Sergio Viudes Carbonell has been Baviux’s jack-of-all-trades since he started the company seven years ago, managing everything from marketing to programming to creative work. Based in Elche, Alicante, Spain, Sergio runs the company with his business partner, who oversees the administrative side of their operation.
From the beginning, Sergio has worked with Google AdMob to incorporate ads into every Baviux app, both gaming and non-gaming. He’s constantly on the lookout for different ad formats that can help improve the apps’ user experiences, maintain strong revenue, and boost the in-app purchasing (IAP) model.
With his “big-picture” goals in mind, Sergio’s AdMob account manager recently recommended that he try out rewarded ads. The first app where he tested the new format was Baviux’s Voice Changer app, where users can modify a voice recording with effects such as “helium,” “robot,” and “‘zombie.” The results speak for themselves: with the increase in revenue from rewarded ads, Sergio was able to offer a completely free experience for Voice Changer users.
Seeking new ways to delight users
Sergio wanted to provide Voice Changer’s content to users for free, but was only monetizing the app with IAP. By making a purchase on the app, a user could unlock all five available voice effects. Even though Sergio had previously looked for other ways to drive revenue, he had trouble finding a solution that maintained a quality user experience.
With rewarded ads, Sergio finally saw an opportunity to generate similar earnings to IAP without disrupting the flow of the user journey. He had worked with AdMob since 2011, and trusted its policies to ensure high quality ads. If he could replace IAP with rewarded ads, users would have the option to enjoy all of Voice Changer’s features for free, and Baviux could generate revenue from users who had never made an in-app purchase.
Fast and simple ad integration
With his Google account team, Sergio designed an experiment to see whether rewarded ads would generate similar earnings to IAP. To half the users, they displayed the option to unlock all five voice effects at once with a single purchase. For the other half, they provided one rewarded ad for each voice effect. A user could watch all five ads back-to-back, if they wanted, without having to wait in between. The A/B test ran on Android through the Firebase Remote Configuration.
It took Sergio less than a day to integrate rewarded ads into Voice Changer.
“The process was very well documented by AdMob,” he says. “It worked well the first time.” The A/B test ran for a couple of months, and Sergio tracked downloads, user experience, and overall earnings.
If earnings dipped below IAP, they wouldn’t integrate the ads and would simply continue with their current monetization model. If earnings were the same or better, they would incorporate rewarded ads, as they upleveled the user experience. Sergio knew that happier users were also more likely to recommend the app to others. And when the results came in, Baviux saw that not only were users more satisfied, but that its revenue had grown.
A free and improved user experience
Rewarded ads grew total revenue by 25%, alongside the IAP revenue stream. Now with the ability to access voice effects for free by watching a short ad, users shared their enthusiasm for the improved experience.
“We received better reviews on the app than we ever had,” Sergio says. “We even received emails thanking us and telling us they loved the new option.” With these positive results, Baviux decided to integrate rewarded ads alongside IAP. Now, three out of seven of Baviux’s apps run rewarded ads, with a fourth currently in development.
Today, Sergio is working with AdMob to implement even more ad formats, such as adaptive banners. Baviux also plans to venture deeper into building games, and keep its relationship with AdMob strong. “It’s been many years,” says Sergio of their partnership, “and we are very happy.”
