Mobile games traffic enjoyed a global surge on Thanksgiving this year, affecting cost-per-install rates worldwide.
However, developers failed to capitalise on this opportunity, according to data from advertising and monetisation platform Chartboost.
Citing figures from its network of more than 8,000 iOS and Android games, Chartboost claims that Thanksgiving traffic in the US was up almost 50 percent when compared to the average Thursday.
However, the average CPI paid in the region dropped slightly. There are two reasons for this, explains Chartboost.
Gimme a reason
The first is that "marginal traffic (that extra 48 percent, for example) tends to see interstitials that have lower bids after users run through the high-bid inventory."
The second reason is much simpler: US developers took the day off work and therefore weren't online to optimise their campaigns.
As such, the holiday prevented mobile developers from capitalising more successfully on the large amounts of traffic.
Outside the US, the average CPI paid rose by 8 percent.
Even though Thanksgiving isn't widely celebrated outside North America, Chartboost recorded 20 percent increase in traffic to mobile games, perhaps as a result of holiday updates and content packs.
You underestimate me
Overall, though, Chartboost feels that developers "underestimated the potential of Thanksgving."
"Marketers located outside the US may not have known enough about the holiday to prepare for it, while marketers in the US weren't online to take full advantage of the surge.
"This is a reminder to all developers to plan ahead for their holiday campaigns as we approach the Christmas season!"
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