyway
● Higher conversion >>
higher eCPM, ARPDAU,
LTV
● Tests show stable churn
CON ARGUMENTS
● Players will churn
● Strategic decision
● A/B test hard to set up

35. Conduct an A/B test to determine should
competitor ads be shown in the game. KPIs to
keep an eye on:
● Retention / Churn rate
● Ad ARPDAU
● IAP ARPDAU
● LTV
● Playtime
The decision should be based on the LTV -
whichever group has the higher LTV wins the test
and those settings are applied to the whole user
base in the future.
SLIDE / 35
BLACKLISTING

36. VALUE BEYOND YOUR YARD
5.

37. CROSS PROMOTION
● Sync with UA Team
● Setup
UA CAMPAIGNS
● Identify ad whales
● Acquire similar new players
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
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VALUE BEYOND
YOUR YARD

38. CASE STUDY: VIOLA’S QUEST
BY TWO DESPERADOS
6.

39. ABOUT THE STUDIO
● 25-strong team and growing
● Independent, profitable
● Based in Belgrade, Serbia
● 2 games - over 30M players
ABOUT THE GAME
● Match-3, marble shooter
● US, Brazil, Russia
● IAP | Ads: 85% | 15%
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CASE STUDY:
VIOLA’S QUEST

40. SLIDE / 40
Map progression Marble shooting
CASE STUDY:
VIOLA’S QUEST

41. SLIDE / 41
The results?
Increase ad ARPDAU by 50% without cannibalizing IAP.
- Optimize the mediation
- Introduce new placements
- Improve existing ones
CASE STUDY:
VIOLA’S QUEST

42. SLIDE / 42
ENGAGEMENT
RATE
USAGE
RATE
IMPRESSIONS
PER DAU
ECPM FILL RATE AD ARPDAU
+36%
(now: 57%)
~same
(now: ~3.5)
+30%
(now: ~2)
+60%
(now: ~$10.8)
~same
+112%
(now: 2.2¢)
CASE STUDY:
VIOLA’S QUEST

43. SLIDE / 43
$$$
$$$
$$$
$$
$$
$$
$$
$
$
Buyer 1
Buyer 2
Buyer 3
Buyer 1
Buyer 2
Buyer 3
Buyer 4
Buyer 3
Buyer 4
● Global eCPM: $6.8 >> $10.8
● US, Android eCPM: $20 >> $30
● Adding a new ad source
● Setting up multiple instances
● Waterfall optimization
CASE STUDY:
VIOLA’S QUEST

44. SLIDE / 44
● Adding a new placement
● A/B testing first
● 15% increase in ad ARPDAU
● 25% DAU watching
● 14% overall engagement rate increase
CASE STUDY:
VIOLA’S QUEST

45. SLIDE / 45
● Extra visibility for existing
placements
● Daily caps remain the same
● 16% increase in ad ARPDAU
● 20% engagement rate increase on
lives refill
● 900% engagement rate increase
on Shop
CASE STUDY:
VIOLA’S QUEST

46. SLIDE / 46
● Adding a timer to increase
pressure for making a decision
● 3% increase in ad ARPDAU
● 10% engagement rate increase on
rewind
CASE STUDY:
VIOLA’S QUEST

47. BOŽO JANKOVIĆ
bozo@gamebizconsulting.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bozoj/
October 2019
KPIs
● Ad ARPDAU
● Engagement rate
● eCPM
IMPLEMENTATION
● In-game
● Ad serving
● Expanding the value
SLIDE / 47
TAKEAWAY