In-app advertising has become an important component for businesses due to the broad population of mobile users and accurate targeting possibilities. In-app advertising refers to advertisements that appear while you are playing a mobile game, browsing social media, or doing anything else on a mobile app.
According to an eMarketer survey, US consumers spend more than 4 hours per day on the mobile internet, with apps accounting for 88% of that time. App revenue and in-app advertising are inextricably linked. Ad integration done hastily might have a negative influence on app quality and user experience, resulting in revenue loss.
How does In-app advertising work?
Unlike online advertising, which uses cookies to gather information about the target user, in-app advertising employs mobile device IDs. A device ID is a one-of-a-kind anonymous identifier made up of digits and characters that is associated with a single mobile device or user. Every smartphone has a distinct device ID that is kept in the phone’s hardware and is linked to the user. There are two sorts of device IDs: the Google Advertising ID (GAID), which is found on Android devices, and the Identity for Advertisers (IDFA), which is found on all iOS and Apple devices.
The ad network determines which ads are appropriate for its users. It allows the app developer to maximize earnings. However, the viewer may choose to skip the advertisement or view it in its entirety but not do the requested action. The user can also opt-out of working in the app.
What are the formats of In-App advertising?
There is a wide variety of in-app advertising formats. Some of them are discussed below.
- Interstitial ads: Interstitial ads are full-screen interactive advertising that covers the interface of the app or website they’re displayed on. These advertisements appear between segments of content, so they appear at natural transition periods or gaps, such as between activities or game levels.
- Rewarded video ads: Rewarded advertising give the person who is watching the ad an incentive/reward in exchange for more gaming bonuses, extra lives, tips, or important material. Allow viewers to choose whether to watch or skip a video advertisement of approximately 15-30 seconds.
- Native ads: Native ads are textual or video ads that mimic the appearance of editorial content on a website. The user does not see native advertising as direct advertising, in exchange for enhancing user loyalty. These advertisements appear to be part of the app’s native content and may appear as a helpful recommendation.
- Banner ads: Banner advertisements are static ad units that appear at the top or bottom of the screen in the form of traditional banners. Full-screen banners that span the whole screen of mobile devices are common in in-app banner advertising.
- Playable ads: A playable ad unit is an interactive test version of a game that is displayed as an ad unit on mobile devices. Playable ads, which may run anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute, are a great way to promote mobile games.
- Pre-roll ads: There are times when ads are automatically played within the video, either at the beginning, the middle, or at the end. Those are Instream Pre-Roll ads. These ads are often 15, 20, 30, or even 60 seconds long. Some can be skipped while others may run for the length specified.
How much does In-App advertising cost?
According to studies, digital ad expenditure would reach $242.80 billion by 2024. Within the world of in-app advertising, brands and their advertising partners have a few different pricing structures to select from. Let’s take a look at the most popular ones available now.
- CPM, or Cost Per Mille, is one of the first and most widely used methods of in-app advertising payment. Essentially, this is the cost of 1,000 ad impressions for a certain ad. This is the most basic method for paying for early awareness and reach, in part because it’s simple to grasp and works with almost any ad type.
CPM = (Cost to the Advertiser / No. of Impressions) x 1000
- An advertiser only pays when an ad creative is clicked on in a cost per click (CPC) campaign. The concept here is that the brand only pays when someone interacts with the ad by clicking on it. Advertisements that show on search engine results pages, as well as ads in retargeting campaigns, are often paid for in this manner.
Total Cost/Number of Clicks = CPC
- CPA means cost per action or cost per acquisition, and it means that someone must not only click on an ad but also complete a certain action, such as filling out a form or installing an app, before an advertiser gets paid. Advertisers and marketers that have ad campaign targets lower down the metaphorical funnel will often employ this pricing strategy.
CPA= Total Cost/ No. of Acquisitions
Final Thoughts
In-app advertising is the most effective approach to monetize a smartphone application and allow different businesses to access the intended demographic for increased sales/downloads/ROI. In-app advertising may evolve further as new technologies, approaches, and ad forms emerge. However, if recent projections come true, the space will grow considerably larger – and probably more complicated – than ever before. If you are looking at trying in-app advertising for your website, reach out to us here!
