When developing games or applications, each developer has questions about monetization. Naturally, AdMob immediately comes to mind, although there are many more such systems, and it is possible, in some cases, it makes sense to even abandon it. After all, banner ads are usually quite intrusive and “hit at random”, much more interesting are more personalized ads, in which case the advertiser, publisher and most importantly the end user will benefit.
We have compiled a list of unusual advertising systems that can help developers monetize their applications. As well as a brief overview of services and prices for advertisers.

AppGlimpse (games only)

The system provides an advertising module that is built into the application, which allows you to play (try) a demo version of someone else's game in your game.
Demo games are stored in the Agawi system developer’s cloud.
The demo version of the game lasts about 2 minutes, after which it directs the user to the full version. At the moment, the beta version of the advertising system allows you to work only with the Android platform, but the creators promise in the future mandatory support for iOS.
Already now you can try your luck and sign up for beta testing of the system.
Website
Example of integration with World of Goo:

Opinion: An interesting replacement for video advertising, since the likelihood that a user downloads a game after playing a short demo is higher than after watching a video or banner.

Heyzap (games only)

The HeyZap gaming network is a social advertising platform for mobile games; it recommends a game user based on his preferences (already installed applications).
All this is thanks to Heyzap, which allows users to add friends to mobile games and share tips and badges with them (reward for check-in in games).
HeyZap provides developers with the usual full-screen advertising with payment for installation. It is also possible to integrate with the HeyZap network itself using modules for sharing records and inviting friends, both registered in and outside Heyzap. A single system of achievements allows you to store all the achievements in one place and have access to them even when changing the platform from iOS to Android. At its core, HeyZap is similar to Apple's cross-platform counterpart to Game Center.
For advertisers: it also provides the function of creating an advertising company for playing according to the CPI scheme, with a recommended minimum bid of $ 1.50 and a flexible targeting system. (Available only for Android and iOS).
Website
A small review of the application:



eCPM: ranging between $ 1.0 to $ 6.0
Withdrawal: The minimum amount for a transaction by bank transfer / paypal / check is $ 100.
View: A good advertising system, but I don’t think that we will use it in the future, because it is mainly suitable for social games.

PlayHaven (games and applications)

It is primarily interesting for its system for organizing domestic sales and the ability to select games whose full-screen banners will be shown in the publisher’s game.
To monetize an application or game, PlayHaven offers full-size advertising, More games and Feature Games buttons with payment to the publisher for installation (CPI).
In addition, for user retention, you can use push notifications, rewards in the form of any in-game items, automatic greeting messages and upgrade messages, for example, to improve communication with the player.
Another interesting feature of the system is the ability to voluntarily collect information about users (name, gender, e-mail) in exchange for some kind of in-game reward
Advertisers: To start their advertising campaign, you will need to contact the manager by e-mail.
Website



Withdraw funds: bank transfer / paypal / checks. The minimum amount available for transfer is $ 300. To receive money, you will need to fill out a form and send it by e-mail.
View: The More Games button is a good solution for publishers, because if the user liked your game, the chance that he will download something else is much higher than if he downloaded by clicking on the full-size banner. And changing advertising banners on the fly, without having to arrange an update, is a useful thing.

MobPartner (games and applications)

He suggests through his sdk to exchange with other developers (advertisers) regular advertising banners, with a fixed installation fee. You can set requirements for application content, third-party advertising systems, and the countries in which the main audience is located.
Website
CPI examples: from $ 0.48 per game from independent developers to $ 3.59 for Candy Crush Saga on Android.
Withdrawals: The minimum amount for a transaction by bank transfer is $ 500, paypal / MoneyBookers - $ 50.
View: Unfortunately, in Russia there are few successful examples of use, so there is no desire to get acquainted with the capabilities of this network yet.

Kiip (games and applications)

One of the most exotic advertising systems, instead of showing users advertising banners, rewards them with real prizes for using a game or application. Kiip collaborates with brands such as Best Buy, M & M's, McDonald's, Skittles, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, American Apparel and selects prizes based on the specifics of the application. For example, for a fitness application, you will never get a set of cheeseburgers as a prize.
Rewards are given to users upon reaching a certain level in the game or after receiving an achievement. If the award cannot be received or delivered in the country where the player is located, then for such a user the presence of Kipp in the application will remain completely unnoticed.
Kipp also holds regular prize draws from big brands (for example, Amazon Gift Cards), which can be used both to attract users to the game and to return past users in pursuit of a large reward. The only condition for this is that the game must have a system with a set of points to assess the best result.
The developer shares the profit with Kiip 50/50 from advertising for each attracted user who received the award.
For advertisers: Kiip provides an opportunity to create an advertising company with prizes. You need to set the price for user engagement (CPE), the recommended bid of $ 1, as well as the daily budget of the campaign, set targeting and provide a link to a web page where the user can receive a reward or instructions for receiving it. It is also possible to add promotional codes to the campaign that will be automatically sent to winning users by e-mail.
eCPM: Kiip talks about $ 7- $ 50 (for some developers), but judging by the reviews on average about $ 5.
Website
Test demo
View: An unusual advertising system, but not for the Russian market. It is interesting to use it as a reward for stimulation when receiving an achievement.

Vungle (games and applications)

An ad network specializing in ad videos in apps and games. The developer receives payment for viewing by the user 12s from a 15 second video.
Advertising is played without constant downloads (like on youtube) or some kind of buffering, and is immediately preloaded at startup and stored in the cache.
Advertisers: For advertising through this system you don’t have to record an ad yourself. It is enough to leave a request and indicate the main points that I would like to highlight in your application, as well as select a voice. The only limitation is that the language for recording videos so far is only English.
The minimum advertising budget is $ 10, although the bid can be set independently for installation (CPI) or viewing (CPV).
When registering, you must carefully indicate the type of account, as the advertiser and publisher functions presented in the control panel are completely different.
Website



eCPM: About $ 2-6
Withdrawal: bank transfer / paypal / checks. The minimum withdrawal amount is $ 1000 for a bank transfer, $ 50 for the rest.
To receive payments you will have to fill out 2 forms (contact information and amount, as well as tax form W-8/9 and send it to Vungle by email).
View: An excellent advertising system as an alternative to various banners, because it’s much easier to interest a potential user with an exciting teaser for the game. It is also convenient to use video viewing as a source of additional currency for the user.

Chartboost (games only)

An advertising system that offers publishers full-screen banners with payment for installation. With the settings, you can increase the minimum CPI value, and if necessary, cut off advertising for low-budget companies (by default it is at least $ 0.5).
For advertisers: To advertise your game, you can create your own full-screen banner. The minimum daily budget for advertising is $ 100, the minimum CPI is $ 0.5.
The bulk of the games advertised through Chartboost are games for children and adolescents.
Website
View:The system looks good for advertising its applications, it attracts the minimum price of one installation <$ 1, while in other systems $ 1 is the very minimum. Our experience with chartboost is $ 12 for several months, eCMP was $ 1–2.5 somewhere with 80,000 launches / day and 6,000 app installs and 400 to 2,000 impressions. After 2 weeks, profits fell to zero and did not rise anymore. But this is only for the Russian market. On the western sites about this system go mostly positive reviews about the consistently high eCMP.

RevMob (games only)

It offers mostly full-screen advertising. The network is similar to Chartboost, placing a banner with just the phrase “Get a FREE game” on a gradient background, leading to various free games. It is also possible to post the “More games” link, which directs the user to the download page of the advertised mobile application. Payment to the developer is for the transition and installation of the application.
For greater flexibility of advertising when using the system on older devices, it is also envisaged to use a standard dialog with a message about downloading the game.
For advertisers: When advertising your game through this system, the recommended minimum bid for installation is $ 1.5, but there is an opportunity to make less, because payment is not charged according to the bid for installation, but for each click on the advertisement.
Website
An example of an advertising banner:



eCPM: $ 5- $ 7
Withdraw funds: bank transfer / paypal / payoneer card. The minimum amount for a transaction by bank transfer is $ 250, the rest of the system is $ 50.
View: Judging by the reviews, the link “More Games” is quite popular and its use has a good impact on eCPM.

TapJoy (games and applications)

Another advertising system that represents the usual banner ads with standard formats (320x50, 640x100, etc.). It is also possible to display full-screen banners and video ads. But the most interesting, in our opinion, is the Offer Wall, with which the user gets the opportunity to earn internal currency in the application or some other bonuses just by completing tasks on this “wall” (usually they come down to installing any application).
For advertisers: Tapjoy offers paid installations with a minimum bid of $ 0.10 and a recommended daily budget of $ 500-1000. It is also possible to advertise your application using a 15-30 second video and using the “engagement fee”, indicating the actions that the user must perform in order to receive a reward (for example, install a game and reach a milestone) and a minimum bid of $ 0.20.
Website



Withdraw funds: bank transfer / paypal / checks. The minimum withdrawal amount is $ 250 for any method.
View: Our experience of using tapjoy offer wall was expressed in the following indicators: Revenue: 3.62 $, eCPM: 1.67 $, CTR: 21.6%. In total, the income for two months of use amounted to about $ 50.

Pollfish (games and applications)

Pollfish offers developers a fee for user-completed polls within the app. The income for each survey passed by the player varies depending on the targeting of the survey, the required number of answers and the actual logic of the survey.
For advertisers: for $ 65 (this is for 50 answers, the price varies depending on their number) you can compile a survey among more than 5,000,000 application users with the integrated Pollfish SDK. Polling settings are quite flexible.
Website
Demo version of the Android application
Withdrawal of funds: paypal when accumulating on the balance of $ 30.
Opinion:An advertising system that appeared relatively recently, but has already managed to form a rather large user base. We are going to try in the near future as an alternative to video advertising.

AdMob (games and applications)

The famous Google advertising network, which allows you to create banner ads and place them on the screen. It features stable eCPM and pay per click. Clicks from each country are estimated differently, as for example in the USA somewhere between 0.7 - 0.11 $, and in Europe (Russia) an average of about 0.03 $. Not only games, but also various goods and services are advertised through the network.
It is also possible to integrate full-size advertising, clicks on such advertising do not cost more, but the chance that the user clicks on such a banner is still higher.
In addition, AdMob has special offers for developers, which they periodically send by mail, a separate type of full-screen banners that advertise only games and video ads.
For advertisers: Through AdMob, you can also advertise your applications using custom banner ads and fairly flexible targeting.
Website



Withdraw funds: bank transfer / paypal / checks. The minimum withdrawal amount is $ 50 for any method. After reaching this amount, you can receive transfers and smaller volumes.
View: The CPC for a fullscreen banner ad with games is $ 0.06. AdMob holds its position firmly and does not cease to be one of the best tools for developers to monetize their applications. This is especially true for games tied to content. I do not think that in the near future we will abandon this system, because this represents about 40% of total application revenue.
In terms of advertising applications through this network, as practice has shown, this option is not suitable for us, investing several times small amounts to check the involvement of users or boost installations, the advertisement did not give. It is much more profitable, for example, to invest the same money in installations and get guaranteed installations.
Also, we experienced other advertising networks such as Madvertise , Inner-active , Mobfox . Of these, we are still working only with the latter, with the rest we have not been able to achieve any productive results.
We use Mobfox as a good alternative for a variety of advertising banners and for users located in countries for which for some reason there are no AdMob advertising banners.

As a bonus: Apptopia

If, after all, after you've tried for a long time all of the above methods of monetization and not only them, but failed to make the game truly profitable, you can at least try to recapture the development costs. Apptopia can help with this, where you can put your (iOS / Android) application for sale by indicating the price you like. But along with this, it should be remembered that all data on downloads and income will also become available to potential buyers.
To start sales, it is not necessary to transfer the login / password to the system, you can only add Apptopia as a user in the Google Play or Itunes Connect control panel and pay $ 29 for placement in the system.
Website

Conclusion

If you had experience using these systems or you know about some other unusual advertising services offering interesting types of monetization of mobile applications and games, do not hesitate and leave your comments below.