Is your app not producing as much ad revenue as you think it should?

Do you feel like you could make a lot more money from your app if you could just find a better alternative to AdMob? 

That might be the case, but let's dig a little deeper and find out...

First...Do You Really NEED to Replace AdMob?

AdMob is one of the oldest mobile ad networks still in existence. After it was acquired by Google, it was turned into Google's consolidated source for in-app advertising. It is one of the very largest supply side platforms (SSPs) in the world and benefits from integration with Google's other very deep sources of demand like Google AdX.

Does that mean it's the best out there? No, not necessarily. 

That said, there are certain problems that cannot be fixed by replacing AdMob. Let's talk about those for a minute.

Low Inventory

The biggest problem that I see developers having with regard to ads is simply that they don't have enough traffic to be running ads in the first place. 

ALL systems that automatically optimize performance need a lot of data to make good decisions. That is certainly true of AdMob and it's also true of the advertisers who buy AdMob's inventory. They all use machine learning algorithms which need to be fed enough data to make decisions. 

So if you only have 1,000 impressions per month, AdMob will never be able to optimize that inventory very well. BUT, neither will any other SSP, so swapping AdMob for another platform won't make any difference. 

Focus on growing your user base until you have around 30,000 MAU. That should produce 100,000+ monthly ad impressions, which is a general minimum that I think makes sense to monetize. At a $3 CPM, that's $300+/month in revenue.  

Poor Ad Placement

In short, you have to place ads where they will be seen and users can tap them. This is less of a problem in apps than it is on the web, but you can still make mistakes here. Always take time to think of the ad placement from the perspective of the advertiser. If you were advertising your app in this spot, would you be happy?

Choosing the Wrong Ad Format

Depending on what your app does and how users move through it, some ad formats may work a lot better than others. This is something to test before swapping platforms, because poor ad performance won't be rewarded on any other platforms either. 

Is Running Ads the Best Way to Make Money?

This is a very basic issue, but one well worth raising. There are a LOT of different ways to monetize an app. Running ads is one of the easier methods to set up, but it's definitely not always the most lucrative. This is particularly true if you have a very small user base. Take the time to explore all your options before running ads.

Tiers and Types of AdMob Competitors

There are a couple tiers and several different types of competitors to AdMob. 

In terms of tiers, I think of the market as dominated by AdMob and MoPub. Those are the exchanges that are owned by huge public companies (Google and Twitter, respectively) and they have a very deep well of demand. Even if you don't use either of them as your SSP, you should be tapping into their demand through mediation. Those two are tier one, all else is tier two.

In terms of types of competitors, there are some that are focused primarily on video or native ads. There are also some who focus on serving gaming apps and others that don't own an exchange and focus on mediation. We'll explore all these below. 

Alternatives to AdMob

Here are the main alternatives to AdMob divided into tiers based on scale:

Tier one:

• MoPub
• Amazon Publisher Services
• Facebook Audience Network

Tier two:

• Verizon
• Smaato
• Fyber
• MobFox
• InMobi
• AdColony
• Rubicon
• AppNexus
• Pubmatic
• OpenX
• Chartboost
• Unity Ads
• Vdopia
• IronSource
• Adtoapp
• AdinCube
• Appodeal
• PubNative

The Big Dogs

MoPub

MoPub is the another industry-leading SSP option. It was an early entrant in the space and it was acquired several years ago by Twitter. Since then it has continued to develop and it runs one of the largest exchanges for mobile app inventory, tapping into the advertiser base of Twitter. 

Amazon Publisher Services (APS)

Amazon Publisher Services is one of the newest options available to mobile app developers. Amazon has been rapidly developing their advertising capabilities and they have their own massive demand source because of all the merchants advertising on their platform. They also run a product called Transparent Ad Marketplace (TAM) that allows you to mediate other demand sources as well. It's not as easy to use as AdMob, but it's a very potent competitive option.

Other Large SSPs

I’m sure that every company on this list would resent this "other" designation, but here are some SSPs that are not as large as the major ones but still deserve consideration.

Verizon (aka Nexage and Oath)

The name of this one keeps changing. It was originally known as Nexage, which was another older exchange and SSP. Nexage was acquired by Millennial Media, which was acquired AOL and marketed as a product called One Mobile, then AOL was acquired by Verizon. 

Verizon deals in all digital ads, whether desktop, mobile web or mobile app. They have a full-featured SSP option and they are also providing header bidding to publishers. 

Smaato

Smaato has traditionally been more internationally focused but has started to perform well in the US too. They have a sizable exchange of their own.

Fyber

Fyber is a roll-up of a few different companies, one of which was Inneractive which has a good sized ad exchange for mobile app traffic. Fyber is a game-focused SSP but they can and do operate on a variety of other types of apps. The mediation platform HeyZap was also acquired and rolled into Fyber. 

MobFox

MobFox is the in-app monetization arm of the Matomy group.

InMobi

InMobi has long been a large ad network in international markets and a while back they acquired Aerserv. Aerserv is a video-focused SSP with a mediation platform and exchange that performs well in the US, making it a great addition to InMobi.

AdColony

Many of these SSPs were formed through acquisition, and AdColony (formerly known as Opera) is a successful public company that was created through a number of acquisitions. Their SSP offering is underpinned by a mobile ad serving and mediation layer called AdMarvel. That platform is augmented by demand from a performance network formerly known as Moolah Media and a brand network formerly known as Mobile Theory. All of this has been combined and they’ve created their own proprietary exchange as well under the brand AdColony (which was also a company they acquired). 

Web SSPs that Handle In-App Traffic

There are several SSPs that got their start long ago on desktop and mobile web traffic but have started to deal in mobile app inventory as well. 

Rubicon

Rubicon is a long-time player on web inventory. They grew rapidly and ultimately went public a few years ago. Rubicon operates a large exchange and they have an SSP offering for in-app inventory but their roots are definitely in web inventory.

AppNexus

AppNexus runs a large exchange that traditionally was focused on web inventory. Again, their roots are definitely web but they are moving aggressively into app inventory as well. AppNexus is a more robust platform than other SSPs, which is a pro and a con. It can be used as a platform to run a whole ad network. However, that large scope of features can make it daunting to use as an SSP. As part of that platform, it has a very robust direct ad serving offering.

Vdopia

Vdopia runs an optimization platform and video ad exchange called Chocolate.

IronSource

IronSource is a full-featured platform with a variety of ad units available, but they tend to focus on game apps and on rewarded video. If most of your inventory is rewarded, do NOT skip over this one. It's one of the leaders in that space. 

Mediation/Optimization Partners

There is a breed of SSP that deals in optimization only. By that I mean they don’t have direct ad servers and usually don’t operate their own exchanges. They just mediate ad networks and exchanges. Some of them have received funding but all are relatively small, typically targeting small to medium-sized developers. There are differentiators here, though you have to really dig in to figure out what they are.

Adtoapp

20+ demand sources and monthly payouts.

Appodeal

60+ demand sources and flexible payout options.

AdinCube

Ogury acquired this product and turned it into their publisher solution. 

Native Ad SSPs

Native ads are truly different from standard display ads in terms of how they are delivered, so it’s often not an easy bolt-on feature for existing SSPs. The companies listed below focus on providing native ads though they are really mobile ad networks, not SSPs. But if you need native ads, this is where you can find them.

PubNative

Native ad network and good mediation add-on for other SSPs.

The Secret Sauce

These above are the options that are available to most app developers. However, if your app has users primarily from tier one countries and has a robust volume of impressions (say 50,000+ DAUs), then you have better options available to you. Join my email list for more info on those options.