Inside AdMob: May 2018

Inside AdMob

Google’s official blog for news, tips, and information on the AdMob developer platform

Taking the guesswork out of app monetization with Firebase Predictions

May 23, 2018

how we’re innovatingFirebase Predictions

Predicting in-app behavior with Google’s machine learning expertise Predictions uses deep-learning models powered by TensorFlow to predict app user behavior such as the likelihood of a user buying a good in a game or the chances of a user becoming inactive. Making the most of game event data from the Google Analytics for Firebase SDK, it dynamically groups users into different segments based on their predicted behavior.

These predictive segments are updated daily based on actual and ongoing user behavior. Armed with this information, you can take a variety of actions such as personalizing the UI of your app for users who are predicted to spend money in-app using Firebase Remote Config or sending users an offer via Cloud Messaging.

Helping developers show ads to the right audiences Developers like Rockbite have successfully used Predictions to build smarter monetization strategies. For their game Deep Town, the Rockbite team incorporated rewarded ads to complement revenue from the sale of digital goods. To optimize their monetization strategy and ensure they weren’t showing ads to paying customers, the team first experimented with segmenting players and serving ads by demographics. However, the results from these experiments were inconclusive. So, they turned to Predictions.
Predictions used machine learning to segment the game’s users based on their likelihood to spend. Rockbite started showing ads only to those players who were predicted to not spend. The net result: a 24 percent increase in revenue from the predicted nonspender group!

Optimizing app strategies with Predictions Predictions can help developers optimize their app strategy in many other ways. Halfbrick, for example, used experiments in Predictions to test different strategies for re-engaging customers and minimizing churn. Developers can set up a variety of experiments with Predictions, to maximize their revenue and user engagement. Some examples include:

Experiments with ad frequency Tuning ad frequency (more or less) for players who are predicted to churn or tuning ads so that they’re only shown to users not predicted to spend
Experiments with ad content Showing rewarded house ads for other games in your portfolio to players who are predicted to churn or promoting unique IAP offers to players who are expected to spend
Experiments with different rewards Predictions can be combined with other analytics attributes, user properties or audience insights to fine tune your strategy so you may, for example, reward only users predicted not to spend in specific geos or regions, or who play your game in specific ways.

Get started with Predictions

Predictions has only been in beta for a little while, but we’re encouraged by the results our partners are already seeing with it. If you’re already using Google Analytics for Firebase, you can enable Predictions with a single click in the Firebase Console. Refer to our implementation guides to try some of these strategies for yourself.

Reach out to us if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions. We look forward to hearing from you!

Posted by Jumana Al Hashal, Firebase Product Management

1. Google Play data, Global, Jan. 2017 vs. Jan. 2018. Developer-declared ads & IAP flags utilized from Google Play Store.

Google I/O: Grow and Earn with AdWords and AdMob

May 8, 2018

I/O is an inspiring moment. Every year, we’re excited to connect with the developer community and hear all of the amazing things you’re building, especially mobile apps.

These apps are the very reason many people consider their phones indispensable. People use these apps to stay connected, be entertained, and get everyday tasks done. Last year alone, people downloaded 94 billion apps from Google Play.

This means more opportunities for developers. With millions of apps in the ecosystem, your ads have to work harder to make your app stand out. And with users being more selective about the apps they keep, you need to create user-first ad experiences to monetize effectively.

In order to build a successful app business, you need tools that help you grow and earn more. That’s where Google can help. This afternoon, you’ll hear about ads innovations designed to help you do just that and examples of developers who are thriving with them. Check out the livestream here.

Grow your user base

Developers have driven more than 10 billion app installs with AdWords. Today we’re announcing several new innovations to help you find valuable users for your app.

Surface more relevant content in your app promotion ads

70% of users decide whether to install an app based on how much they’ll use it. To provide users more helpful information, we’ll launch a beta that allows developers to surface relevant app content within ads. For example, Wish, a shopping app, can link its product catalog to AdWords and surface relevant in-app product images and descriptions in its ads. This beta will be available in the coming months.

Surfacing relevant in-app content in ads

Get more people playing your game
Another way we’re helping developers find new users is by making app discovery easier. For gaming developers, we launched Instant Games in March to enable new players to try your game without having to download it first. Recently, we’ve started early testing to make Instant Games compatible with AdWords. Users can then try out games directly from ads across all the channels that Universal App campaigns reach.

Google Play Instant compatible with AdWords

See a more complete view of your advertising results
To give you a more complete picture of how your ads are working, we’re planning on making view through conversion (VTC) reporting available to AdWords app advertisers later this month. With VTC reporting, you can understand which viewable ad impressions were associated with conversions. For example, you can use these reports to better understand how well your video and display ads influenced app installs. VTC reporting will consider only impressions that meet the Media Rating Council (MRC) definition of ad viewability.

Earn more from your app

Save time and show value with standardized ad measurement
When developers sell ad placements in their app, advertisers want to know if their ads are being seen and are working. To date, developers who needed to report viewability data to advertisers have had to integrate multiple SDKs and reconcile disparate methodologies. To address this, we joined an IAB-led working group to simplify and standardize in-app viewability measurement. Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve integrated IAB Tech Lab’s Open Measurement SDK into our Google Mobile Ads (GMA) and Interactive Media Ads (IMA) SDKs. This solution will save developers time and reflect the true value of their app inventory. Starting today, developers on DoubleClick can request to join this beta.

Optimize your rewarded ads in AdMob
We’re seeing more and more users engaging with rewarded ad experiences. Users opt-in to view ads and in exchange receive in-app incentives or digital goods, such as an extra life in a game or content that she would have had to pay for otherwise. Since launching rewarded ads last year, we’ve seen a 9x increase in impressions, across both free and paid apps.

To help developers make the most of their rewarded ads, we’re introducing rewarded reporting in AdMob. Developers on AdMob will have access to rewarded ad metrics such as opt-in rate, consumption rate and rate of reward use. With these insights, developers can finetune their rewarded ads, addressing questions such as: ‘Do more users opt-in when the ad is shown after Level 1 or Level 4?’ ‘Which type of rewards do users prefer — coins or lives?’ ‘How often do people use their rewarded items?’. Rewarded reporting will be available in AdMob as an open beta coming soon.

Rewarded reporting in AdMob

Developers are building apps that connect, entertain and help millions of users. We’re looking forward to helping you grow and earn so you continue sharing the magic of your apps to the rest of the world!

Posted by Sissie Hsiao, VP of Product, Mobile App Advertising

1. Google Play Data, Global, April 2018.
2. Google Ads Data, iOS/Android, Global, March 2018
3. Ipsos & Google, April 2018
4. Google Ads Data, iOS/Android, Global, March 2017 - Feb 2018