Why publishers should treat monetisation as one revenue system, not just a collection of tools

Pocket Gamer Connects, the leading international conference series for the global games industry, returns to London on January 19th to 20th, 2026. 

The must-attend conference will bring together 3,000 delegates from 70+ countries, including decision makers from key international games hubs across the globe. Companies set to join the show include Supercell, Epic Games, Duolingo, CD Projekt Red, Tencent, PlayStation, EA, AppLovin, TikTok and many more.

PGC London will host 32 tracks across two days, including at the Apps Business Summit (January 19th) and the Beyond Games: Transmedia Summit (January 20th).

One of the speakers set to join the conference is TeqBlaze chief product officer Olga Zharuk. She leads the company’s product strategy, oversees the platform architecture and is responsible for establishing an AI-first direction across the entire infrastructure.

At PGC London, Zharuk will host a session entitled 'What’s Really Limiting Publisher Monetisation Today'.

We caught up with Zharuk ahead of the show to discusses optimising user acquisition, black boxes, and AI's potential in games.

PocketGamer.biz: Please give us a summary of what you’re speaking about and why it’s important.

Olga Zharuk: I am speaking about the real factors that limit mobile publisher monetisation today.

My main point is that publishers do not suffer from the lack of technology or demand. The problem is fragmentation inside ad stacks that were built piece by piece and stopped functioning as a single revenue engine. When logic layers overlap and black box components multiply, eCPM signals become distorted, processes slow down and revenue visibility weakens.

This topic is important because publishers can no longer clearly understand why specific bidders win auctions and where money leaks occur along the path. Reports alone are not enough if the auction cannot be explained step by step.

In 2025, sustainable monetisation depends on three defining requirements: transparency, control and independence. Transparency means being able to explain every auction decision. Control means ownership of the strategy without risky isolation from partners. Independence means real choice in how integrations are used.

My focus is the practical road to a more efficient stack without disruption. A gradual audit of duplicate or conflicting tools and the reduction of incompatible layers can be done immediately and safely. Publishers do not need a hard rebuild. They need to regain control over the systems they already operate.

What’s the most common mistake you see being made in the games sector?

The most common mistake is treating monetisation as a collection of tools, not as one revenue system. Teams keep adding SDKs, analytics, bidders, A/B tools, and mediation logic, but the stack stops functioning as a single unit.

Visibility weakens, black box components multiply, and decisions get split across layers that do not share one consistent logic. The result is not “more optimisation”, it is less control over the revenue engine.

If you could give other mobile games companies one piece of advice, what would it be?

Audit your stack before you add anything new. The industry does not lack tools, the real problem is that the tools do not work together.

If you want sustainable revenue, focus on control and explainability first: understand which layer makes which decision, where signals get distorted, and where value leaks. Once you can explain why a bidder wins and how demand is prioritised, optimisation becomes real, not guesswork.

What do you think the next big disruptor in mobile games will be?

I think the next disruptor will be AI moving from analytics into the core of the game experience. Studios already use machine learning for pricing and UA, but undervalued potential lies in gameplay design, narrative systems, and real-time interaction with fans.

Personalised progression, smarter NPC behaviour, and creative moderation inside live ops can create profitability in ways console or PC trends never achieved on mobile.

Regulation across different areas will also shape disruption: data protection rules and creative safety provisions are quite high, so companies that navigate this responsibly will stand out.

What is the single biggest challenge facing the mobile games industry today?

The biggest challenge is the loss of transparency and ownership in monetisation infrastructure. Many publishers are expected to improve KPIs while auction logic and buyer behaviour remain hidden.

The stack becomes fragmented: one layer prioritises demand, another adjusts pricing, another routes traffic, and the publisher only sees the final output. When performance shifts, the system produces outcomes, not explanations, and that turns into real operational cost.

What developments do you think have been undervalued by the mobile games industry?

The industry talks a lot about UA tactics and new genres, yet undervalued progress happened in the middle of the revenue process. Many mobile studios still rely on default ad flows and do not connect those flows with how the game feels to a real player.

The growth of playable ads showed that format alone means nothing if it breaks level pacing or session length. Another underestimated development is creative moderation on the sell-side.

Poor end cards, slow loading units, and misleading categories change LTV more directly than any algorithm. A noticeable difference appears when the studio controls experiments quickly and keeps engineering effort focused on the game product instead of constant SDK firefighting.

What is the most overhyped trend from the last 12 months - and why?

Over the past 12 months I saw massive excitement around AI that supposedly replaces game teams in design and production. The hype suggested that one model can write code, create levels, and craft narratives intuitively.

In real studios, outcomes were different. AI produced drafts quickly, but engineers and UX leads had to correct them manually. The overhyped part was the belief in automation without product context and cultural nuance. The mobile space evolves fast, yet creativity remains a human conversation.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received that you can pass on to others?

The best advice I received was to always keep a human approach at the centre of anything you build. A pioneer I admire told me that technology changes, markets change, trends come and go, but the way you treat people becomes your real reputation.

Be honest even when it feels uncomfortable, speak very directly, and listen before judging behaviour you do not yet understand. I do have a strong belief that no system can replace empathy, so encourage teams to remain open, respectful and genuine in everyday communication. Small wins grow from trust, and integrity protects the business better than any short-term tactic.

What topics do you want to hear more about at industry events?

I would like industry events to focus more on practical, non-cliché discussions that help publishers and developers in real everyday conditions. Topics such as compatible ad architecture, creative quality, and fraud protection are important, but they are often presented in an over complicated way.

I want to hear clearer playbooks for mid-sized teams, in-depth understanding of how auctions influence LTV, and honest stories about what worked and what failed.

Can people get in touch with you at the event? What sort of people would you like to connect with?

Yes, people can get in touch with me at the event. I would particularly enjoy meeting mobile publishers, demand-side partners, and product or UX leaders who are very concerned about player retention and sustainable profitability.

I like honest, technically savvy attendees who bring real questions and a clear view of their challenges. Conversations with teams that want to refine their approach and convey standards in a respectful way are the most valuable for me.