It has been a conventional tradition for companies and influencers to publish new year predictions about respective industries.
The truth is, at its very best, prediction is a 50 / 50 flip and heavily fueled by the optimism around the subject in focus.
So, let me pass on the prediction part and highlight some of the trends we have been seeing around Game Monetization especially – Reward Video Ad Monetization.
Revenue Decline from Pre-Roll Video Ads – Users are getting comfortable and demanding game rewards for engaging with Video Ads. As a result, video completion rates have plummeted on Pre-roll Video Ads to single digits. It’s a clear sign of user irritation with the monetization Model.
If you are a game developer who uses pre-roll video ads, my advice is to find a way to associate video ads with some level of Reward. Otherwise, you will see declining CPM rates, and Revenue.
Wider application of Real-time Bidding Technologies to serve Video Ads: The truth is programmatic buy – refers to the use of software to purchase digital advertising, as opposed to the traditional process that involves RFPs, human negotiations and manual insertion orders. It’s using machines to buy ads, – works well for advertisers. It finds the cheapest way to buy an impression. The approach doesn’t necessarily align with publishers’ interest to maximize revenue.
To curb this problem, some ad networks, including AppLixir, are using real-time bidding technologies to optimize earnings. We believe this trend will hold up in 2019 as well.
Better CPMs for Reward Video Ads: Advertisers are warming up to Reward Video Ads. The Advertiser-User-Game Developer synergy is hard to miss. That is, users are willingly engaged with the Ads, providing a cost-efficient way of building a brand.
The high view-completion rate, 87%, is a testament to this positive experience and alignment. In return, Advertisers are rewarding game publishers with higher CPM rates.
Overall, am pretty optimistic on Reward Video Ad as a strategy for Monetizing games both on Desktop and Mobile.
