Marketing and Monetizing - Beginning Android Games - page 645

of these services have popped up in the past few years, but here's another quick list of current
major players:

ï?® www.mopub.com )
AdWhirl (

MoPub (

ï?® www.adwhirl.com )
Inneractive (

ï?® http://inner-active.com )

www.mobclix.com )
Each of these services has its own API, most of which are generally easy to use. For any
particular service, visit their website and view their documentation for more technical information
on implementation.

ï?® Mobclix (

Game Advertising Tips
So, if you've decided to advertise in your game, what's the best way to go about it? Sometimes
less is better, so let's run through the list of what not to do with your advertising:

ï?® Interrupt your player just as they are getting engaged

ï?® Frustrate your player

ï?® Ruin an otherwise good experience with an ad always showing

ï?® Trick the user into clicking

It's easy to overdo it with ads. The point of advertising is to make some money from your game,
right? More ads doesn't mean more money; rather, more ads usually leads to lower ratings for
your game, and lower ratings leads to fewer users, which isn't good in any way. Keep the ad
exposure tasteful. Users expect some advertising in exchange for a free game. Placing ads at
the top or bottom of a menu during idle time is good.

For full-screen ads, wait! You may want to show that ad right away when the user starts your
game, but you'll just lose credibility. Wait until the third, fourth, or even fifth time the player has
launched the game to display a full-screen advertisement.

Focus on building a good game experience, and your players will trust your ads more. If you
focus too much on how to maximize your payout, your users will feel it and your game will suffer.

In-App Products
In-app products (IAPs) can be huge moneymakers. The general idea is that the player wants
something that is offered in your game and is willing to pay a small amount of money to get it.
There are two types of in-app product options given for the Google Play store:

ï?® Managed items : Things such as a character, a level, or an ability. Managed
items can be purchased only once, and they attach to the buyer, not to the
device; that is, if the buyer buys the item on one device, the item will be
available on the buyer's other devices so long as the buyer uses the same
Google account on all devices.