Ad Ops: the “Back End” of Ad Monetization

For who isn’t familiar with Ad Operations (the “back end” side of Ad Monetization) starting to monetize through ads could sound as simple as plug-in an SDK and pretty much start making ad revenue. 💸
But oh boy, there is much more under the hood! 

Let’s put the “front end” of Ad Monetization (Ad design) on the side for now, and let’s focus on what is happening when an ad is triggered within your mobile app and the previous steps needed to get to a proper setup.

DISCOVER

To get started with mobile ad monetization, publishers need to choose an ad mediation or an ad network. There are a number of different ad networks to choose from, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Publishers should carefully consider their needs and goals: which ad types are you going to use? Where the majority of you user base is from?

SETUP

Once a publisher has chosen a mediation, and all the audits (if needed) have been passed, they have to create an account on the platform and start the actual setup. Once the configuration has been done, the next phase is about testing, validation and full roll out.

OPTIMIZATION

With ads up and running in the publisher mobile app, the next obvious step is taking care of optimization. This is done mainly through waterfall management and everything around it. Therefore communication with the ad providers, A/B testing and mediation groups per country and platform are a few key topics to optimize the traffic.

MAINTENANCE

Ad Quality, SDK updates, troubleshooting or even compensations are some of the necessary tasks an ad operation team will have to take care of in order to keep the delivery smooth and a good UX.

To conclude, here are some tips for optimizing your mobile ad monetization strategy:

• Choose the right ad networks and platforms. Not all ad networks are created equal. Do your research and choose ad networks that offer the types of ads that you want to display.
• Test and validate you ad stack to make sure the user experience is great and there is no issue with the delivery.
• Track and analyze your performance data. It’s important to track the performance of your delivery so that you can see what’s working and what’s not. Use the mediation or ad network’s reporting tools to track key metrics such as impressions, eCPM, engagement rate, fill rate and frequency.
• Follow up with your ad providers to optimize the traffic together and address any problem which might arise.