iAd eCPM Falls Off a Cliff

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by jeremy.provost, Jan 9, 2012.

  1. jeremy.provost

    jeremy.provost Well-Known Member

    Nov 18, 2011
    94
    0
    0
    Ever since January 1st we've seen iAd eCPM rates fall off a cliff for our game, Cricket Words. Is it just us? Is this normal?

    Our theory is that companies probably had a bunch of ad buys for the holidays and those runs probably ended 12/31. Any other ideas? For those who have been using iAd for a long time do you have any insight on general trends throughout the year?

    To make matters worse our backup, AdMob, saw a huge drop in fill rates around the same time. They were consistently in the high 90% and now we're often getting below 50%.
     
  2. PikPok

    PikPok Well-Known Member

    Nov 26, 2009
    938
    1
    0
    Wellington
    I wouldn't be too concerned. iAd revenues are down because their fill rate is way down, not their eCPM (well, your eCPM shouldn't be down).

    AdMob is the same.

    You are probably right on your guess. With people on vacation and larger brands targeting Christmas and New Year sales, the number of campaigns running will have dropped dramatically. I expect we'll see a return to normal by the end of the month.

    Make sure you are using AdSense to backfill any spare slots that you can in the mean time.
     
  3. jeremy.provost

    jeremy.provost Well-Known Member

    Nov 18, 2011
    94
    0
    0
    True, fill rates have also been bad for iAd since 1/1. But should eCPM really be tied to fill rates? We're seeing much lower eCPM since 1/1. We were averaging $2.55 eCPM in the 2 weeks leading up to 1/1. Since 1/1 we've averaged $0.69 eCPM. The fill rate makes sense to me. The eCPM change doesn't.

    To offer my own theory, the big paying advertisers are taking a break while you're still seeing ads filled with the lower cost ads that just advertise apps.

    I was sort of curious to see if others have seen similar eCPM dips or if it's just us.
     
  4. jeremy.provost

    jeremy.provost Well-Known Member

    Nov 18, 2011
    94
    0
    0
    Also, thanks for this tip. We were backfilling AdSense on a different app, but not on Cricket Words. I've enabled that now.
     
  5. PikPok

    PikPok Well-Known Member

    Nov 26, 2009
    938
    1
    0
    Wellington
    Our eCPM hasn't really changed for iAds. If anything it has gone up slightly.

    I guess your eCPM could have changed if the balance of where you are getting impressions has shifted to lower value countries.
     
  6. jeremy.provost

    jeremy.provost Well-Known Member

    Nov 18, 2011
    94
    0
    0
    After adding AdSense backfill to AdMob those are getting filled at 99.9%. Thanks again for that tip.
     
  7. TheBunny

    TheBunny Well-Known Member

    Nov 8, 2008
    205
    0
    16
    MMO Mac Lead ZeniMax Online
    Baltimore
    On a positive note our MobFox earnings are doing GOOD in the new year while
    iAds is almost 0 some days lately...

    I have no idea what the actual fill rate is on MobFox cause they don't tell you.
     
  8. Ovogame

    Ovogame Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
    570
    0
    0
    Game Developer
    Morestel, France
    My iAds ecpm was amazing post xmass. Since it has gone down hill back to normal (well, almost still lower than usual, I guess companies are spending less on online ads after the december madness). Also, your ecpm really depends of the country your players are located.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. Rocotilos

    Rocotilos Well-Known Member

    Dec 5, 2009
    369
    1
    18
    iOS Apps & Games Developer
    My iAd ecpm is pretty much constant thoughout last year.
    There is a slight bump up during iPhone4S release (sep'11). that's all.

    But in 2010 the ecpm is indeed higher about 2-3times from now.
    It dropped in Feb after Apple announced the minimum commitment
    to iAd is dropped from USD1M to USD500K.
     
  10. jeremy.provost

    jeremy.provost Well-Known Member

    Nov 18, 2011
    94
    0
    0
    Wow. iAd has fallen to the point that AdMob is actually giving us a better average eCPM. We've shifted most of our ads over to AdMob for the time being. Leaving just enough with iAd so we can see if this trend reverses at some point.
     
  11. PikPok

    PikPok Well-Known Member

    Nov 26, 2009
    938
    1
    0
    Wellington
    Hmmm I'm still seeing iAD eCPMs over $3 on average for the last week which we've never got close to for just AdMob banner ads. Even the lowest country we are serving iAds into, Japan, has an eCPM at ~$1.44 right now.

    Are you sure you are displaying the banners and allowing/registering clicks correctly?

    Our fill rate is still sub 10% at the moment which is the main thing killing our iAd revenue, not eCPM drops. Usually we are up at around 25-30% fill.
     
  12. jeremy.provost

    jeremy.provost Well-Known Member

    Nov 18, 2011
    94
    0
    0
    Yeah, we checked the ads and no problems there. And we do get clicks, so it's not that. Strangely, we've been getting fairly good fill rates from Apple. Up until we shut it down (2 days ago) we were getting between 50-75% fill rates for the past two weeks (and even better before that). The usual average was about 65%.
     
  13. Laura Dunn

    Laura Dunn Member

    Nov 21, 2011
    6
    0
    0
    Mobile Advertising
    Irvine, Ca.
    Hey Jeremy.Provost,

    You're absolutely right during the holiday seasons when buying gifts are hot, advertisers dump money into their campaigns and finish all extra spend at the end of the year to fully utilize their budgets. In essence, you will definitely see higher eCPMs during the holidays and you should expect a drop after the busy advertising seasons due to less demand.

    Our platform has very stable fill rates and a well laid out UI. If you aren't getting the fill rates you desire then try another ad platform. I'm here to help if you have questions ping me!

    Laura Dunn | TapIt!™ Mobile Advertising

    www.TapIt.com | Read More

    Mobile App Developers Earn More With TapIt!™

    - Brand Performance
    - Rich Media
    - Local Ads
    - Video
    - RTB
    - App Installs
    - Interstitials
    - 24/7 Support
    - Weekly Payments For Top Partners!
     

Share This Page