Since starting his app business in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2010, Mahmud Ahsan has become a leading creator of educational and entertainment apps for mobile devices. With six million downloads to date, his most popular app is Arabic Dictionary. To optimize monetization of his free apps, Mahmud implemented multiple AdMob mediation features and full-screen interstitial ads. As a result, overall revenue doubled.
Turning high downloads into high revenue with in-app advertising
For Mahmud, millions of downloads didn’t automatically translate to healthy revenue. Users loved the free apps, but few were paying for upgraded versions. With advertising so central to his business model, Mahmud was always looking for ways to maximize revenue. So when AdMob mediation launched in 2011, he adopted it immediately.
AdMob mediation enabled Mahmud to serve ads from multiple sources, prioritizing the one with the highest effective CPM. Revenue was soon 30–35% higher than with the AdMob network alone. “AdMob is definitely the key to success in the mobile market,” he says. “Compared with competitors, it offers a higher cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and a better fill rate.”
Adopting AdMob features to optimize monetization
After implementing AdMob mediation, Mahmud turned to in-app advertising with AdMob to further monetize his products. In November 2013, he introduced full-screen interstitial ads to all his free apps. To maintain a high-quality user experience, the ads appear only once, when the app opens. The implementation was easy – downloading the code and incorporating it into his first app took 20 minutes – but the effect has been huge. Click-through rate (CTR) is more than five times higher compared with banner ads, and CPM is 10 times higher.
Doubling revenue with AdMob mediation and interstitials
The mediation platform was expanded in 2014 to include ad network optimization and Live CPM, giving publishers real-time access to all Google’s demand sources. As a result, Mahmud saw a further jump in revenue of 20–30%. Overall, revenue has doubled with the adoption of interstitials and mediation features.
Today, AdMob generates 60% of Mahmud’s total advertising revenue. This income means he can invest in improvement of his iOS products, create Android versions, and develop more complex gaming apps. Because he can run a viable business from home, he is able to spend more time with his wife and baby son.
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