Tag Archives: Game Developers Conference

AdMob is “leveling up” your business with new app monetization innovations

Yesterday, at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), we announced important updates to AdMob that could help you unlock new business with rewarded video formats and free, unlimited and real-time analytics reporting. These features will help you monetize your games more effectively by helping you keep your players engaged with more immersive ads and by giving you a faster understanding of how they are interacting with your game.


Over the last year, developers embraced AdMob’s platform to mediate rewarded video ads to nine leading rewarded networks, including TapJoy which we announced yesterday. And we’re not stopping there. AdMob developers around the world now have access to Google’s own video advertising demand from Google AdWords, significantly increasing the breadth and scale of rewarded demand available. That means AdMob now offers a single platform solution including mediation, demand, and reservations. And for those publishers currently using either IronSource or Mopub, adaptors are now available to add Google demand.

Our native ads have also seen tremendous growth over the last year as a way for developers to deliver rich, immersive ad experiences. For developers building their games in Unity, a popular gaming engine, we will shortly be releasing a plugin that supports native ads and native ad mediation on both iOS and Android. This will expand AdMob’s platform and network support for Unity developers beyond banner, interstitial, and rewarded ads available today.

We are also investing in better measurement tools for developers by bringing the power of Firebase Analytics to more game developers with a generally available C++ SDK and an SDK for Unity.

C++ and Unity developers can access Firebase Analytics stream view for real-time player insights
Here’s what developers have to say about rewarded ads in AdMob:
"Implementing AdMob rewarded ads helped us not just monetize non-spending users but increase overall revenue of the game, including IAP revenue. Also, AdMob mediation made it easy to compare our ad performance across ad networks." - Somin Oh, Ad Monetization Manager @ JoyCity
If you haven’t tried AdMob rewarded ads yet, here’s how you can get started. We’re hosting a series of Hangouts on Air around rewarded demand and mediation. During these session we will share best practices to implement and optimize the format and highlight key areas that AdMob rewarded can help you be successful in, including:

  • Access the scale of Google’s video demand: With AdWords’ global presence and advertiser base, AdMob publishers will benefit from geographically diverse demand.
  • Diversified demand with rewarded mediation: Help ensure that there’s always an ad available to show, and that the ad shown is the most valuable to you.
  • User-friendly ad formats: Clear guidance to users at all touch points, including opt-out option for full user control over ad experience.
  • Great User Experiences: AdMob provides highly engaged ads such as landscape and portrait video formats in rewarded ads where there is no incentivization of the download giving a clear value exchange for the user.
  • Popular Game Engine Support: New integrations with Cocos2d-x and Unity game engines allow you to seamlessly support rewarded ads in your games. 

It’s been a privilege to meet so many of you at GDC and learn about the amazing games that you’re all building. We are committed to continuing on this journey with you to build a smart monetization platform for you to grow long-term gaming businesses.

Make sure to stay connected on all things AdMob, follow our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages.

The AdMob Team

Source: Inside AdMob


“Level up” your gaming business with new innovations for apps

Originally shared on the Inside AdMob Blog
Posted by Sissie Hsiao, Product Director, Mobile Advertising, Google. Last played Fire Emblem Heroes for Android

Mobile games mean more than just fun. They mean business. Big business. According to App Annie, game developers should capture almost half of the $189B global market for in-app purchases and advertising by 20201.

Later today, at the Games Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, I look forward to sharing a series of new innovations across ad formats, monetization tools and measurement insights for apps.

  • New playable and video ad formats to get more people into your game
  • Integrations to help you create better monetization experiences 
  • Measurement tools that provide insights about how players are interacting with your game
Let more users try your game with a playable ad format

There’s no better way for a new user to experience your game than to actually play it. So today, we introduced playables, an interactive ad format in Universal App Campaigns that allows users to play a lightweight version of your game, right when they see it in any of the 1M+ apps in the Google Display Network.

studio.justad.mobi-Management-studio-test_ad.php-browser&saved&id=703423(Nexus 5X)_nexus5x-portrait.png
Jam City’s playable ad for Cookie Jam

Playables help you get more qualified installs from users who tried your game in the ad and made the choice to download it for more play time. By attracting already-engaged users into your app, playables help you drive the long-term outcomes you care about — rounds played, levels beat, trophies won, purchases made and more.

"Jam City wants to put our games in the hands of more potential players as quickly as possible. Playables get new users into the game right from the ad, which we've found drives more engagement and long-term customer value." Josh Yguado, President & COO Jam City, maker of Panda Pop and Cookie Jam.

Playables will be available for developers through Universal App Campaigns in the coming months, and will be compatible with HTML5 creatives built through Google Web Designer or third-party agencies.

Improve the video experience with ads designed for mobile viewing

Most mobile video ad views on the Google Display Network are watched on devices held vertically2. This can create a poor experience when users encounter video ad creatives built for horizontal viewing.

Developers using Universal App Campaigns will soon be able to use an auto-flip feature that automatically orients your video ads to match the way users are holding their phones. If you upload a horizontal video creative in AdWords, we will automatically create a second, vertical version for you.

Cookie Jam horizontal video and vertical-optimized video created through auto-flip technology

The auto-flip feature uses Google's machine learning technology to identify the most important objects in every frame of your horizontal video creative. It then produces an optimized, vertical version of your video ad that highlights those important components of your original asset. Early tests show that click-through rates are about 20% higher on these dynamically-generated vertical videos than on horizontal video ads watched vertically3.

Unlock new business with rewarded video formats, and free, unlimited reporting

Developers have embraced AdMob's platform to mediate rewarded video ads as a way to let users watch ads in exchange for an in-app reward. Today, we are delighted to announce that we are bringing Google’s video app install advertising demand from AdWords to AdMob, significantly increasing rewarded demand available to developers. Advertisers that use Universal App Campaigns can seamlessly reach this engaged, game-playing audience using your existing video creatives.

We are also investing in better measurement tools for developers by bringing the power of Firebase Analytics to more game developers with a generally available C++ SDK and an SDK for Unity, a leading gaming engine.

002-v1-entryPoint_v2.png
C++ and Unity developers can now access Firebase Analytics for real-time player insights

With Firebase Analytics, C++ and Unity developers can now capture billions of daily events — like level completes and play time — to get more nuanced player insights and gain a deeper understanding of metrics like daily active users, average revenue per user and player lifetime value.

This is an exciting time to be a game developer. It’s been a privilege to meet so many of you at GDC 2017 and learn about the amazing games that you’re all building. We hope the innovations we announced today help you grow long-term gaming businesses and we look forward to continuing on this journey with you.

Until next year, GDC!

1 - App Monetization Report, November 2016, App Annie
2 - More than 80% of video ad views in mobile apps on the Google Display Network are from devices held vertically video, Google Internal Data
3 - Google Internal Data

“Level up” your gaming business with new innovations for apps

Mobile games mean more than just fun. They mean business. Big business. According to App Annie, game developers should capture almost half of the $189B global market for in-app purchases and advertising by 20201.

Later today, at the Games Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, I look forward to sharing a series of new innovations across ad formats, monetization tools and measurement insights for apps.

  • New playable and video ad formats to get more people into your game
  • Integrations to help you create better monetization experiences 
  • Measurement tools that provide insights about how players are interacting with your game
Let more users try your game with a playable ad format

There’s no better way for a new user to experience your game than to actually play it. So today, we introduced playables, an interactive ad format in Universal App Campaigns that allows users to play a lightweight version of your game, right when they see it in any of the 1M+ apps in the Google Display Network.

Jam City’s playable ad for Cookie Jam

Playables help you get more qualified installs from users who tried your game in the ad and made the choice to download it for more play time. By attracting already-engaged users into your app, playables help you drive the long-term outcomes you care about — rounds played, levels beat, trophies won, purchases made and more.

"Jam City wants to put our games in the hands of more potential players as quickly as possible. Playables get new users into the game right from the ad, which we've found drives more engagement and long-term customer value." Josh Yguado, President & COO Jam City, maker of Panda Pop and Cookie Jam.

Playables will be available for developers through Universal App Campaigns in the coming months, and will be compatible with HTML5 creatives built through Google Web Designer or third-party agencies.

Improve the video experience with ads designed for mobile viewing

Most mobile video ad views on the Google Display Network are watched on devices held vertically2. This can create a poor experience when users encounter video ad creatives built for horizontal viewing.

Developers using Universal App Campaigns will soon be able to use an auto-flip feature that automatically orients your video ads to match the way users are holding their phones. If you upload a horizontal video creative in AdWords, we will automatically create a second, vertical version for you.

Cookie Jam horizontal video and vertical-optimized video created through auto-flip technology

The auto-flip feature uses Google's machine learning technology to identify the most important objects in every frame of your horizontal video creative. It then produces an optimized, vertical version of your video ad that highlights those important components of your original asset. Early tests show that click-through rates are about 20% higher on these dynamically-generated vertical videos than on horizontal video ads watched vertically3.

Unlock new business with rewarded video formats, and free, unlimited reporting

Developers have embraced AdMob's platform to mediate rewarded video ads as a way to let users watch ads in exchange for an in-app reward. Today, we are delighted to announce that we are bringing Google’s video app install advertising demand from AdWords to AdMob, significantly increasing rewarded demand available to developers. Advertisers that use Universal App Campaigns can seamlessly reach this engaged, game-playing audience using your existing video creatives.

We are also investing in better measurement tools for developers by bringing the power of Firebase Analytics to more game developers with a generally available C++ SDK and an SDK for Unity, a leading gaming engine.

C++ and Unity developers can now access Firebase Analytics for real-time player insights

With Firebase Analytics, C++ and Unity developers can now capture billions of daily events — like level completes and play time — to get more nuanced player insights and gain a deeper understanding of metrics like daily active users, average revenue per user and player lifetime value.

This is an exciting time to be a game developer. It’s been a privilege to meet so many of you at GDC 2017 and learn about the amazing games that you’re all building. We hope the innovations we announced today help you grow long-term gaming businesses and we look forward to continuing on this journey with you.

Until next year, GDC!

Posted by: Sissie Hsiao, Product Director, Mobile Advertising, Google
Last played Fire Emblem Heroes for Android
1 - App Monetization Report, November 2016, App Annie
2 - More than 80% of video ad views in mobile apps on the Google Display Network are from devices held vertically video, Google Internal Data
3 - Google Internal Data

Source: Inside AdMob


Check out our developer talks at the Google Booth @GDC 2016

We’re excited to be at the Game Developers Conference next week. Come visit the Google booth (612 in Zone 1) to learn how to build great games with AdMob, AdWords, Cardboard, Cast, Cloud Platform, Play and Tango. We’ll also be doing talks throughout the day covering a wide range of topics from developing an app and growing users to monetization. The talks are 20 minutes long and open to anyone to drop in. Seating is limited so be sure to come 5 minutes early to the talk you want to hear. We hope to see you there!
Wednesday, March 16
10:00am-10:20amHere Be Dragons: 4 years of DragonVale and Google Cloud Platform
Chris Goody from Backflip Studios is going to talk to us about his experience building and running a top grossing mobile game on Google Cloud Platform for the past four years.
11:00am-11:20amGaming with Project Tango
Schell games show their tango apps and talk about their experience building w/ Tango.
11:30am-11:50amThe Purple Ocean Strategy" Cross-Platform Opportunities
The Purple Ocean Strategy talk explores how Google technologies make it feasible to reach our enormous (1.4 billion Android users) installed base of potential gamers, AND explore exciting new technologies like our VR, Project Tango, Cast Games, Android TV and more, simultaneously.
12:30pm-12:50pmPeopleFun and Google Cloud Platform
Leon from PeopleFun will be discussing their experiences build mobile games using Google Cloud Platform
1:00pm-1:20pmApp Promotion 
Insights and best practices on how mobile-first companies are using Google's app promotion solutions to take their apps to new levels.
1:30pm-1:50pmOptimize your ads stack
Learn more about AdMob as a smart mediation platform and how it can optimize your yield across formats, regions, and third-party ad networks.
2:00pm-2:20pmRealtime Multiplayer with Firebase and Unity
This talk will cover how Firebase’s new Unity plugin can be used to enable real-time date synchronization across your Unity based games.
2:30pm-2:50pmExploring Open Data in the Cloud with BigQuery
Robert Kubis, a Developer Advocate on Google Cloud Platform, will show you how cloud computing makes it easier to explore big data. You'll leave knowing how to use the cloud to effectively explore all that valuable data you've been logging.

Thursday, March 17

10:00am-10:20amPeopleFun and Google Cloud Platform
Leon from PeopleFun will be discussing their experiences build mobile games using Google Cloud Platform
10:30am-10:50amBringing Multiplayer Social Game Experiences to the Big Screen
Learn how to bring multiplayer social game experiences to the big screen through Google Cast, and find out about the many cool interaction models you can implement.
11:00am-11:20amPromo Codes and You: A Love Story
Overview, best practices, Q&A on self service promo codes now and into the future
11:30am-11:50amEngage more users with better ad formats
See some of the exciting new ad formats AdMob is bringing to apps, including Native Ads, Interactive Interstitials, and playable Trial Run Ads
12:00pm-12:20pmRealtime Multiplayer with Firebase and Unity
This talk will cover how Firebase’s new Unity plugin can be used to enable real time date synchronisation across your Unity based games.
12:30pm-12:50pmGaming with Project Tango
iguanabee, Eike Consulting introduce 'Raise' and 'Slingshot Islands'. 10 min each on their tango apps - talk about their experience building w/ Tango.
1:00pm-1:20pmApp Promotion
As the Team Lead for Google’s App Developer Sales, Beth will share insights and best practices on how mobile-first companies are using Google's app promotion solutions to take their apps to new levels.
1:30pm-1:50pmOptimize your ads stack
Learn more about AdMob as a Smart Mediation platform and how it can optimize your yield across formats, regions, and third party ad networks.
2:00pm-2:20pmView-driven interactive storytelling for mobile and VR
Concepts and techniques for sequencing nonlinear immersive stories, understanding the audience engagement and reacting to it in real time.
2:30pm-2:50pmExploring Open Data in the Cloud with BigQuery
In this session Jen Tong, a Developer Advocate on Google Cloud Platform, will show you how cloud computing makes it easier to explore big data. She'll use Google BigQuery to poke around some really big data sets including the GDELT news database, Wikipedia logs, and weather data going back to 1929.

Friday, March 18
10:00am-10:20amReal-time Gaming with Containers and gRPC
Look at how gRPC can be used as a performant real time communication framework that works across platforms such as mobile and embedded devices as well as languages, such as Go, Node.js and Java. We will also combine this with Kubernetes’ powerful ability to orchestrate containers at scale, handling and coordinating large amounts of traffic from all these users.
11:00am-11:20amLightsaber Escape Chrome Experiment
We’ll discuss how the Lightsaber Escape Chrome Experiment (lightsaber.withgoogle.com) was built. Combining WebGL, WebRTC, WebSockets and Google Cloud Platform, this application lets you wield a lightsaber in a daring escape from the clutches of the First Order.

Even if you can’t attend this year, you’ll be able to stay in the loop. We’ll be live tweeting and sharing the event on our Twitter and Google+ channels, using the hashtags #Google #GDC16.

Posted by Henry Wang
Product Marketing, AdMob

Source: Inside AdMob