An Outlook On Our Rewarded Video Growth

Previously on the blog, we covered the basics of rewarded video ads and the key things that publishers should know about this ad format. We are now digging deeper into why publishers should consider InMobi for their rewarded video monetization strategy. 

A Strong Contender to Banner and Interstitial  

While the nature of the app will highly influence the appropriate placement strategy, the adoption of high-impact formats among app developers has been undeniable. Rewarded video ads have become of the strongest monetization opportunities for publishers, which can generate high eCPMs and engagement.  

Where banners are highly scalable and interstitials take the share of voice on the screen, the magic of rewarded video lies in its positive reward experience. A recent report showed that banners represent up to 80% or more of iOS ad impressions in the U.S. but only 17% of the revenue share, compared with interstitial (71%) and rewarded video (13%).   

At InMobi, we are working with an increasing number of leading app developers who are trusting us with their monetization strategy. Similarly, we have also been strengthening our relationships with premium advertisers around the world that are looking for engaging inventory and audiences to deliver their advertising campaigns.  

Let’s take a look at the evolution of rewarded video with InMobi, and how eCPMs have evolved across our key markets and the two operating systems. 

Publishers See the Returns 

Rewarded videos ads not only command higher eCPMs, but they also help publishers to contribute to positive user engagement and can lead to in-app purchases (IAP), therefore increasing the APRDAU (average revenue per daily active user).

Take TapNation for example, who has seen their APRDAU and revenue increasing by 104% through opening rewarded video placements.  

Over the past couple of years, we have introduced Rewarded Display and Rewarded Playables ad formats with close delay timer, which improved the fill rates on rewarded ad slots by almost 30% and average eCPMs by 40%. Our eCPMs in the top APAC markets we are operating in have been rising by an average 180% year-on-year between Q4 2020 and Q4 2021.  

Although they are more prevalent to gaming apps, rewarded ads can be implemented across different categories and be as effective, they are not exclusive to gaming environments. Some non-gaming apps from all categories have adopted rewarded video ads. Nebula, a leading astrology app that delivers horoscope insights to its users, and Duolingo, a leading app which helps users to learn new languages, are good examples. 

Monetizing through highly engaging ad formats like rewarded video ads is even more important in today’s privacy-focused world and maximize ad revenue for non-addressable audiences. Through UnifID, our identity management solution, we have observed that ad units like rewarded video ads have seen their fil l rate increase by 18% and eCPMs by 17% when passing universal IDs through the bid stream.  

As privacy initiatives are increasing and access to mobile advertising IDs being restricted, marketers are adapting their targeting strategies towards alternative identifiers to reach addressable audiences. Highly sought-after, mobile addressable audiences combined with rewarded video ads can generate great returns for publishers. 

The Investments We Have Made on Ad Format Experiences 

At InMobi, we have invested significantly, and still are, in building ad formats that both respect the user experience and serve the modern monetization needs of our publisher partners. With this perspective in mind, we’ve incorporated advanced ad experience templates that are highly customizable in our new customer interface, which publishers can take advantage of today.  

Publishers’ preferences have taken the priority within our ad experience roadmap. Publishers are able to customize almost everything on their rewarded ad experience template on the InMobi Publisher Customer Interface, including the ad formats, experiences, close delays and the maximum ad duration. 

Beyond rewarded video, we are also working on enhancing our wider ad templates through regular customer feedback and innovation. Some of the initiatives we are working on include mixed ad pods, where publishers can serve several ads in a unique ad slot, along with enhancements to our video features such as the ability to set up flexible duration or dynamic video orientation. 

In a world where user retention and engagement are key metrics for publishers to measure success, we believe in building advanced tools that can help our customers achieve high results. The reward is a happy user and a happy publisher!  

Interested in learning more?