The holiday season brings together joy, cheers and the opportunity to boost monetization with Google AdMob. Publishers usually see an uptick in their revenues around the holiday season. We’ve seen a significant rise in eCPM and in-app advertising revenue during the holiday season. For example, in 2023, eCPM grew by 9% overall, and in-app advertising revenue witnessed a growth of 21%. Interesting.
Publishers benefit from higher user engagement and spending during the holidays, which leads to increased ad revenue. Higher spending by advertisers in Q4 boosts eCPMs across games and apps. To add to that, the increase in daily active users around the holiday season drives impressions up, and ultimately the revenue. Google AdMob has seen a year on year growth of 1.6 Billion users.
Google recommends app publishers adapt their strategies around these crucial dates in the holiday season. These dates include:
- Singles Day (November 11th)
- Black Friday (November 29th)
- Cyber Monday (December 2nd)
- Christmas (December 25th)
- Lunar New Year (End of January 2025)
- Valentine’s Day (February 14th)
How can App Developers Maximize their Revenue?
App Developers using Google AdMob for monetization can opt-in for performance suggestions to get personalized insights for your app. If you’ve already enabled this, here is what you should do next.
- Enable AdMob Mediation
- Switch on AdMob Mediation to maximize your app’s revenue potential and inventory by sharing it with a large pool of ad networks. Learn about AdMob Mediation with our detailed guide.
- Explore new Ad Formats.
- Try out new ad formats that enhance your user experience and also help boost your app earnings. Check out game-specific ad formats to see what could work for you.
- Strike a good balance between monetization and user experience.
- While monetization is essential during this period, it should not come at the cost of user experience. Ensure that the increased ad frequency or new ad formats do not impact your app’s user experience. After all, long-term success is less important than short-term gain.
Which Ad Formats Should App Developers Opt For?
Around the holiday season, these are the ad formats that you should experiment with.
App Open Ads
App Open Ads are experiencing significant growth in impressions and revenue. They are effective because they appear when a user opens or switches back to an app, providing a full-screen experience for advertisers. Real-time bidding can further improve the performance of App Open Ads.
Adaptive Banners
Adaptive banners automatically adjust their size to fit different screen sizes, optimizing for viewability and click-through rates. While adaptive banners are not growing as rapidly as App Open Ads, they are still witnessing a 26% year-on-year revenue growth. Consider adaptive banners, especially during the holiday season, since ad spending is high.
Collapsible Banners
Capsule banners capture user attention more effectively than traditional banners. Users have the option to collapse the banner, providing a balance between visibility and control. If your app has a static interface, we highly recommend collapsible banners since they can bring in additional revenue without disrupting the user experience. These banners are also relatively easy to implement.
Native Ads
Native ads blend seamlessly with the app’s content, providing a non-disruptive advertising experience. Recent updates to native ads give you increased control over ad placement and video options, making them more versatile and user-friendly. Learn how to monetize mobile apps with Google AdMob.
Rewarded Ads
Gaming studios worried about hampering the user experience should experiment with rewarded ads. Rewarded ads offer users in-app rewards, such as extra lives or virtual currency, in exchange for watching an ad. This format is known to significantly boost in-app purchases and revenue without compromising user satisfaction.
The effectiveness of an ad format depends on various factors, such as your app category, target audience, and user experience. We recommend A/B testing to help determine the best-performing formats for your app.
