Industry overview of the mobile user acquisition space going over the ad networks, attribution trackers, and in-app analytics tools. Also see my Medium post for my information: http://bit.ly/1np5X6s All recommendations are personal opinion and does not represent Flow State Media.

1. Flow State Media: Mobile User Acquisition
Overview
Yong Park
(yongpark.sd@gmail.com)

2. 1. Industry Introduction
2. Ad Networks
3. Trackers
4. Analytics Platforms
5. Recommendations
Table of contents

3. Ad Networks provide developers an easy way to advertise with a
large network of integrated publishers. Mobile advertisers pay
based on 3 categories:
● Cost-Per-Mille (CPM)
● Cost-Per-Click (CPC)
● Cost-Per-Install (CPI)
1. Industry Introduction
Advertisers can acquire installs through non-incentivized (users
have no incentive to interact with the app ad) installs or incentivized
(offers in-game currency for app install). Incentivized downloads
however have recently been catching flak from Apple.

4. ● Global mobile ad networks offer CPM/CPC/CPI pricing with a
large publisher inventory.
● App promotion networks focus on CPI pricing. Mainly aimed
towards games and cross-promoting developer portfolio for free.
● Rich media and video networks focus on providing an interactive
or video ad to users in-app. Works on a CPC/CPM/CPI model.
● Mobile buying platforms and demand-side platforms (DSP) give
advertisers access to real-time bidding (RTB) exchanges, which
automates the buying and selling of advertising inventory via
online auctions. Works on a CPM/CPC/CPI model.
Types of ad networks

5. ● Ad is served
through ad
network.
● User interacts with
mobile ad.
● Interaction is
attributed to a
network and
tracked by tracking
platform.
● Tracking platform
sends data to an
analytics platform.
How it works

6. The numbers
I researched and spoke with ad networks,
trackers, and analytics platforms to get a sense
of the mobile user acquisition landscape.
● 40 ad networks
● 3 trackers
● 4 analytics platforms

7. 2. Ad networks
I took a sample of self-served networks, mobile CPI networks, video
networks, and first party publisher platforms I prioritized the list
based on data points including those below:
● Minimum commitment amount
● Pricing model
● Competitive advantages
● Reach (publishers/games/users)
● 24/48 hr out
● Install velocity at $2/CPI in Canada

8. Ad networks comparison
Self-
serve
Flurry Chartboost Revmob Adcolony Vungle Facebook Pandora
Minimum
commitment
Pricing model
Competitive
advantages
Reach
24/48 hr out
Installs at
$2CPI in CA

9. Self-service networks
The self-service networks such as Admoda, Buzzcity,
and inmobi typically operate on a CPM/CPC basis.
While these pricing structures are cheap, they do not
guarantee app downloads and their targeting
parameters are generally lackluster.
I suggest avoiding these networks for the soft launch
and using higher quality networks to drive quality
users.

10. Mobile CPI ad networks
This list of networks revolve around the CPI model,
paying per user rather than 1K impressions or per
click. These full-service networks typically include a
minimum cost, campaign manager/dedicated support,
and better targeting parameters.
The notable networks in this category are Flurry,
Chartboost, and Revmob.

11. Flurry is an all-in-one solution mobile marketing solution. They
provide users an ad network and a free analytics platform to get
meaningful information about their users. They have strong
targeting parameters and a generous 24 hr out with a dedicated
campaign manager.
● $10K minimum
● Premium supply source, retargeting, personas
● 500-1000 publishers
● Banner, interstitial, video, takeover
● 24 hour out with no minimum spend
● 2200 incentivized installs/700 non-incentivized installs/day in
Canada

12. Chartboost is a gaming-focused app promotion network. They
offer cross promotions for advertisers, allowing them to advertise
for free between portfolio games. They also facilitate direct deals
between advertisers and publishers while providing full data
transparency.
● $0 minimum, cancel anytime
● Cross-promotion, direct deals, data transparency, gaming
demographic
● 50k games
● Dedicated campaign manager
● Interstitials only
● Can pause/cancel anytime with 0 minimum spend

13. Revmob is one of the newer ad networks positioned towards
game advertisers as a premium network. The platform has
exclusive traffic, targeting, and an analytics platform much like
Flurry.
● $500 minimum
● In depth targeting parameters, analytics, exclusive inventory
● 6k publishers
● Dedicated campaign manager
● Interstitials, banners
● 48 hour out with no minimum spend
● 50 installs/day in Canada

14. Video ad networks
Video ad networks exclusively serve video ads. They
typically operate on a CPI model with similar minimum
costs as the mobile CPI networks. They also offer
creative support for an additional fee.
The two notable ad networks in the video space are
AdColony and Vungle.

15. Adcolony is a video only advertising network that provides non-
incentivized installs with dynamic end cards, a combination of
video and call to actions.
● $5K/$10K w/ creative support.
● Dynamic end cards, reporting & analytics, real-time data API
● 300 publishers
● Dedicated campaign manager
● 15 second video w/ CTA
● 48 hour out with no minimum spend
● 2000 installs/day in Canada

16. Vungle is a video ad network that serves 15 second videos on
both iOS and Android. They recently released their video ad
exchange, allowing advertisers to RTB in-app video inventory.
● $5K/$10K w/ creative support.
● Video ad exchange, internal dashboard, good targeting
parameters
● 5500-5800 publishers
● Dedicated campaign manager
● 15 second video w/ CTA
● 48 hour out with no minimum spend
● 50-75 installs/day in Canada

17. Proprietary networks
Proprietary networks are first-party publishers that
allows advertisers to promote on their network. These
networks have the best targeting parameters due to
the amount of data on their users.
The two publishers I spoke with for this project were
Facebook and Pandora.

18. Facebook offers low CPI with the most robust targeting parameters
offered out of the ad networks due to its first party platform. They set
the industry standard when it comes to CPI and LTV from their users.
● $750 minimum
● Deep targeting parameters, mobile/web retargeting, high user
quality, 1B user reach
● Dedicated campaign manager
● Mobile install/install w/ video ads on newsfeed.
● Can cancel anytime
● 50-75 installs/day in Canada
● Creative

19. Pandora provides high level targeting for both audio, video, and
banner ads. However, they do not guarantee inventory for CPI
campaigns since they mostly work on a CPM model.
● $10K/month for national campaigns.
● Deep targeting parameters, variety of ad types.
● Dedicated campaign manager
● Audio, video, banner ads
● No cancellation, must spend minimum spend.

20. 3. Trackers
Attribution trackers connect to various ad networks to
track where each source each install is attributed to.
They also provide additional analytics for post install
such as LTV and CPI for each ad channel, allowing
advertisers to optimize and see which ad networks are
providing high quality users.
The 3 trackers that I researched were HasOffers,
AppsFlyer, and Kochava.

21. Tracker differences
HasOffers, AppsFlyer, and Kochava are the main attribution
trackers. The main differences are price and AppsFlyer/Kochava’s
relationship with Facebook through the Preferred Marketing
Developer (PMD) program.
HasOffers recently lost their PMD relationship in February with a
large number of developers and advertisers looking at alternative
sources. AppsFlyer came up as the best option while Kochava is still
relatively new in the space with not as much volume in terms of
integrations.

22. Tracker pricing
AppsFlyer pricing
HasOffers pricing
AppsFlyer has a cheaper pricing tier than HasOffers, only tracking
tracking for installs compared to HasOffers’ clicks, installs, and in-
app events. I could not get a hold of Kochava for pricing tiers.

23. 3. Analytics Platforms
Analytics platforms allow developers to track in-app
actions on a variety of OSes. These analytics platforms
provide access to custom dashboards to get a granular
view into data to get actionable insights.
Analytics platforms provide a way to get detailed
engagement analysis using cohorts, segmentation, and
active user sessions.
The analytics platforms I researched were Google
Analytics, Flurry, Mixpanel, and Localytics.

24. Analytics comparison

25. Flurry and Mixpanel are the industry leaders when it comes to in-
app analytics.
Flurry is a free platform that gives a basic overview but is harder to
dig deeper into user actions and intentions. They provide easy
integration into their ad network through the same SDK and
comparison metrics with benchmarks for the same category.
Flurry allows advertisers to look inside user experience in real time,
review insights on how campaigns are performing, and monitor
conversions based on tracking events.

26. Mixpanel is more robust, allowing for direct user segmentation and
communication. They also provide user push messages, real-time
tracking, and in-app user flows. The downside is the need to clearly
define hooks and segmentation to get insightful data.
Mixpanel features revenue analytics
to see where the most valuable
customers come from.

27. 5. Recommendations
I recommend using the combination of Chartboost, Facebook,
AppsFlyer, and Mixpanel for the initial soft launch given the
demographic, region, and budget.
With a $15K budget, most ad networks with a $5K and $10K/month
minimum commitment level doesn’t make sense. I suggest using
Chartboost for their gaming demographic and Facebook for the
specific targeting parameters. Facebook will help drive the female
demographic while Chartboost will mix in other demographics to
get better insight on which audiences Letter Up resonates with.

28. Recommendations
I recommend using AppsFlyer and Mixpanel for attribution tracking
and in-app analytics.
AppFlyer easily integrates into Chartboost and Facebook (being a
PMD partner) to track attributions and installs.
Mixpanel and AppsFlyer integration is also simple, providing easy
interaction between the two products.