ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Hello everyone.
My name is Eric Leichtenschlag from the AdMob SDK Developer
Relations Team here at Google.
And today I'm here with AdMob SDK top contributors and
Google developer experts William
Ferguson and Kunal Verma.
How are you guys doing today?
Great to have you.
WILLIAM FERGUSON: Thanks, Eric.
Good to be here.
KUNAL VERMA: Yeah.
Thanks, Eric.
I'm doing good.
Thanks for having me here.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Yeah, thanks for joining us.
So today, we're here to talk with our top contributors
about how they built a successful app business using
AdMob, as well as tips and tricks for how you all
listeners can do the same.
So my first question for you, William, is how did you get
started doing mobile app development?
WILLIAM FERGUSON: Well, I saw where the mobile space was
going pretty early on.
And I started developing in Android early, mid 2010.
Java was a good match for me, and
Android piqued my interest.
I always wanted to have my own business.
And it looked to me that Android had really low
barriers to entry for me to be able to build something and
get it out there and get some revenue coming back.
So I had a good idea for a word game.
I've got a word puzzle called Lexathon.
It uses the processing power of the device to go and
generate tricky puzzles for the players to play.
And it's well-received--
450,000 downloads and four and a half stars rating.
But when I was building it all, I was really thinking
early on about monetization options.
So I decided early on that a paid download was probably
going to be a big roadblock for users, especially for an
unknown developer.
Might be OK for Rovio or someone like that, but I
didn't have that kind of clout.
In-app payments hadn't happened yet, so advertising
seemed like a really good approach.
And it's been a really good fit.
It's motivated me to retain my current users as well as
attract new ones.
And the more I engage them, the greater my revenue is.
So it's a win-win all around.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Absolutely.
So advertising is great because you can provide your
app for free and still make money.
So there's no barrier to entry, so you can
keep getting users.
You'd probably have a lot less users if you had a paid app.
And as far as monetization, as you get more users, you serve
more ads, and so your app revenue just increases with
your users.
So it's a great option.
Kunal, can you tell us how you got into mobile app
development?
KUNAL VERMA: Yeah.
So when I was in my high school days, I was so much
interested in open source mobile operating systems like
[INAUDIBLE]
phones from Motorola.
And I was creating skins for them,
modifying their resources.
So later on when I moved to college,
there was Android out.
And I got the first Android in my hand.
So I just saw all the good things in that, and all the
creative stuff.
And after the first six months of using it, I got my first
app created through the Google Eclipse used it, and then I
was out in the Play store selling it for free.
So for the first few months--
for the first two months, I sold it for free in the Play
store, then later on moved to monetization using different
ad networks.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: OK, so you did it a little bit
differently.
You just put your app out there for free, started
getting users, and then you were like, hey, I
have a lot of users.
How can I monetize this?
It sounds like you turned to advertising.
What made you choose AdMob?
KUNAL VERMA: It was like, when I was--
before that, before I got into mobile, I was in web
development.
And there, I used AdSense.
AdSense, they were really good at that time.
They were personalized, they were search-based, and it got
me a pretty good revenue at that time.
So that got me into [INAUDIBLE]
from Google.
So I got into just using AdMob for the same in my mobile.
So the space got utilized pretty well.
And that's how I got into AdMob usage.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: OK, so you had trusted AdSense, and
it sounds like you looked at AdMob after it
was acquired by Google.
And you kind of trusted Google, so that's what brought
you to AdMob.
Awesome.
My next question is, what does your AdMob setup look
like, as far as--
what kind of ad networks are you serving?
Are you using mediation or house ads?
Kunal, can you tell me a bit about how you're using AdMob?
KUNAL VERMA: Yeah.
I'm using mediation, but with only house ads.
I'm not using any other network with mediation, as get
pretty good results with AdMob.
So I'm advertising other apps, other of my apps through
mediation, using house ads.
And it has done me a pretty good thing, because through
mediation, we can provide a lot of [INAUDIBLE].
So the thing is that we can do it through eCPM-based, and I
can provide house ads later on, but as
far as the main ads.
So that is the thing.
I don't lose anything, and still I get an advertising of
my own apps.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: OK, great.
Just for those who aren't aware, mediation is a way to
serve ads from multiple ad networks, if you want to serve
different networks or serving different ad values are worth
more, then you can serve to them first, and backfill with
ads if those requests don't turn into impressions, if they
can't fill.
And so in Kunal's case, it sounds like he's not using any
other ad networks other than AdMob.
He's just backfilling any requests that AdMob can't
serve with house ads.
That's a great way to cross promote your other apps, if
you have multiple apps out there.
You get some free impressions, to have users
click on those ads--
house ads-- and potentially download some
of your other apps.
And you can get more users that way.
William, can you tell us about how you're using AdMob, if
you're using mediation and house ads?
WILLIAM FERGUSON: Yeah, sure.
I'm using mediation.
I've got several networks in my mediation list, in order to
maximize revenue and provide a little bit of a safety net.
In case one of the networks that has any kind of a
problem, I can easily just switch it out on the server.
I'm also making use of the new eCPM floor provided by AdMob.
So that's at the head of my mediation list at the moment.
And that's really helped to maximize my revenue.
When I first started--
oh.
I was just going to say when I first started, I
wasn't using mediation.
Mediation hadn't come out yet.
I was using AdMob directly.
But when mediation did roll out, it was a simple matter to
switch over.
It took all of 10 minutes to change to mediation--
my publisher ID over to a mediation ID,
added in a few libraries.
And it just up and worked.
It's good.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Right.
So switching from just AdMob to mediation is really simple.
In your code, it's just switching out your publisher
ID with a mediation placement ID.
And what's great with using mediation is that you control
all of your traffic server side.
So you're not locked in with AdMob, and you have to release
a new app if something happens and you want to try a
different network.
You just plug in multiple networks into your app.
And then if you ever want to change your allocation, you
can change that server side instantly.
Your users see the new configuration.
As far as the eCPM floor, that's a great way to get a
premium ad for AdMob.
So eCPM floor is a separate network, essentially, where
you go to AdMob and say, only give me an ad if it's worth
this much a eCPM.
And if AdMob can fill it, that's great.
And if not, then it will not fill the request, then you can
go to other networks.
And none of the networks can fill it, you can come back to
AdMob and say, give me any ad.
So it's great to get--
you can try to get a premium ad worth more from AdMob.
Are you using any customer events, William?
WILLIAM FERGUSON: Yeah.
I've created a couple.
It's a really flexible framework, so you can do quite
a lot with it.
I'm sure I've only touched the sides.
I've the got where I'm using it to serve interstitial ads
from another ad network.
And now I can go and include interstitials from networks
that are current AdMob partners as well.
So I'll get an even better [INAUDIBLE]
which is just fantastic.
And I've created a couple to get around some of the
problems that some of the networks had with the Jelly
Bean release.
Again, I'm moving faster than a lot of the libraries that I
integrate with.
So this is a way for me to be able to handle it all myself
and move on at a good rate of iteration.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: So with AdMob mediation, we have a of
partners who develop their own adapters.
And so as a developer, you can just plug in their libraries
of adapters and integrate with those networks.
But for other networks that we don't support directly, you
can do something called a customer event, which William
is using, where you can write your own implementation for
integration with that network, and still control your traffic
server side just as a first-class network.
It sounds like William is taking advantage of that
opportunity.
Another common question that we've had from users, is where
you place your adView in your app to get the most revenue,
or maybe the best CTR?
What have you noticed is the best placement for you guys?
William, can you start?
WILLIAM FERGUSON: Yeah.
I'm using a banner ad at the bottom of the main
activity of my app.
It's really the only sane or sensible place for me in that
app in particular, so I haven't really experimented
too much elsewhere.
For the interstitial ads that I show, I'm showing them at
the end of a game, after showing the score.
And I only show them a certain percentage of the time, just
to keep things fresh so that the user doesn't come to
anticipate the ad, as it were, and try to skip past it.
And it makes it so that it's not a real pain for them.
It's part of the game, as it were.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Yeah, that's good, as far as not
serving interstitial every time, so publishers don't get
annoyed, and serving them at the end of the game, so that
they're not waiting to play the game and then getting
served with an ad before they start, because that's not a
great user experience either.
Kunal, can you tell us where you're placing your
adViews in your app?
KUNAL VERMA: I'm placing my ads at the bottom of my
primary activity.
Because at the top, I'm having instructions on how to use the
app, using [INAUDIBLE], or after six seconds, the
instruction changes.
That's why the best possible place for me to place the ad
was the bottom.
And I'm just using the primary activities for at this and
then the secondary activities don't have any adViews.
I don't think that having an ad for two seconds of four
seconds is not a good idea.
So just use the ads only on the main activity.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Yeah, so it sounds like you're also
placing at the bottom.
At the top there is kind of instructional stuff, so
there's a common theme there.
As far as, like, in which activities you place, you
bring up a really good point.
You probably shouldn't put ads in activities or screens where
users are only spending a few seconds of their time.
That's hitting the network more, using more of the
battery, and just really inflating your requests and
impressions.
And you're probably not going to get those clicks, because
users probably don't want to click an ad on your start
screen or on your options screen.
So it's important that you mainly put the ads in the
activities where users spend most of their time.
And the next question for you, Kunal, is, do you have any
feature requests for AdMob or just the mobile advertising
space in general?
Like, where would you like to see it go?
KUNAL VERMA: I do have a feature request of a clock in
the AdMob console which shows the view time on which the
AdMob [INAUDIBLE] team works.
So that would provide me a clear idea on how the day ends
in AdMob, and how the day ends as
compared to us, our location.
It works on GMT, and here, our location is
GMT plus 5:30 hours.
Also, it would be perfect if the reporting is done
according to our location.
And as an alternate, if it can be a clock at the bottom of
the AdMob console.
So reporting timing according to our location is a feature
request from my side.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Yeah, that's a great request.
As far as reporting, it's really important that users
get the best reporting and understand what the numbers
mean, and if they make changes to their configuration, how
that affects their revenue.
And having reporting in local time zones is really
important for that--
beginning of day and end of day, so you know exactly when
you made a change and how it got affected.
We're working on a new UI that will hopefully fix some of
these issues.
William, do you have any feature requests for AdMob or
the mobile advertising space?
WILLIAM FERGUSON: Yeah, I would have to agree with Kunal
about the clearer reporting.
And because I do so much work with mediation, some better
mediation reporting as well, particularly if I could get
the revenue and eCPM figures for the other partners.
And if you've got those, then with better figures, I'd love
to be able to order a mediator across the networks, and
shifting network party based upon the recent stats, kind of
like a eCPM floor, but on steroids.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Absolutely.
Yeah, so getting some of that eCPM data from other networks
is tough, from the AdMob network standpoint.
So today, we make you enter it manually, and serve up your
mediation configuration based on that.
I think more of a longer term goal is to move toward
something like realtime bidding, so that you have the
space and you're making a request, and we want to serve
you the ad.
And it can come from anywhere, kind of like how we do for
AdSense, in such a way that give me the highest bidding
ad, and show that there, and I can get the most
revenue in my app.
So I think that's where the mobile advertising space is
going to go, and we hope to get there.
WILLIAM FERGUSON: Yeah, that makes sense.
I'd also like the service-side mediation to reduce the size
of the app too.
Because then I'm not going to need to include the libraries
for all the other adapters.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Absolutely.
So yeah, something like realtime bidding would be done
server side.
The way it's done today, everybody kind of had an SDK
out there, client side.
And so it was easy to integrate mediation, just put
in a couple SDKs and serve to those different
SDKs in your app.
I think people were starting to do that, kind of rolling
their own solution prior to having an ad network offer a
mediation solution in the first place.
It was kind of a good first step, but it's kind of not
where the mobile advertising space--
it doesn't end here.
There's much more we can do in that area.
So my last question for you guys-- and William, can you
start-- is what recommendations would you have
for other app developers who are trying to
grow their app business?
Maybe both a beginner who's starting to develop, and a
more advanced user who's got some users and wants to grow
their app business more?
WILLIAM FERGUSON: Yeah, sure.
I wish someone had given some of this to me a few years ago.
Release early.
Release often.
Don't be afraid to release.
To listen to your users.
If a lot of them start complaining about something,
then there's something that you really need to focus upon.
Maybe it's a legitimate problem that you should fix,
or maybe just haven't explained yourself well enough
in your documentation or in the user interface inside your
application.
Fixing a few little things like that can really improve
your ratings on Google Play.
And then once you've taken care of the basic things,
think about how you can spread the word of your app.
Use social media.
Have it integrated into your app.
It's very easy to do.
Give your users plenty of options about how they can
rate your app on Google Play, how they can tell their
friends about it, through whatever means--
social means is most appropriate to your app, and
most available to your users.
Let them choose.
Don't force something upon them.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Yeah, so you bring
up some great points.
Releasing early allows you get your app out there early and
start getting those users, because it
takes time to get users.
And by updating your app, it keeps the users active.
And also listening to them when they have complaints
about bugs or new feature requests.
The user's never really wrong.
If they want something and you want them to continue using
your app, you kind of have to build that.
WILLIAM FERGUSON: I actually found--
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: I'm sorry.
Yeah?
WILLIAM FERGUSON: I actually found that the direction that
might have changed quite a bit based on user feedback.
If I'd gone entirely the way that I thought the app should
have gone, it wouldn't have been as good of an app as what
it's become, mainly because I've listened to what the
users wanted and let them guide me.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Yeah, that's great.
Follow your users.
That's some great advice.
Kunal, do you have any recommendations for both
beginning and advanced app developers?
KUNAL VERMA: Yeah.
For the beginner developers who are just going through
their app and are very confident on their work, they
can just go on advertising their app through AdMob.
A lot of features are provided by AdMob, like [INAUDIBLE].
You can advertise through [INAUDIBLE]
the same ad view reach which AdMob provides for other ads.
And for the more advanced user, they can just update
their apps, visible changes all the time so that active
users always have an advantage having your app, but they
don't go with uninstalling your app, and they just keep
it, increasing your retention rate a lot.
This will increase a lot of users' activity.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Yeah.
So it sounds like you a little bit of a different approach.
When you release your app, if you're confident about it, you
can also advertise your app on AdMob or some mobile network,
such that you can kind of increase your user base really
fast, and maybe even get high ratings in the Play store and
become one of the popular apps and get some more organic
downloads that way.
And then also releasing updates visually, appealing
updates or stuff that users can see and realize such that
it also keeps them interested.
So it sounds like both of you guys have great
recommendations that have a common theme of getting and
maintaining your users, because that's what you need
to do to keep your number of requests and ad revenue going.
Well, that's all I have for you guys.
Thank you so much for joining today and telling us all about
AdMob and how you made a successful app business.
WILLIAM FERGUSON: No problem.
Nice to talk to you, Eric.
KUNAL VERMA: Yeah, same here.
ERIC LEICHTENSCHLAG: Yeah, so if you want to hear any more
from these guys, or from myself, if you have any other
questions, you can find these guys on our Google AdMob Ads
SDK Google Group, where they'll be happy to answer
your questions.
Yeah, that's it.
Thank you guys for watching.