Hello everyone, and welcome to our session
on Advanced Solutions for Evolving Monetization with Google Ads.
We're excited to be here with you today
and dive into the evolution of monetization methods in
in mobile gaming over the past few years and highlight new and existing methods
for achieving your goals with Google solutions.
Now a bit about us.
My name is Katie Funk and I'm the Global Product Lead for Gaming
on the Google Ads team.
Hi everyone.
My name is Jennifer Lui and I'm a senior product manager
for gaming on the Google Ads team.
Let's get started with a look at the state of mobile gaming
and expected growth trends in 2023.
Mobile is the biggest gaming platform
in the world by revenue representing more consumer spend
than both PC and console combined.
As a platform, mobile is extremely accessible.
It includes games that cater to a broad spectrum of genres,
interests and demographics,
with the vast majority launched as free to play
with a wide spectrum of purchase price points
and the additional ability
for developers to generate revenue from non-payers via in-app advertising.
In addition to representing the majority of consumer spend,
mobile also continues to be the fastest growing gaming platform.
Despite a backdrop of industry headwinds and privacy changes and a decline in 2022,
mobile gaming is well posed for success in 2023 and beyond.
Now that we've covered mobile gaming's importance
and potential within the gaming ecosystem,
let's learn more about the evolution of bidding solutions at Google
and how those align with the goals
of gaming advertisers to grow their businesses.
With that, let's dive right into our current product solutions
for driving app installs by bidding type.
First up is target CPI,
our original bidding strategy for mobile-first user acquisition.
The goal for TCPI is to drive maximum install volume
at a set target CPI and daily budget.
Use cases include game launch
or any time you need to drive high install volume
with predictable cost per user.
Next up, we have Target CPA.
The goal of which is to drive maximum event volume at a set target CPA
and daily budget.
Use cases for this bidding type include deeper funnel optimization
and it is also used to balance install volume with events
that are indicative of high value or importance.
Finally, we have target return on ad spend or tROAS.
With tROAS you can acquire maximum new user volume at a set target ROAS
within daily budget and conversion window.
This is our most sophisticated bidding solution
and is aligned to the common true KPI of ROAS.
Just as bidding solutions have evolved and expanded,
developers have started to incorporate
multiple monetization methods within a single game.
Using sophisticated user segmentation techniques,
opt-in mechanics like rewarded video and more.
It is now possible to maximize revenue while maintaining
a great user experience.
Let's take a closer look at hybrid monetization trends.
Hybrid monetization is on the rise,
in contrast to years past when monetization methods were
were generally limited to a single strategy per title.
More and more games are incorporating multiple monetization methods,
even segmenting their audience to ensure maximum returns
while maintaining the integrity of their user experience.
Don't just take it from us.
Developers themselves are highlighting the benefits
of this hybrid strategy in their own words.
All IAA and play together are optional and related to game rewards.
We've designed the IAA so that it doesn't interfere
with the gameplay.
If a player wants to gain additional rewards when they turn in a quest,
they can do so by watching an ad,
says Eunkjung Ju, Marketing lead at Haegin.
Massimo Caporale, Chief Publishing Officer at Bandai Namco states:
We needed to develop new skill sets in terms of ad placement optimization.
Working with our data scientists,
product owners and game designers ensured we would maximize
our ad inventories while at the same time not hurting
the user experience.
And now over to Jen.
Thanks, Katie.
Now that we've explored hybrid monetization,
let's take a look at how Google's target ROAS solutions align
to different monetization methods and marketing strategies.
As Katie mentioned,
developers today are incredibly sophisticated.
They have a deep understanding of how to value users
across monetization methods.
Google has a set of ROAS-focused solutions
for Android to help them grow their user base.
Target ROAS for Android in-app purchases launched
at the beginning of 2021, and has become a key strategy
to help IAP for developers around the world
obtain more installs from users who are likely
to make a post install in-app purchase.
Given the strong growth of casual and hyper casual games
over the last few years,
the team launched target ROAS for ad revenue in October of 2022.
This product allows developers on the opposite end of the spectrum,
those who monetize primarily with in-app ads to acquire users who are likely to engage
with a post-install ad.
Today, we're excited to share
that we're working on a product that will round out our suite
of Android solutions, enabling us to better support
the growth of hybrid monetization methods and diversified revenue types.
Specifically, target ROAS for hybrid
on Android will allow advertisers to optimize for both IAP and IAA users
within a single ad campaign.
This product is currently in closed alpha.
Next, let's dive deeper into our ROAS-focused solutions for Android.
So why is bidding for user level revenue so important?
Well, it boils down to three things.
First, it aligns your strategy to your ROAS goals
by removing any reliance on proxy events or estimated ROAS
based on upper funnel events.
Next, it optimizes directly towards your ROAS KPIs
within a desired conversion window, with performance controls
and reporting at the campaign level.
Finally, it's a proven solution that has helped our advertising
and gaming partners drive sustainable growth
to achieve their performance goals.
We're super excited to continue partnering with you to help
you grow your business.
As an example of how these updated bidding strategies align
to customer needs,
let's take a look at Voodoo's experience with target ROAS for ad revenue.
Voodoo, based in France, is one of the world's largest hyper casual
and hybrid casual publishers.
They decided to test target ROAS for ad revenue
in two of their games:
Collect Them All and Mob Control to see if it could meet their goals
for advanced ad revenue ROAS.
Through this product, they were able to see
an increase of 58% in day-seven revenue.
Two times the investment with similar profitability
and three times predicted gross profit.
We're so happy to see that Voodoo is able to achieve
their performance goals and look forward to expanding target ROAS
for ad revenue to more titles.
To wrap things up, let's review our key takeaways
from this session.
First, despite recent headwinds, mobile gaming is here to stay.
It comprises over 50% of all gaming consumer spend
and is expected to grow in 2023.
Second, hybrid monetization is on the rise.
An increasing number of games are incorporating
multiple monetization methods,
maximizing revenue while maintaining a great user experience.
Next, optimizing for user level revenue
is the best way to hit your ROAS targets
and drive sustainable growth for your game.
And finally, remember that no matter your KPIs,
whether it's pure install volume,
optimizing for an event or hitting target ROAS,
Google bidding solutions are able to drive user volume
aligned to your performance goals.
Thanks so much for spending time with us today,
learning about advanced bidding solutions to drive success for your games.
For more actionable insights on Google gaming,
including game launches,
visit our hub of gaming resources at the link below.
Thanks again and hope to see you next time.