Ads & Monetization — GameAnalytics

What good game monetization really looks like

Good monetization is not just about making players pay. It is about building a sustainable system that players enjoy engaging with. This guide explores what healthy monetization looks like, how to measure it, and how to balance revenue, retention, ads, and in-app purchases over time.

Tomas Hubka

Ad creative ideas to take your puzzle game campaigns to the next level

Puzzle games are undeniably addictive, remaining one of the most profitable and popular genres in mobile gaming. They are challenging enough to engage the mind but structured to provide an immediate sense of progress. Every successful match, cleared row, or completed level delivers a consistent hit of dopamine, keeping players coming back for more.

Playturbo

7 Steps to build a winning creative strategy with Ad Insights

If you’ve ever tried building a creative strategy from scratch, you know how easy it is to get lost in opinions and examples. Here’s a way to cut through the noise, a seven-step workflow that combines data, analysis, and iteration, powered by Ad Insights.

Stephanie Zhang

Top Ad Formats: The Best Performing Ads in Mobile Gaming

Discover the best ad formats, from rewarded videos to playable ads, that maximize engagement and revenue for mobile games.

Vincent Février

Top 10 Hyper-casual Game Ad Networks in 2022 (Q4)

Get the latest insights on CPI, ad spend, and retention trends in hyper-casual games. See how your game compares!

Tabarak Paracha

How 'On Ice!' got 95% of its installs from a single playable ad

See how a single playable ad drove 95% of installs for ITI Studio's On Ice! and boosted IVR by 77%. A game-changing UA strategy!

Qingyun Zheng

Top 10 Hyper-casual Game Ad Networks in 2022 (Q3)

Get the latest hyper-casual CPI, ad spend, and retention benchmarks. See where your game stands with fresh insights.

Roman Garbar

Top 10 Hyper-casual Game Ad Networks in 2022 (Q2)

Discover the top ad networks and countries for hyper-casual game advertising in 2022.

Roman Garbar

How to Monetize Your Game With a Backend – Part 2

Boost revenue with the right backend! Learn how BaaS helps manage payments, live ops, and secure transactions while enhancing player experience.

Alexander Bergendahl

CPI or CTR? How to Best Measure Your Game’s Marketability

Which market test should you run? Learn when to use CTR for early validation and CPI for deeper insights into your game’s marketability.

Sarah De Vries

How to Calculate CPI, CPC, eCPM and More

Master CPI, CPC, CPM, and more. Understand key ad metrics to optimize your game marketing strategy.

Geetanjali Kaur

Why AdOps and LTV are Essential to Your Softlaunch

Increase ad revenue and optimize LTV during soft launch with smart ad ops strategies.

Ioana Hreninciuc

Improving F2P mobile games with subscription

Uncover how subscription models can enhance monetization without disrupting ads and IAP revenue in mobile games.

Teis Mikkelsen

Battle Passes: The Latest Hot Trend in Mobile Gaming

Battle Pass monetization is here to stay. Explore data-driven insights on its rise, best implementations, and how it boosts retention.

Erno Kiiski

Customizing Rewarded Ads using Machine Learning – Lessons from Rovio

Learn how Rovio optimizes rewarded ads using AI to balance IAP and ad revenue in games like Angry Birds Dream Blast.

Sarah Impey

3 Things You Need To Know When Using Licensed IPs In Mobile Games

Discover how licensed IPs impact mobile games, which genres benefit most, and how to maximize ROI from third-party brands.

Joel Julkunen

How Esports Can Help Your Mobile Game Make Money

Explore how adding competitive gameplay can boost engagement and create a new revenue stream for your mobile game.

Brian Mahoney

Could A Subscription Model Work For Your Mobile Game?

Explore the pros and cons of subscription-based mobile games versus traditional ad-based monetization.

Sarah Impey

Casual Game IAP Monetization Trends

Discover the latest in-game purchase trends for casual games, from boosters to meta monetization and engagement tactics.

Joel Julkunen

Keeping Your Head: A Beginner’s Guide To Header Bidding In Mobile Games

Understand how header bidding can boost ad revenue for mobile games compared to traditional waterfall ad mediation.

Ioana Hreninciuc

6 Ad Creative Strategies To Nail Your User Acquisition

Learn how to optimize mobile ad creatives with competitor research, creative variations, and A/B testing for better UA results.

Chay Hunter

Ad Monetization For Hyper Casual Mobile Games - A Data Scientist’s Playbook

Discover how data-driven ad strategies fuel hyper-casual game success with optimal ad formats, retention tactics, and cross-promotion.

Sunny Cha

9 Metrics You Should Prioritise For Maximum Revenue

Discover the 9 most important metrics to track in your game to maximize revenue, from DAU and retention to ARPDAU and conversion rates.

Jacqueline Zenn

Are Loot Boxes The Future Of Mobile Game Monetization?

Are loot boxes gambling? A deep dive into their impact, industry trends, and what the future holds for game monetization.

Harry Lawrence

No Mobile Ad Blindness: Making Sure Users Actually Open Their Eyes And See Your Ads

Mobile ad blindness is real—here’s how to design engaging, well-placed ads that actually get noticed and drive revenue in your game.

Jacqueline Zenn

5 Effective Behavioural Economic Monetization Patterns

Use psychology-driven monetization tactics to increase in-game spending and player retention.

Om Tandon

Rewarded Video: Retention Impact in Match-3 Games

Explore the effect of rewarded video ads on retention and revenue, backed by data from real mobile games.

Yaniv Nizan

10 Monetization Tips for Mobile Games in 2017

Identify where players drop off and improve retention by tracking player progress with funnel analysis in your game analytics.

Chay Hunter

How to Budget your Mobile Indie Game

Learn how to plan your game budget, estimate costs, and avoid financial pitfalls with expert insights from indie studios.

Nathan Lovato

How To Make Your Game UI Shine & Increase Conversions

Enhance player experience and boost conversions with intuitive, well-designed game UI and UX strategies.

Nathan Lovato

Cracking the IAP Code: The F2P secret devs don't want to talk about

Monetizing free-to-play games isn't just about adding in-app purchases—it requires strategic planning from day one. Explore how top studios structure F2P economies to maximize revenue.

Keith Andrew

Creative ways to make your hybrid-casual game more profitable

In-app purchases and advertising aren’t the only ways to generate revenue for your hybrid-casual game. Let’s explore some alternatives.

Sarah Impey

Exploring monetization: Maximizing game revenue

Game monetization is about choosing the right strategies that maximize revenue potential.

Tomas Hubka

Exploring game monetization: Traditional strategies

It could be a bit of a maze out there, but we're here to guide you through the world of game monetization. Follow along to explore traditional strategies.

Tomas Hubka

Exploring innovative game monetization: Alternative approaches

Alternative monetization efforts provide game developers with the opportunity to diversify their revenue streams.

Tomas Hubka

The Cost of Entertainment: Are Games Getting Too Expensive?

Have studios become greedy with the games? Or are they under-delivering on their promises? And what can you do to keep your games equitable?

Sarah Impey

Optimize Your Hyper/Hybrid-Casual Game Advertising in 2023

What are the best channels to advertise hyper-casual or hybrid-casual games in 2023? And should your strategy be different depending on what type of game you’re running? Learn more in this guest post and interview with Voyager Growth's founder.

Tabarak Paracha

Will big brands buy more gaming ad space?

Could we see brands massively increase their in-game advertising budgets? Despite the promising predictions, some hurdles remain.

Chay Hunter

Is the hype dead for NFTs?

We all know that NFTs don’t have the best reputation at the moment. But how are they faring? Let’s look into the facts.

Sean Parmenter

Frozen City post-IDFA global launch UA case study

In this case study, Matej Lancaric deconstructs Frozen City from Century Games, to find out how they went from $1 million a month in 2020, to $20 million a month today.

Matej Lancaric

2023 will be the year of Hybrid Monetization

Hybrid monetization might not be new, but it’s becoming an essential tactic for game studios. So what’s caused this trend?

Sarah Impey

Navigating Web3: What does it mean for Game Developers?

As more people start to notice the term Web3 in technology, we want to take a look at how this might impact gaming developers.

Nikolaj Ahlberg-Pedersen

How will monetization models change in 2022?

The experts at HyperBid explore the top trends and share our predictions for what’ll happen in 2022.

Ahmet Genc

How to Monetize Your Game With a Backend - Part 1

A quality backend-as-a-service is your secret weapon in making your game both creatively dazzling and commercially viable. But what does that actually mean?

Alexander Bergendahl

The Metrics That Make for a Great Match 3 Game – And How to Reach Them

Match 3 games have been popular since the 1980s. And they’re still going strong. We’ve used our Benchmarks+ tool to see what makes them so great.

Chay Hunter

Part 2: How to Land a Licensed IP for Your Mobile Game

You know what it is, and you know why it could be beneficial for your game. But how exactly do you land a licensed IP?

Sarah Impey

Personalizing Offers for In-App Monetization - Lessons from Crazy Panda

Want to use personalized offers to increase monetization for your mobile game? Ivan Kozyev, head of analytics at Crazy Panda, tells us how to do just that.

Ivan Kozyev

Part 1: The Pros and Cons of Using a licensed IP

Using someone else’s universe, story or music can draw in more players. But what is IP? And what are the benefits and pitfalls?

Sarah Impey

Designing battle passes in mobile games: the whats, whys, and hows

What is a battle pass? And how can you use them in your mobile game? I answer that, and more, in this post. (Includes examples from the best.)

Jupiter Hadley

Getting started with mobile ad mediation – a how-to guide

Think ad mediation is just measuring in-game advertising revenue? Think again. It can do much, much more. Here's everything you should know.

Leon

A Game Developers’ Guide to Playable Ads

What makes a great playable ad? And what steps can you take to making them? We answer that, and more, in this article.

Sarah Impey

15 Ad-Tech Terms Every Mobile Game Developer Should Know

Ad mediation? CPM? Waterfalling? All key terms that are used throughout the industry, but what do they really mean? We answer just that.

Dev Jadav

Best Practices For In-Game Purchases: Converting Players To Spenders

How can you get the most of in-game purchases? From defining your audience to nailing your path to purchase, we've rounded up all of the best practices.

Jacqueline Zenn

Native Ads In Mobile Games - Everything You Need to Know

Planning and executing a great native ad strategy can be tough but, if done well, native campaigns often outperform other ad types. In this article, we examine why native ads are a great monetization strategy for mobile games.

Jacqueline Zenn

Microtransactions In Games: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Monetisation in games can often be a tricky subject, and microtransactions even more so. Andrei Klubnikin talks to Pavel Shylenok, CTO at R-Style Lab, to discuss the monetisation model and its future...

Andrei Klubnikin

9 Popular Mobile Game Ad Formats (And How To Use Them)

Ad revenue is the lifeblood of we look at the top mobile ad formats and placements and how to use them.

Jacqueline Zenn

Freemium Economics: Commerce at a Price Point of $0

I was inspired to write the book one day after curiosity compelled me to count the total number of words across all posts on my blog. The number was over 100,000, and I reasoned that such a voluble mass of opinion could be easily copied and pasted into a Word document and submitted to a publisher as a book. More than a year later, I realised how silly that notion is; in the end, Freemium Economics was entirely written from scratch.

Eric Seufert

Mid-Core Success Part 4: Monetization

Michail Katkoff on why sustained monetization is a result achieved through excellent game design, a balanced game economy, engaging social mechanics and a fresh approach.

Michail Katkoff

42 Ways to Monetize Your Mobile Game

It seems that forty-two is not only the answer to "life, universe and everything". It is also the answer to your monetization strategy. Read these 42 tips that Yaniv Nizan has to share on making your game profitable.

Yaniv Nizan

From Paid to Free(mium) in Three Steps

In this latest post, Michail Katkoff delves deeper into the realm of freemium and walks you through the process of assessing the profitability of switching an existing game from paid to freemium.

Michail Katkoff

Getting and keeping players in the game store

While most players will definitely check your in-game store out of sheer curiosity, it's a true art to keep them there. An art in which Yaniv Nizan is ready to train you.

Yaniv Nizan

Game Economies - 5 mistakes to avoid

So you want your game to feature an in-game store? Avoid these five common blunders shared by Yaniv Nizan to make sure you do not scare your potential customers away.

Yaniv Nizan

How to Price your In-app Purchase Items

There's an entire science behind how to price your in-game purchases. Yaniv Nizan is back to give us some pointers on how to do it right.

Yaniv Nizan