Mobile Media
Ad networks down in 2023, with only four of the top 20 players showing an increase
Apple Search Ads and Google lead on respective platforms, with only Meta ads making the top five on each
Free To Paid
Facebook and Instagram to introduce ad-free subscriptions in EU
Meta aims to appease EU privacy regulators with €9.99 per month subscription fee
Unity Runtime Fee
Unity's Runtime Fee debacle caused 15% of its US advertisers to jump ship
The introduction of the proposed fee triggered a sharp downturn in advertisers, but revisions and departures appear to have fixed the problem
Week That Was
Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news, including console games going mobile, Final Fantasy villains, making games accessible and intrinsic advertising
Ad Report
Meta owns all four of the top ad networks for mobile games in Q2 2023
Google Play hosted the most ad creatives, with Facebook leading the way
Guest Post
Why In-App, not MFA, is the advertising solution made for advertisers
Mintegral GM for the Americas Jeff Sue discusses the issue of made for advertising websites
Meta Subscriptions
Meta may offer EU users an ad-dodging subscription service
The move would allow them to circumvent new EU policies regarding data collection practices
Data.ai Report
Mobile gaming set to reach $108 billion in consumer spend in 2023
The platform continues to be the industry’s top performer
Partnership
Gcommerce company Scuti partners with audio tech firm Consumable for audio ads
Brands will be able to advertise their products to users browsing the Scuti marketplace
Hybrid Monetisation
In-app purchases are up on both iOS and Android
Tenjin’s latest report highlights a shift towards hybrid monetisation
Brand Attraction
How can the mobile games industry attract more brands?
Bidstack’s Chris Vincelli & Antoine Jullemier analyse what deters brands from entering the $118 billion mobile games ads market and what developers can do to entice them
Week That Was
Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
The Pocketgamer.biz team take their pick of this weeks big news including game ad revenue, some best practices for monetising and the moment that one of gaming's giants went mobile first
Gameanalytics Report
USA game ad revenue to reach $130 billion in 2025
But currently only accounts for less than 6% of total ad spend in the USA
Advertising
What does Roblox’s new ad network look like?
Behind the scenes on their new 'immersive ads' which echo the trend and ride the rising wave of intrinsic advertising
Shock Report
Google accused of misleading its advertisers on over 80% of ad placements
“Repackaging shitty, brand-unsafe outstream as instream is a big problem," quotes a new report with potential refunds running into billions
Eyes Open
Anzu and Lumen’s two-year study finds that in-game ads come out on top
In-game ads have higher viewability and lead to higher purchase intent, study finds
Fluent Report
48% of Gen Z-ers have at least four gaming apps downloaded
A new report by Fluent delves into the world of app downloads
Advertising
Bidstack brings its intrinsic advertising to two new mobile racing game studios
The company's platform for adding themed, unobtrusive ads to games has just gained two new partners
Video Ads
Mintegral launches Smart Video Capture and Editor for Playturbo
The feature allows advertisers to create multiple ads at once while easing localisation
Legal
FunPlus face another lawsuit for misleading advertising in King of Avalon
The latest suit is being filed by same firm as the previous suit
Keep Play Safe
Roblox ads come under fire from the Children’s Advertising Review Unit
The platform was found to have breached the industry watchdog’s guidelines
Interview
From CGI ads to working with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, what’s next for Merge Mansion?
Metacore’s Sandra Fenyo discusses the company’s smash hit advertising strategy and the likelihood of a Merge Mansion TV series…
Socialpeta Report
More than 7.8 million new ad creatives were released in Q1 2023, with video ads on the rise
North America had the highest number of unique advertisers for the period, but lagged in creatives per advertiser
New Ad Markets
AppLovin brings performance-based buying to CTV to AppDiscovery
App marketers can now tap into massive CTV supply across hundreds of ad-supported TV apps and 300 channels
Open Beta
AppLovin brings Google bidding’s open beta to all MAX publishers
The move follows a successful closed beta for the service
Ads Strategy
Unity Ads bidding now available in LevelPlay
The game creation platform deepens its game growth offering post ironSource merger
Marketing Report
Longer ads lead to a 23% boom in purchasing intent
A new report analyses the impact of various factors in game marketing
Financials
Activision Blizzard Q1 2023 financials show another record quarter for King
The mobile division of the trifecta continues to perform well
Ad Transparency
What transparency means in today’s mobile marketplace
LifeStreet product manager Lily Stoelting on why transparency is key to cost effective mobile advertising
Liftoff Report
Hypercasual's not dead… But it is slowing down
So what happens next when hypercasual is down but competitive play is up?
Mintegral Joins Google Admob
Mintegral Joins Google AdMob as a Bidding and Waterfall SDK Network
Mintegral's bidding solution simplifies in-app advertising and connects demand to app businesses to scale global revenue.
Week That Was
Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
Dragons, gamers and Kpop, oh my.
Google Ads Attribution Integration
ByteBrew, the all-in-one mobile game analytics platform, gets access to Google Ads attribution integration
This new integrated access allows ByteBrew to offer game developers free Google attribution measurement
Roblox Advertising
Roblox’s new advertising preempts legislation but still sees criticism
Although the new moves have been praised, some argue more is to be done
Put Players First
Are in-game ads the answer for developers? We asked Marc Merrill of Riot Games
Anzu co-founder and CEO Itamar Benedy talks to Riot Games co-founder and president of games Marc Merrill about the growing value of in-game advertising to indie and AAA developers alike
Ad Tools
Mobvista launches new XMP platform for cross-channel monitoring
The dashboard lets developers track multiple analytics for their campaigns
Audio Ads
Odeeo and Any Ever partner to offer new touchpoint for audio campaigns
Establishing in-game audio ads in Germany
Please Welcome Gamelight
Spotlight becomes Gamelight
Game marketing platform Spotlight rebrands as Gamelight as growth continues
Creatives
Playtika takes potshots at Candy Crush with new Best Fiends ad campaign
“Download free, play sugar free”
Monetisation Masterclass
Monetisation via in-game ads: why hypercasual studio Balzo works with Growzee
Balzo co-founder Giuseppe Lapenta talks to PocketGamer.biz about the studio's journey in the hypercasual genre and why it works with mobile ad expert Growzee
Appointments
Frameplay appoints Tencent veteran Jurgen Post as chairman of board
Post also previously served as CEO of Miniclip after its acquisition by Tencent
Boost Your Ad Strategy
Boost your ad strategy in 2023 with Appodeal's new insights report
How will inflation affect ad revenues? Let Appodeal reveal all the Mobile eCPM insights to boost your ad strategy in 2023!
Video
Pocket Gamer Connects London video round-up: Part Two
Missed the show or simply want more content? We get up close with the big names at our PGC London event
Liftoff Report
Playable ads have the lowest cost per install of all gaming ad formats
Meanwhile native ads offer the highest Day 7 return on ad spend, according to new Liftoff data
Video
Pocket Gamer Connects London video round-up
Missed the show or simply want more content? We get up close with the big names at our PGC London event
Expert Analysis
Angry Birds Match: Empowering ads with perfectly pitched puzzles
Get your gameplay and monetisation balance right and you'll have a hit on your hands, explains Rovio's UA lead Claire Rozain
Company Spotlight
Company Spotlight: Dataseat
Find out more about London-based mobile advertising experts Dataseat
A Taste Of Mobile
Fanta rebrand includes mobile game launch to better reach Gen Z
Fanta Digital Ride n Sip includes motion control gameplay
Four Force Multipliers
Four key tactics for giving your ad campaigns a force multiplier
Neasa Bannon, Industry Manager with Facebook Gaming, explains how to maximise your performance in a privacy-first advertising landscape
Interview
Why mobile games need a diverse monetisation strategy
Mintegral GM Hector Almedia shares how to survive in an increasingly competitive market