I’m thinking of including ads to free versions of my apps (that I plan to develop with cocos2d-x, nothings done yet, but you can never start early enough to make plans and gather information ). I found the article in the FAQs and also some other sites, but I could not find anything about peoples experience with ads on this forum. So, who has included ads yet, and what do you think about it? What would be the easiest way to realize it? Is it possible to choose when the ads are displayed (e.g. loadscreens instead of permanent ads)? Which Ads would you recommend?
Are you asking whether it worth to release a free ad-based application ?
The short answer probably is not what you would like to hear: it’s relative.
Now the long answer.
The revenue model you’re going to adopt will vary depending on a large number of factors.
My games are ad based. I’m not making too much money with them at the moment because you need a huge number of downloads to make money with advertisement and up to now its not the case. But I cannot complain either because I know my games are not good ones. I’ve never developed games and each one I develop is a tiny increment in my knowledge on the subject.
Instead of trying to explain you all options available I strongly recommend you to watch this presentation. It explains all ways a mobile application can generate revenue, showing many examples and discussing the pros and cons of each one. Better yet, it explained by an specialist in the subject.
After that you will be able to decide by yourself which method better fits your case.
Thanks for these information!
Another thing I would be interested in is the technical issue: is it complicated to integrate, and what do you have to care about? Do you just leave your bank account information once the game is published, and they manage everything else and transfer your money?
Marc, want to hear the truth? Your games are stupid and no one likes them.
Martin, ads are a good business. The biggest technical challenge is to know where to place them. The rest is a piece of cake. I’d recommend just googling around some more, will never hurt.
It couldn’t be easier to integrate inneractive SDK into Android apps. It took me 15 minutes to integrate it into my games.
AdMob SDK is easy too (but inneractive is easier).
When you download inneractive SDK it comes with a sample project showing you how to integrate it. You won’t have any problem at all.
Let explaing you how inneractive works (I think it’s similar to other advertising companies):
you register yourself as a publisher / developer on inneractive’s site
they will provide an account manager to get in touch with you.
you log in inneractive’s site and register an application. Its easy. You just provide the following information:
> * app name
> * whether it’s a game or an application
> * platform (Android, Symbian, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Phone)
> * for which age it’s adequate.
Then they will provide you an identifier. It’s a string you insert into your program (that must have been integrated with their SDK).
For the first time you will release an application they will ask you to let them review it before publishing in the market.
They will check whether your ads are in a good place and they will give some suggestions to you. You may follow their advices or not but notice that they have a large experience to for see whether your ads will be effective (make money) or just annoy users.
Ok. You publish the game and you can follow how its performing seen graphics in inneractive site.
The payout automatically happens when your account accrue $200 They pay using paypal.
You have nothing to worry other than promote your games.
That’s it.
Oh. and they provide a document explaining ad placement strategy so you can plan ahead where and when your ads will be shown to users.
I strongly recommend inneractive. And no, I’m not making money with an affiliate program where a receive a percentage for each new customer ( unfortunalety ).
I really like their services. In case you come across any doubt while integrating the SDK into your apps you can contact your account manager. He will support you.
). I found the article in the FAQs and also some other sites, but I could not find anything about peoples experience with ads on this forum. So, who has included ads yet, and what do you think about it? What would be the easiest way to realize it? Is it possible to choose when the ads are displayed (e.g. loadscreens instead of permanent ads)? Which Ads would you recommend?
).