On May 1^st Google Ads announced that it “intends to move primarily to real-time bidding auctions for apps and will no longer respond to multiple calls in mediation on Oct 31, 2023.”

For mobile games publishers this is some of the most far-reaching changes affecting the industry in years. In this first of a two-part series Gamesforum talks to some of the parties most affected by the changes -  Google Ad Manager Networks:

We asked Ad Monetization consultant and co-host of the hugely successful 2.5 Gamers Podcast, Felix Braberg to outline the challenge:

“One of the most profitable ad monetization hacks is going to close on October 31st. AdX demand will no longer be available for GAM resellers. So what does this mean for GAM networks? Is it the end? Not necessarily. GAM resellers have direct relationships with mobile publishers and they've been given 6 months warning of what's to come to their AdX demand. Any nimble and hard pushing GAM network has two options. They can either bolster their demand with private PMP deals, or re-broker traffic for via exchanges or do both. Important thing to note is that in the ad tech space getting the supply side publisher SDK integrations is always the hardest, a feat that some large GAM networks has already managed to do. Will it be as profitable for publishers? Only time will tell. One thing that's for sure is that all GAM networks have a lot of ground to cover in the next 6 months to bolster their demand.”

You can read Felix’s blog here

We asked Google Ad Manager partners how they are preparing for the October Ad-pocolypse. Here’s what they had to say:

How are Potensus preparing to no longer having access to AdX demand post October 31^st?  

"At Potensus, we've seen these changes coming for quite some time now, and we've been preparing for the loss of AdX demand since the beginning of the year. We've been busy diversifying our demand away from AdX, and we're proud to say that we've made excellent progress in shifting away to new programmatic and brand sources. We hope that by 31st of October our over 100 clients will notice little difference in our performance."

What steps have you taken to diversify demand?  

"It's been an an interesting challenge and essentially we've been faced with two choices. Go the exchange route or go direct - we decided to do both. We're not heavily diversified with agency demand, direct demand and exchange demand. Have a look at our app.ads.txt file today and compare it to a year ago, and you'll see the true scope."

How are you working with your publisher partners ahead of October?

"Until October 31st, it's all hands on deck for us. We're working with our clients to ensure that their waterfall placements are optimised to ensure the best results for our clients till the switch happens in October. If anyone is worried the upcoming changes I encourage them to write me direct. "

 

How are iion preparing to no longer having access to AdX demand post October 31^st?  

"Firstly, it's not correct that we no longer have AdX demand post October 31st. Our understanding currently is that only Google Ads will restrict the number of calls in the waterfall. Google demand comprises of many bidders including Google DV360 and other programmatic buyers who have not made any announcement. We at iion have over 60 bidders plugged in."

"As you know, in our case, we launched our gaming focused demand platform immersion at the end of last year before any announcement. This is specifically designed to help agencies and brands to advertise in gaming and has been built in consultation with them. In certain geos, direct demand is already the biggest part of our demand portfolio and our strategy is to continue to grow this pool globally. We have also invested in a very experienced demand team that is on the ground everyday speaking to the agencies and educating them on gaming."

 What steps have you taken to diversify iion’s demand?  

"We have had good traction with our platform already and have been running campaigns for over 3 months now. We have exclusive deals with MMP in the GCC region which has had great results on our publishers by adding a completely new demand source. Just recently we announced our exclusive deal with Numatec in LATAM. Campaigns should start flowing from this month. Similar deals are in place with major agencies worldwide and we expect a significant ramp up in the rest of 2023. The exciting thing here is that the direct brand dollars bring incremental revenue to the gaming ecosystem which has traditionally been dominated by performance campaigns."

How are you working with your publisher partners ahead of October?

"We are  talking to our publishers constantly about anticipated changes as no one knows for sure what will happen. Rumours are things will get delayed but there is no confirmation on this. Our advice is to keep testing, try out new demand sources and monetization strategies. We are very transparent in our approach and appreciate there will likely be a revenue dip initially. However working together we are confident we can all come out stronger in the long term."

"More specifically our platform has an inventory discovery tool where we showcase our publisher's inventory. Agencies and brands can break down and target inventory based on a multitude of parameters. We think of ourselves as an extension to the publisher's own direct sales team with the aim of getting them in front of big agencies and brands who are very keen to invest in gaming."

 

How are A4G preparing to no longer having access to AdX demand post-October 31st? 

"Come October 31st, Google Ads demand will stop bidding, while DV360, the other bidders (open bidding...), and all direct campaigns set on GAM will keep running. We aim to double down on the number of bidders and deals we currently run to offset the removal of Google ads. "

What steps have you taken to diversify demand? 

"We are reviewing the partners, brands & agencies that fit your user base and collaborating with them. "

How are you working with your publisher partners ahead of October? 

"Business as usual until the fat lady sings. Frequent contact to understand the impact bidding is having on their ad revenues. We are beefing up our publisher's app-ads.txt, run more ad units on strategic price points and adjust according to the market swells and dips."

 

How are Reklamup preparing to no longer having access to AdX demand post October 31^st?

"ReklamUp has various demands in which Google AdX is super important and contributes a lot. We specifically don't focus on October 31st, we are doing what we are doing best and we will keep doing the same."

What steps have you taken to diversify demand?

"We already have diversified demand which includes other programmatic partners as well as private marketplaces and direct ad sales."

How are you working with your publisher partners ahead of October?

"We are always working to diversify demand and we let our publishers know about it."

In Part Two we’ll be asking a number of mobile game publishers how they are preparing