Become part of ROI 101, an exclusive Discord community with 175+ self-publishing developers sharing insights and support Join Now

Sign up

Blog

All posts

Ad Monetization Benchmark Report 2024 – Ad Revenue Share by Platform, Country, & Ad Network; eCPM by Ad Format

Tabarak Paracha

June 5, 2024

We partnered with Clever Ads Solutions (CAS) to bring you an exclusive ad monetization in mobile games benchmark report.

Earnings from showing ads in mobile games have seen better years, but despite the challenges, ad revenue opportunities remain strong. More and more game publishers are increasingly adopting “hybrid monetization” – a mix of in-app advertising (IAA) and in-app purchases (IAP).

While experts continue to debate the realistic ratio of IAA to IAP, whether it should be 50/50, 70/30, or 80/20, one thing is clear: ad revenue constitutes a significant portion of revenue for the majority of mobile publishers.

Some of the key takeaways from the report:

Get the report

You May Also Like

How to Set up and Optimize ROAS Campaigns in Unity Ads

Tabarak Paracha

How to Set up and Optimize ROAS Campaigns in Unity Ads

In this post, our partners at Unity Ads guide us through the ins and outs of Unity Ads ROAS campaigns, addressing key questions from Tenjin clients. We cover the various campaign types, strategies for successful setup, and proven optimization techniques to boost performance. Whether you’re new to Unity Ads or a seasoned user, this article...

Read More

Rewarded Ads 101: Launch and Scale with Proven Best Practices

Tabarak Paracha

Rewarded Ads 101: Launch and Scale with Proven Best Practices

The hype is real! This new video is focused on proven best practices for launching and scaling Rewarded Ad campaigns. Watch the video session above from Tenjin & Adjoe to learn: 1. How to run Rewarded Ads on autopilot 2. What to do when your Rewarded Ad Campaign underperforms 3. When to adjust your bids...

Read More

How Many Ads Should You Show in Your Mobile App? AI Can Help to Decide

Tabarak Paracha

How Many Ads Should You Show in Your Mobile App? AI Can Help to Decide

In today’s highly competitive mobile app landscape, maximizing revenue is a critical priority for developers and publishers. For developers prioritizing in-app purchases (IAPs) or subscriptions as their main monetization strategy, adding more in-app advertising (IAA) can be a difficult choice, as it risks potentially losing paying users. The challenge, however, lies in striking the right...

Read More

Mobile Marketing Analytics 101: How to choose the right metrics for UA

Tabarak Paracha

Mobile Marketing Analytics 101: How to choose the right metrics for UA

When does it make sense to focus on LTV per user rather than ROAS? Why is time to profitability (TTP) one of the most crucial metrics for your business? Our CEO and Co-founder, Christopher Farm, addresses these questions and shares effective strategies for optimizing your advertising campaigns as a guest on the App Masters podcast,...

Read More

LiveOps Campaigns: Driving App Growth with Actionable Attribution Insights

Lily Zhu

LiveOps Campaigns: Driving App Growth with Actionable Attribution Insights

In this post, we explore how Tenjin’s LiveOps Campaigns have helped boost the performance of 3 different clients’ apps. We’ll dive into each case, detailing the challenge they faced, the solution provided, and the results achieved. We’ll elaborate on how adding Tenjin’s LiveOps Campaigns enabled these companies to: What are LiveOps Campaigns? LiveOps Campaigns used...

Read More

How to Find Niche Keywords for ASO

Tabarak Paracha

How to Find Niche Keywords for ASO

 Starting with keyword research for ASO even before you develop an app might seem counterintuitive, but it works! We hosted Steve P. Young, Founder of App Masters, on our YouTube channel who explains how this strategy works. Steve dives into the following ASO gems: This is especially relevant for small developers. What is ASO?  In...

Read More

Retention for Mobile Games 101

Tabarak Paracha

Retention for Mobile Games 101

Is your game performing well with day 1 to day 3 retention but struggling with long-term retention? With over a decade of experience in the mobile gaming industry, Michal Tomcany offers some simple, yet effective solutions you can start implementing immediately. In free-to-play games, retention is a key metric for long-term success. It’s important to...

Read More

Vietnamese Mobile Gaming in 2024: Four Billion Downloads & Emerging Trends

Tabarak Paracha

Vietnamese Mobile Gaming in 2024: Four Billion Downloads & Emerging Trends

Vietnam’s mobile gaming industry has experienced a remarkable boom in the last 4-5 years, emerging as a powerhouse in the global gaming landscape. We interviewed Jennifer, the Chief of Staff at VGDA (Vietnam Game Developer Association), to uncover the driving forces behind this remarkable boom and explore the opportunities and obstacles that lie ahead. The...

Read More

AdAttributionKit vs. SKAdNetwork: What's the Difference?

Roman Garbar

AdAttributionKit vs. SKAdNetwork: What's the Difference?

What is AdAttributionKit? AdAttributionKit is a new attribution framework introduced by Apple at WWDC 2024. It is essentially a more advanced version of the existing SKAdNetwork, offering several enhancements and additional capabilities.  Let’s take a closer look at what AdAttributionKit brings to the table: Re-engagement on iOS This is what Apple said about SKAdNetwork 5...

Read More

Google Ads Best Practices for Mobile Apps with a Limited Budget

Tabarak Paracha

Google Ads Best Practices for Mobile Apps with a Limited Budget

In this blog post we interviewed Ashley Black, a former Googler with nearly a decade of experience leading the App Ads sales team, on how small businesses and indie developers can leverage Google Ads for mobile, highlighting insights that often go overlooked. [Roman from Tenjin]: Hi everyone, welcome to another edition of ROI 101. Today...

Read More

How Finz Games Tripled Their Monthly Downloads

Tabarak Paracha

How Finz Games Tripled Their Monthly Downloads

We talked with Taseer Mustafa, the Chief Marketing Officer at Finz Games, a leading and long-established mobile gaming studio in Pakistan. Our discussion focused on the current challenges facing Pakistani gaming studios and explored ways they can keep improving and succeeding in this expanding market. [Tabarak from Tenjin]: I’m Tabarak, the marketing manager at Tenjin....

Read More

Portfolio LTV - The Key to Reducing your User Acquisition Costs

Tabarak Paracha

Portfolio LTV - The Key to Reducing your User Acquisition Costs

Our CEO, Christopher Farm, appeared on the ‘GameMakers’ podcast to discuss our client HyperBeard’s success and Tenjin’s role in it. The talk focused on Portfolio LTV, a key analysis for reducing user acquisition costs. [Nick Lim]: So we did a lot of the initial exploration to help him out a little bit. And we discovered...

Read More

Ad Monetization in Mobile Games - Benchmark Report 2024

Roman Garbar

Ad Monetization in Mobile Games - Benchmark Report 2024

Introduction Earnings from showing ads in mobile games have seen better years, but despite the challenges, ad revenue opportunities remain strong. More and more game publishers are increasingly adopting “hybrid monetization” – a mix of in-app advertising (IAA) and in-app purchases (IAP). While experts continue to debate the realistic ratio of IAA to IAP, whether...

Read More

How to Reduce App Store Commission

Tabarak Paracha

How to Reduce App Store Commission

In this blog post, we interview Andrew Christodoulou, Payment Expert and Business Development Manager at Worldline, to discuss whether lower app store commissions are a myth or reality. You can watch the complete video or read our conversation below to explore this topic. [Roman from Tenjin]: What does the overview for mobile payments look like...

Read More

Mobile Publishers: Here’s how you can Boost Retention and Revenue while Saving the Planet

Tabarak Paracha

Mobile Publishers: Here’s how you can Boost Retention and Revenue while Saving the Planet

In honor of Earth Day, we sat down with Yael Takomi, Gaming Director at Dots.eco, to discuss how app developers and publishers can contribute to environmental sustainability.  Join us for a 30-minute conversation to learn how app developers or publishers can leverage Dots.eco to not only make a meaningful impact to the planet, but also...

Read More

Apple Search Ads and ASO Synergy: Best Practices and Success Stories for 2024

Tabarak Paracha

Apple Search Ads and ASO Synergy: Best Practices and Success Stories for 2024

Guest post by Gabriel Kuriata, Content Manager at Splitmetrics. Apple Search Ads is an advertising platform functioning within the App Store. It offers four ad placements – on the home page of the App Store, on the Search tab before a search is initiated, in the search results, and on app product pages. Apple Search...

Read More

How to advertise hybrid-casual games in 2024

Tabarak Paracha

How to advertise hybrid-casual games in 2024

Are you a hyper-casual developer transitioning into hybrid casual games, finding it challenging to navigate decisions such as which metrics to prioritize, which ad networks to utilize, and what other best practices to adopt? We invited Faheem Saiyad, Director of Business at AppSamurai, to our platform to share his expert insights on how to advertise...

Read More

YSO Corp’s Road to 1 Billion Downloads

Tabarak Paracha

YSO Corp’s Road to 1 Billion Downloads

Curious about the secrets behind YSO Corp’s 1 billion game downloads? Join us as we delve into the journey of Jean-Claud YALAP, Co-founder of YSO Corp, in the video below. Discover the captivating story of YSO Corp’s rise to becoming a renowned publisher, achieving a remarkable 1 billion downloads, and unraveling the genius behind the...

Read More

Unveiling the Magic of Tenjin’s DataVault with Kooapps

Roman Garbar

Unveiling the Magic of Tenjin’s DataVault with Kooapps

In this case study, we unveil the magic of Tenjin’s DataVault, or data warehouse as a service, through the lens of one of our star clients, Kooapps. The marketing and product teams at Kooapps use DataVault to unlock a wide range of use cases. In the post below, we’ve highlighted 5 of them, including how...

Read More

DMA and Google: Key Essentials for Tenjin Users

Roman Garbar

DMA and Google: Key Essentials for Tenjin Users

The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) marks a significant development for mobile publishers who monetize or advertise through Google in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK. Tenjin has been fully equipped and ready to help publishers with this transition.  What is the Digital Markets Act (DMA)? The DMA is a legislative proposal by...

Read More

Unpacking New Consent Rules on Mobile from Google: CMP, TCF

Tabarak Paracha

Unpacking New Consent Rules on Mobile from Google: CMP, TCF

We invited Božo Janković, Head of Ad Monetization at Gamebiz Consulting, to share his expert knowledge on the latest Google consent rules.   In our post, we cover several important topics, including: And there’s more! Let’s dive into the insightful conversation. [ Roman from Tenjin ]: What has changed since January 16th 2024? [ Božo ]:...

Read More

Best ad networks to advertise hybrid and hyper casual games in 2024 - Based on ad spend & CPI

Tabarak Paracha

Best ad networks to advertise hybrid and hyper casual games in 2024 - Based on ad spend & CPI

Are you searching for the best ad networks to advertise your hyper or hybrid casual games in 2024? We’ve put together a blog post to make this decision easy for you.  Let’s start by understanding hyper and hybrid casual games. Hyper-casual games are simple and intuitive, focusing on quick gameplay. In contrast, hybrid casual games...

Read More

New type of Ad Revenue Attribution in the Tenjin Dashboard - an Addition to Tenjin’s Ad Monetization Suite

Roman Garbar

New type of Ad Revenue Attribution in the Tenjin Dashboard - an Addition to Tenjin’s Ad Monetization Suite

We’re thrilled to announce an update to Tenjin’s Ad Monetization Suite designed specifically for advertisers promoting apps with ad monetization.  The latest update enhances ad revenue attribution in the Tenjin dashboard, offering user-level or impression-level data fetched from ad mediation providers via the Tenjin SDK in the User Acquisition Reports. This new set of ad...

Read More

From Hyper to Hybrid in 2024 - Ad Spend & CPI by Platform, Ad Network & Country Rankings

Tabarak Paracha

From Hyper to Hybrid in 2024 - Ad Spend & CPI by Platform, Ad Network & Country Rankings

Our much-awaited industry report is here! “From Hyper to Hybrid in 2024,” provides an in-depth analysis of the evolving trends in the mobile gaming industry. The report primarily focuses on the hyper-casual and hybrid-casual genres, and the user acquisition trends for both genres / business models. The shift from hyper to hybrid represents a significant...

Read More

From Hyper to Hybrid in 2024

Roman Garbar

From Hyper to Hybrid in 2024

Introduction In this ‘From Hyper to Hybrid in 2024’ report, we investigate the evolving mobile gaming industry, with a special focus on the challenging journey of hyper-casual game developers as they strive to adopt a hybrid-casual approach. This shift represents a significant development in the mobile gaming industry, as developers blend the simplicity and accessibility...

Read More

Top 5 reasons to get started with Apple Search Ads in 2024

Tabarak Paracha

Top 5 reasons to get started with Apple Search Ads in 2024

Guest post by Karnika Roy, who leads the content initiatives at Newton, a performance-focused iOS app growth platform. Do you remember the last time you were planning something and an app was not involved? Is that difficult to imagine? Millennials and GenZ love their apps. Every moment of their lives – from the time they...

Read More

How to self-publish a mobile game - IzyPlay Game Studio journey

Tabarak Paracha

How to self-publish a mobile game - IzyPlay Game Studio journey

Guest post by Everton Baumgarten Vieira, Co-founder & CEO – IzyPlay Game Studio. Everton is a member of our ROI 101 community. At Tenjin, we saw the need for developers on their self-publishing journeys to connect and share experiences. That’s why we created an exclusive discord community, now with 150+ members. Notably, one of the...

Read More

New Report: Revealing Winning Ad Creative Variations for 2024

Tabarak Paracha

New Report: Revealing Winning Ad Creative Variations for 2024

We partnered with ObtainAds, a service committed to extending the lifespan of successful mobile ad creatives, to bring to you the ‘Ad Creative Evolution: Variations That Win’ report. The report is divided into two sections. The first section features insights from Tenjin regarding mobile gaming data for both 2022 and 2023, revealing important metric trends....

Read More

Mintegral ROAS Bidding: Here's everything you need to know

Tabarak Paracha

Mintegral ROAS Bidding: Here's everything you need to know

In this blog post, we dive into the main talking points presented in the above video. Roman Garbar of Tenjin raises questions regarding Mintegral’s ROAS campaigns, and Hector Almeida General Manager EMEA at Mintegral provides insightful responses. Read the full blog post to learn about: …and much more. If you’re looking to establish Mintegral ROAS...

Read More

Automated Data Pipelines: A TOUKA Games Case Study

Henry Li

Automated Data Pipelines: A TOUKA Games Case Study

This case study explores how TOUKA Games, a Chinese-based mobile game publisher, leverages Tenjin’s Growth FullStack to seamlessly connect and manage data from various sources. With Growth FullStack, TOUKA Games was able to: About TOUKA Games Founded in February 2021, Touka Games’ mission has been to empower global mobile game developers and publishers to promote...

Read More

Tenjin Becomes One of the First MMPs to Support TikTok’s Self-Attribution Switch

Roman Garbar

Tenjin Becomes One of the First MMPs to Support TikTok’s Self-Attribution Switch

TikTok introduces the TikTok Self-Attribution Network. We are proud to be one of the first MMPs to support this shift. Tenjin will help you set up automatically. For the migration, please inform your TikTok sales lead and ask to be added to the SAN allowlist.You can expect to receive an email and an in-platform notification...

Read More

Standing Strong with Indies: Introducing Three New Initiatives

Chris Farm

Standing Strong with Indies: Introducing Three New Initiatives

Today, we are proud to introduce a series of initiatives that are specifically designed to provide crucial support to indie game developers during these trying times in the mobile gaming industry. Like many of our peers in the industry, we were taken aback by the recent adjustments made in the freshly announced Unity’s pricing policy. The...

Read More

How Mexico’s Top Mobile Publisher Boosted their Portfolio LTV by 35% – A HyperBeard Case Study

Tabarak Paracha

How Mexico’s Top Mobile Publisher Boosted their Portfolio LTV by 35% – A HyperBeard Case Study

Today, we will be discussing the success story of HyperBeard, a hyper-casual mobile game publishing studio, and how Tenjin is helping them with multiple use-cases. To discuss this success story, we invited the co-founder and CEO of Hyperbeard, Alex Kozachenko. For a summary of the case study, you can download the PDF below. If you’d like...

Read More

4 Things Mobile Developers Should Keep in Mind When Using AI tools

Tabarak Paracha

4 Things Mobile Developers Should Keep in Mind When Using AI tools

This video is the final part of a trilogy discussing ‘questions about generative AI tools’ featuring Ioana Hreninciuc, Co-founder of PicFinder. PicFinder is a unique web-based AI software for text-to-image generation. The first two parts of this trilogy explored the question “How can AI simplify tasks for mobile developers?,” and “How to Write a Good Prompt...

Read More

From Hyper to Hybrid – H1 2023 Follow Up Report (Ad Network & Country Rankings + IAP & eCPM Trends)

Roman Garbar

From Hyper to Hybrid – H1 2023 Follow Up Report (Ad Network & Country Rankings + IAP & eCPM Trends)

In a follow-up to the ‘From Hyper to Hybrid in 2023’ report, we’ve used Tenjin data from H1 2023 to unveil the most recent trends in mobile advertising and ad monetization. The new report covers the first half of 2023, and consists of the following insights:

Read More

How to Write a Good Prompt to Generate Assets for a Mobile Game

Tabarak Paracha

How to Write a Good Prompt to Generate Assets for a Mobile Game

This video is part two of a trilogy discussing ‘questions about generative AI tools’ featuring Ioana Hreninciuc, Co-founder of PicFinder. PicFinder is a unique web-based AI software for text-to-image generation. The first part of this trilogy explored the question “How can AI simplify tasks for mobile developers?” and was released last week. You can watch it here....

Read More

AI-Powered Growth in Mobile: Tips and Tricks for Development and Publishing

Tabarak Paracha

AI-Powered Growth in Mobile: Tips and Tricks for Development and Publishing

We invited Ioana Hreninciuc, Co-founder at PicFinder – a unique web-based AI software for text-to-image generation, to help answer the question: “How can AI help simplify the lives of mobile developers?” Of course, this question might sound a bit broad, but fear not, we’ve broken it down into 3 stages. These stages include: So let’s dive right...

Read More

How to scale hyper or hybrid casual games with Unity ROAS Campaigns

Tabarak Paracha

How to scale hyper or hybrid casual games with Unity ROAS Campaigns

In this blog post, we analyze the main discussion points from the video above and highlight key takeaways. Roman Garbar from Tenjin asks questions about Unity ROAS campaigns, and Céline Fraimund from Unity provides insightful answers. About our guest speaker Céline Fraimund:She is a Client Partner at Unity, focusing on assisting EMEA advertisers in maximizing...

Read More

How to Optimize Your Hyper-Casual and Hybrid-Casual Game Advertising in 2023

Tabarak Paracha

How to Optimize Your Hyper-Casual and Hybrid-Casual Game Advertising in 2023

What are the best channels to advertise hyper-casual or hybrid-casual games in 2023? And should your strategy be different depending on what type of game you’re running? The answer to this question depends on which metric you are taking into account. Based on our data in 2022, the ad networks with the highest average LTV were...

Read More

Two biggest changes for iOS advertisers in 2023: SKAdNetwork 5 and Privacy Manifest

Roman Garbar

Two biggest changes for iOS advertisers in 2023: SKAdNetwork 5 and Privacy Manifest

Apple dropped some major announcements during WWDC 2023. Let’s be real, the things we are going to discuss today aren’t as mind-blowing as the new Apple Vision Pro. However, it’s definitely going to have a direct impact on advertising campaigns on iOS very soon. SKAdNetwork 5 Apple unveiled the new version of SKAdNetwork at WWDC 2023. Right...

Read More

Best Ad Networks to Promote Hyper or Hybrid Casual Games in 2023 – based on IAP LTV, Ad LTV, Installs & Retention

Tabarak Paracha

Best Ad Networks to Promote Hyper or Hybrid Casual Games in 2023 – based on IAP LTV, Ad LTV, Installs & Retention

One of the most popular questions we hear at Tenjin is: What are the best channels or ad networks to promote hyper-casual (and now hybrid-casual) games? We’ve put together this blog post to answer this question based on Tenjin’s 2022 data set. Before we get started, let’s look at the metrics you might be optimizing...

Read More

From Hyper to Hybrid in 2023 – Ad Network, Country, & Ad Monetization Channel Rankings

Tabarak Paracha

From Hyper to Hybrid in 2023 – Ad Network, Country, & Ad Monetization Channel Rankings

We are thrilled to announce the release of our new report, ‘From Hyper to Hybrid in 2023’, presented in a new format. This report delivers crucial industry insights from various dimensions and metrics, providing valuable information for all those interested in transitioning into the new ‘hottest genre’. The landscape of the hyper-casual business has undergone...

Read More

Self-publishing a hyper-casual game? How to spend $1,000,000 on UA with a $50,000 budget

Roman Garbar

Self-publishing a hyper-casual game? How to spend $1,000,000 on UA with a $50,000 budget

Guest post by Martin Macmillan, CEO/Founder at Pollen VC Hyper casual developers typically believe their only option is to work with publishers, primarily because the upfront capital needed to properly scale a game is so high. But with a better understanding of the financial dynamics of user acquisition in the mobile gaming industry, could studios self-publish their...

Read More

Programmatic Advertising on Mobile 101: Beginner’s Guide to DSPs

Roman Garbar

Programmatic Advertising on Mobile 101: Beginner’s Guide to DSPs

Guest post by Galia Lahav, Digital Marketing Manager @Persona.ly User acquisition is one of the most important pillars of running a successful mobile app. User acquisition strategies stretch from organic (ASO) and owned media, to paid media (social platforms, networks, and programmatic). As a mobile marketer, you most certainly tried various marketing channels and platforms....

Read More

Hyper-casual Games CPI, Ad Spend & Retention Benchmark Report – Q4 2022

Tabarak Paracha

Hyper-casual Games CPI, Ad Spend & Retention Benchmark Report – Q4 2022

New year, new insights into the most innovative segment of the mobile gaming market: hyper-casual games! The much awaited “Hyper-Casual Benchmark Report” for Q4 2022 is here to provide you with up-to-date data on key performance indicators, user behavior, and trends in the hyper-casual gaming industry. This benchmark report consists of anonymized data collected by...

Read More

Ionic Capacitor Plugin: The latest framework added to Tenjin’s list of supported SDK plugins

Tabarak Paracha

Ionic Capacitor Plugin: The latest framework added to Tenjin’s list of supported SDK plugins

We are excited to announce the addition of the Ionic Capacitor plugin to our list of supported SDKs. This decision was made in response to the high demand from our developer community.  With the Ionic Capacitor plugin, developers will have access to a wide range of features and capabilities that will make it easier to integrate...

Read More

How to create the biggest “play and earn” crypto game on mobile – a Fumb Games Case Study

Roman Garbar

How to create the biggest “play and earn” crypto game on mobile – a Fumb Games Case Study

Fumb Games used their advertising analytics stack, which was built on Tenjin, with the unique web3 solution provided by ZEBEDEE, to produce the biggest “play and earn” game on mobile. In this case study, we reveal their formula for success, including the tools and strategy that they used to achieve the following results: Tools used: About...

Read More

Tenjin & InMobi Ad monetization report: One month after Google Play changes

Roman Garbar

Tenjin & InMobi Ad monetization report: One month after Google Play changes

Tenjin and InMobi have combined their efforts to bring to you a new edition of the ‘Ad monetization insights for mobile game developers‘ report. The infographic overviews the key aspects of the ad monetization market in October 2022. We have chosen to focus only on October to reveal the short-term effects of the new Google...

Read More

How does SKAdNetwork 4.0 work? Q&A with Tenjin’s product manager

Tabarak Paracha

How does SKAdNetwork 4.0 work? Q&A with Tenjin’s product manager

SKAdNetwork 4.0 is here, and it stands out from its predecessors. For the first time, Apple has released a new version of the SKAdNetwork API with not one, not two, but several new features. And they did so without releasing a beta version for testing first. We go into more detail on the subject in the Q&A...

Read More

The Hyper-Casual Benchmark Report for Q3 2022 is here! Get data on Ad Spend, CPI, and Retention

Roman Garbar

The Hyper-Casual Benchmark Report for Q3 2022 is here! Get data on Ad Spend, CPI, and Retention

We have released our “Hyper-Casual Benchmark Report” for Q3 2022. In this report, you’ll gain exclusive insights on ad spend and CPI on a country and platform level. Additionally, we have partnered with GameAnalytics to bring you a Day 1 and Day 7 retention benchmark. Here is a full list of what you will find in the...

Read More

Ad Revenue Callbacks and ROAS campaigns increased YOMI Studio’s ARPDAU by 60% – Case Study

Roman Garbar

Ad Revenue Callbacks and ROAS campaigns increased YOMI Studio’s ARPDAU by 60% – Case Study

In this case study, we take you through the journey of YOMI Studio as they enter an unprecedented phase of hyper-growth after incorporating Tenjin’s Ad Revenue Callbacks and ROAS Campaigns. Here is a summary of what they achieved: About YOMI Studio YOMI studio is a small studio (10 people at the moment), based in Ho Chi...

Read More

Best ad monetization networks and countries for mobile game developers in Q2 2022

Roman Garbar

Best ad monetization networks and countries for mobile game developers in Q2 2022

Ad monetization on mobile has attracted mainstream global attention recently. Even before the AppLovin-Unity-ironSource love triangle, the market was characterized by multiple partnerships, mergers and acquisitions. Over the past few years, Tenjin has become synonymous with the success of ad revenue-driven companies: Voodoo, Ruby Games, LuckyKat,  Kooapps, Kwalee, SayGames are a few notable examples. We think that...

Read More

How to scale your indie studio to a major publisher – a Kooapps case study

Roman Garbar

How to scale your indie studio to a major publisher – a Kooapps case study

In our latest case study, we take you through the journey of Kooapps as they scale from an indie studio to a major publisher with Tenjin. Here is a summary of the results they achieved using Tenjin’s ad attribution, session-based ad revenue LTV, and DataVault: About Kooapps Kooapps is a mobile gaming studio and publisher. They...

Read More

Here’s how mobile advertisers feel about marketing post-IDFA

Roman Garbar

Here’s how mobile advertisers feel about marketing post-IDFA

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2022 starts today, marking two years since a seminal moment for our industry. WWDC 2020 was when Apple first announced changes to how developers could access its identifier for advertisers (IDFA). So while the eyes of the world are locked on the next sleek MacBook or iPhone, ours will again be fixed...

Read More

How gaming studios can start self-publishing and scale post-IDFA – an Umami Games case study

Roman Garbar

How gaming studios can start self-publishing and scale post-IDFA – an Umami Games case study

The importance of incorporating automated tools to gain data insights was escalated by the iOS 14.5 privacy changes. In this case study, we follow the journey of Umami Games as they make the switch from manual reporting in tools like Google Spreadsheets and Trello, to a fully automated data infrastructure post-IDFA. By building internal BI,...

Read More

Top 10 ad networks to advertise Hyper-casual Games in 2022

Roman Garbar

Top 10 ad networks to advertise Hyper-casual Games in 2022

The wait is over! The “Hyper-casual Games Insights for Advertisers” infographic for 2022 Q1 is finally out. This time we have partnered with our friends from GameAnalytics to bring you day 1 and day 7 retention benchmark in this edition of the report. Let’s explore how the hyper-casual market has changed compared to 2021 Q3 and go through the...

Read More

Hyper-casual advertising after Apple changes – Infographic 2021 Q3

Roman Garbar

Hyper-casual advertising after Apple changes – Infographic 2021 Q3

It’s that time of the year already! Once again we have created a report to help hyper-casual publishers navigate the challenges of the ever-changing mobile industry. This year, we focus on the most interesting quarter: the third quarter, when the industry felt the full effect of Apple’s privacy changes. We have presented all of the insight...

Read More

Hyper-casual Benchmark Report: H1 2020

Ebony Nicole Simone

Hyper-casual Benchmark Report: H1 2020

Find out how to get your copy of our latest benchmark report for 2021. Our hyper-casual benchmark report for H1 2020 is here; you can download it below. Inside you find median CPIs and IPMs for hyper-casual games with the breakdown per top country and ad network for the first six months of 2020. Plus, you will find...

Read More

iOS 14 uncertainty is driving the rise of alternative Android app stores

Roman Garbar

iOS 14 uncertainty is driving the rise of alternative Android app stores

With uncertainty around iOS 14.5, advertisers are shifting their budgets to Android. While publishing on Google Play remains one of the most obvious options, the potential of acquiring users in alternative Android app stores is creating a larger opportunity for developers and marketers. Publishers are constantly searching for new platforms that have a high-quality user...

Read More

iOS 14.5: The imminent role change of Facebook MMPs

Makoto Taguchi

iOS 14.5: The imminent role change of Facebook MMPs

The introduction of SKAdNetwork significantly changed the role Facebook MMPs (Mobile Measurement Partners) play within the mobile ecosystem. At this point, there is no difference between using Facebook MMPs and the tools that Facebook is providing publicly. We believe that iOS 14.5 and SKAdNetwork leveled the playing field for everyone involved in advertising measurement and...

Read More

Webinar: Marketing Science w/Tenjin

Ebony Nicole Simone

Webinar: Marketing Science w/Tenjin

Episode #1: Data Scientists of Hyper-casual Head of Data Science and Tenjin General Manager Carole Wai Hai moderates a new webinar series where she sits down with industry experts to discuss marketing science aspects in Adtech, specifically within mobile gaming and hyper-casual. In this premiere episode, the panel discusses their backgrounds in Data Science, its...

Read More

Your App May Soon Be Blocked and 5 other things no one is telling you about iOS 14.5

Roman Garbar

Your App May Soon Be Blocked and 5 other things no one is telling you about iOS 14.5

‘Your App May Soon Be Blocked, and five other things no one is telling you about iOS 14.5.’ That was the name of the presentation I gave last week during WN Winter. Since iOS 14.5 is likely to be released in the upcoming weeks, I would like to share those six reasons with everyone today: Summary:...

Read More

Top 10 Ad Networks to advertise hyper-casual games in 2021

Ebony Nicole Simone

Top 10 Ad Networks to advertise hyper-casual games in 2021

Ad networks play a vital role in the mobile ecosystem by acting as a middle point between your game and potential users. Tenjin currently supports hundreds of ad networks, like well-known SANs (self-attributing networks) and some new frontrunners like TikTok. “Ad networks are the main resource for advertisers to promote and monetize their games,” explains Tenjin...

Read More

The new Hyper-Casual Benchmark 2021 report is here!

Ebony Nicole Simone

The new Hyper-Casual Benchmark 2021 report is here!

We’ve released our hyper-casual benchmark report for 2021 that you can download below. We provide platform insights, CPI for Top 10 countries and ad networks, and the Top 10 ad networks per ad spend and ad revenue. 2020 had no shortage of momentous events, including COVID-19 and Apple’s announcement at WWDC 2020 to introduce new...

Read More

Attribution in 2021: what will and will not work

Roman Garbar

Attribution in 2021: what will and will not work

2021 iOS 14 changes are going to change businesses around the world. Even though the changes are coming very soon, there is no common understanding of what marketing analytics will look like. Today I’ll talk about the myths publishers are discussing and give my evaluation with recommendations. 1) Blind eye approach: Nothing will change All...

Read More

Is it worth doing self-publishing on mobile? White Room Games, Ruby Games, LuckyKat founders explain

Roman Garbar

Is it worth doing self-publishing on mobile? White Room Games, Ruby Games, LuckyKat founders explain

Apple just made the mobile industry much more appealing for self-publishing. They announce that platform commission will be decreased to 15% for publishers earning less than $1 million per year in a recent press release. We sat down virtually with three founders that decided to self-publish their games. Let’s meet our guests: Kirill Nekrasov Founder of White...

Read More

Case Study: Gamejam ROI +32% using Reporting Metrics API

Ebony Nicole Simone

Case Study: Gamejam ROI +32% using Reporting Metrics API

We share our newest case study with Vietnam game developer, Gamejam. We discuss how a small user acquisition team learned to manage campaigns without devoting significant time to the task. The team needed to find a solution that centered around optimizing their bid automation. They integrated Tenjin’s free Reporting Metrics API in order to enrich...

Read More

Attribution Modeling – a new enhanced way to measure advertising performance on iOS

Roman Garbar

Attribution Modeling – a new enhanced way to measure advertising performance on iOS

Starting from 2021, advertisers on iOS won’t be able to calculate key cohort metrics, like ROI or LTV, for most of their ad campaigns. This creates a new paradigm where both mobile publishers and vendors will need to innovate to succeed. At Tenjin, we are focusing our efforts on building a new type of methodology...

Read More

Case Study: Godzilab gains success with Tenjin’s campaign bucketing tool

Ebony Nicole Simone

Case Study: Godzilab gains success with Tenjin’s campaign bucketing tool

We published our latest case study with Godzilab on how they found success using Tenjin. We discovered that Godzilab was looking for a solution to combine aggregate data from various sources in one place easily. It comprised a solution that synchronised data sets from 3rd party attribution, analytics, ad revenue, and ad spend providers without the need...

Read More

The Vending Machine Podcast – indie developer Lucky Kat on his journey with Tenjin

Ebony Nicole Simone

The Vending Machine Podcast – indie developer Lucky Kat on his journey with Tenjin

An oft-quoted phrase in business is that “the customer is always right.” A new podcast, “The Vending Machine: Game publishers and their service providers,” puts this to the test. Hosts Peggy-Anne Salz of Mobile Groove and Oliver Kern from Lockwood/Target Games sit down in their premiere episode with Co-founder of indie studio Lucky Kat Studios (publisher of Grumpy Cat’s...

Read More

Preparing for iOS 14: MMP-free publisher guide with Kevin Bravo, creator of Elixir

Roman Garbar

Preparing for iOS 14: MMP-free publisher guide with Kevin Bravo, creator of Elixir

One month before the release of iOS 14, there are still many speculations around what’s happening next for MMPs. How much will their role change? Are advertisers still ok paying 1-5 cents for each paid tracked install on iOS, even though it no longer has user-level granularity?  Will Apple allow MMPs to validate Conversion Values though...

Read More

iOS14: How Tenjin clients should rethink measurement for Google & Facebook

Roman Garbar

iOS14: How Tenjin clients should rethink measurement for Google & Facebook

We’ve decided to make one of our first training materials on post- iOS 14 measurement available to everyone, training previously only available to Tenjin clients. Starting from the iOS 14 release in September and going forward, user acquisition on mobile will turn into something very different. This is why it’s crucial to start preparing for...

Read More

Tenjin Case Study: TokyoSmartGames User Acquisition Journey

Ebony Nicole Simone

Tenjin Case Study: TokyoSmartGames User Acquisition Journey

The importance of easily manageable aggregate data has never been so high, especially after recent iOS 14 news. Our latest client case study is about the Tokyo game development company, TokyoSmartGames. They use Tenjin to transition from using Google Spreadsheets to building their own internal BI. TokyoSmartGames Director, Kinoshita Tomohiro, provides insights into how the user acquisition...

Read More

Preparing for the iOS attribution shift in September: industry-wide effects SANs like Facebook and Google have on all MMPs

Roman Garbar

Preparing for the iOS attribution shift in September: industry-wide effects SANs like Facebook and Google have on all MMPs

Since the announcement of new attribution rules on iOS 14, we saw that Mobile Measurement Partners quickly divided into two camps. The first wanted to start building their technology from scratch based on the new attribution framework that Apple provided (SKAdNetwork). The second wanted to continue building on the usage of non-deterministic user-level attribution techniques. We...

Read More

How will COVID-19 affect the hyper-casual industry in 2020: A virtual panel

Ebony Nicole Simone

How will COVID-19 affect the hyper-casual industry in 2020: A virtual panel

Mobile gaming is seeing a surge due to the current stay-at-home measures around the global pandemic. Late last year, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is found in China and quickly spreads worldwide. And here we are today.This current pandemic affects the economies of major countries, the expansion of all industries. In mobile gaming, hyper-casual is no...

Read More

Case Study: ITI uses Tenjin to help increase Apple Search Ads installs by 6x

Ebony Nicole Simone

Case Study: ITI uses Tenjin to help increase Apple Search Ads installs by 6x

We published our latest case study with ITI on how they found success using Tenjin and Apple Search Ads. We discuss with ITI Developer, Kosei Saegusa, how they began publishing hyper-casual games worldwide, and what optimization techniques they use to increase their Apple Search Ads install volume by six times. Humble Beginnings ITI’s journey started...

Read More

Top 10 Ad Networks to advertise Hyper-casual Games in 2020

Ebony Nicole Simone

Top 10 Ad Networks to advertise Hyper-casual Games in 2020

We recently released our 2020 Hyper-Casual benchmark report. In addition to insights for the Top 10 countries, included in this report is an outline of the Top 10 ad networks for User Acquisition and Ad Monetization. We’re all too familiar with networks like Facebook and Google, but what about other channels where you can buy inexpensive...

Read More

Getting an advantage with MoPub ILRD & Tenjin DataVault: A webinar

Ebony Nicole Simone

Getting an advantage with MoPub ILRD & Tenjin DataVault: A webinar

We are very ecstatic to share our latest discussion with MoPub on impression-level data (ILRD) and never before seen use-cases of MoPub ILRD with Tenjin’s DataVault. Tenjin built the Basic ad revenue LTV model in 2017, and the Advanced ad revenue model was launched in 2018. In 2019, Tenjin released our Pro ad revenue model...

Read More

2020 Hyper-casual Benchmark Report

Ebony Nicole Simone

2020 Hyper-casual Benchmark Report

We’ve finalized our annual hyper-casual benchmark report that you can download below. In this report, we’ve compiled the median CPIs for hyper-casual games with a breakdown per top country and top ad network. You learn which country has the lowest CPI of $0.16 on iOS. 2019 was another year when hyper-casual games dominated app stores’...

Read More

Hyper-Casual Games and China: Market Analysis & Insights (China Joy Recap)

Roman Garbar

Hyper-Casual Games and China: Market Analysis & Insights (China Joy Recap)

At the 2019 ChinaJoy Seminar: Hyper-casual games in East meets West, our CEO Christopher Farm shared the most recent hyper-casual market analysis data and insights. Here are 4 key insights from the event: 1. China’s low CPIs make it an attractive market Hyper-casual games aren’t a western phenomenon. In fact, publishers are increasingly dedicating resources...

Read More

Hyper-casual market size in 2019 and other insights that you need to know

Matthaus Krzykowski

Hyper-casual market size in 2019 and other insights that you need to know

Hyper-casual represents a major industry trend that won’t fade away in 2019 — if anything, the market for these games will continue to grow and evolve. As such, mobile developers and marketers need to keep a close eye on the space and determine how it will impact their ongoing strategies. At White Nights at St....

Read More

Hyper-Casual Games – The Complete Developer’s Guide

Roman Garbar

Hyper-Casual Games – The Complete Developer’s Guide

In the last few years, hyper-casual games have exploded in popularity. Find out how you can capitalize on this lucrative mobile trend with our comprehensive developer’s guide to hyper-casual. Though hyper-casual games aren’t exactly new, they are definitely having a moment in the mobile space. Users are embracing the simplicity and minimalist design the category...

Read More

App Subscriptions – What Are They And How Do They Work In 2019?

Roman Garbar

App Subscriptions – What Are They And How Do They Work In 2019?

Subscriptions are the norm for content-based apps, but many mobile developers are finding new, creative ways to leverage the model. Over the past decade, subscriptions have steadily subverted the classic pay-to-own model. In 2019, music and streaming app subscriptions are ubiquitous, and it’s now possible to subscribe to anything from dog food to jewelry. According...

Read More

Challenges Of User-Level Ad Revenue Reporting

Sunny Cha

Challenges Of User-Level Ad Revenue Reporting

In recent weeks, our industry has entered into a vibrant discussion surrounding user-level ad revenue tracking. It’s easy to understand the excitement: for app developers who rely on mobile ad monetization, it’s intuitive this would be the Holy Grail of ad revenue data analysis. It’s intuition allows precise ad revenue LTV calculations for each acquired...

Read More

What Are Hyper-Casual Games?

Sunny Cha

What Are Hyper-Casual Games?

What are hyper casual games, and why have they grown by leaps and bounds in 2019? Hyper-casual games are in a unique position. The new mobile genre absolutely exploded in popularity in recent years, with many experts — including Tenjin — calling it one of the biggest drivers of mobile growth. Our own 2018 Hyper Casual...

Read More

Are Content Subscriptions The Next Big Trend In Mobile Game Monetization?

Sunny Cha

Are Content Subscriptions The Next Big Trend In Mobile Game Monetization?

Mobile game publishers have been considering content subscriptions for years. Could a new Apple gaming service finally compete with advertising revenue? To many industry leaders, content subscriptions seem like an ideal way to monetize mobile games. After all, streaming services like Netflix have proven fans are willing to pay monthly fees for entire film libraries...

Read More

Tenjin Presents the 2018 Mobile Ad Spend Report

Sunny Cha

Tenjin Presents the 2018 Mobile Ad Spend Report

We analyzed $1.04 billion of mobile ad spend data from the Tenjin platform to determine which networks and genres are leading the pack in terms of popularity and cost-effectiveness. 2018 was a year that simultaneously rushed past us yet felt much longer than expected. So much has happened in a brief twelve months — especially...

Read More

The 17 Best User Acquisition Channels For Mobile Games In 2019

Sunny Cha

The 17 Best User Acquisition Channels For Mobile Games In 2019

We’ve published our list of top 10 ad networks for 2020. Discover which of the world’s best UA networks best suit your needs. In today’s mobile-first world, paid advertising is becoming one of the most crucial ways to acquire users and generate revenue. The only problem is prioritizing which networks, agencies and platforms to work...

Read More

Tenjin Presents The 2018 Hyper-Casual Games CPI Benchmark Report

Sunny Cha

Tenjin Presents The 2018 Hyper-Casual Games CPI Benchmark Report

Our analysis of $48 million in hyper-casual installs reveals powerful new insights into mobile gaming’s hottest new sub-genre. Hyper-casual games are the latest exciting phenomenon to take shape in the mobile gaming world. They’ve quickly become one of the most profitable and widely enjoyed genres in the app store, and players around the world can’t get...

Read More

Beyond Hyper-Casual: The Biggest Mobile Gaming Trends For 2019

Sunny Cha

Beyond Hyper-Casual: The Biggest Mobile Gaming Trends For 2019

The integration of AAA game mechanics, new monetization strategies, and advances in technology promise a bright future for mobile gaming in the years to come. Since the dawn of the smartphone era, mobile games have been dismissed by so-called “hardcore gamers” as being overly simplistic compared to console and PC titles. And perhaps a decade...

Read More

The 6 Blogs Every Mobile Game Publisher Needs To Bookmark

Sunny Cha

The 6 Blogs Every Mobile Game Publisher Needs To Bookmark

Ask any mobile game publisher and they’ll tell you the same thing: this industry moves fast. New trends like the rise of hyper-casual can have an earth-shattering impact overnight, and it’s the responsibility of publishers to stay up to date on how space is evolving. That means keeping a close eye on mergers and acquisitions, technologies, monetization...

Read More

3 Ways Tenjin Lets App Marketers Get More Value Out Of Their Snapсhat UA

Roman Garbar

3 Ways Tenjin Lets App Marketers Get More Value Out Of Their Snapсhat UA

Last month, we proudly announced that Tenjin has officially been named a Snapchat Mobile Measurement Partner! Our users are now able to attribute Snap installs and use Tenjin to calculate ROI & LTV for all Snap-acquired users. Furthermore, this means UA managers in Tenjin can now see even greater returns from their Snapchat user acquisition efforts....

Read More

Reddit Tracking Is Officially Live – Here’s How To Get The Most Out Of It

Sunny Cha

Reddit Tracking Is Officially Live – Here’s How To Get The Most Out Of It

We’re thrilled to announce that marketers can now officially track Reddit campaign performance in their Tenjin dashboard! A mainstay of the internet’s cultural landscape, Reddit is a place where millions of users gather every day to share and discuss their passions. Their talented ad product team has been hard at work building the tools needed to deliver...

Read More

Why Hyper-Casual Games Don’t Need To Get Featured To Succeed

Sunny Cha

Why Hyper-Casual Games Don’t Need To Get Featured To Succeed

App store discoverability has changed drastically since launch. Mobile pioneers will happily recount the days when simply being one of the few apps available was enough to generate organic installs through word of mouth and the natural lift of a rapidly growing smartphone community. By those standards, today’s app store is almost unrecognizable. With thousands of...

Read More

How To Make Hyper-Casual Games – The 5 Best Resources

Sunny Cha

How To Make Hyper-Casual Games – The 5 Best Resources

Wondering how to make hyper-casual games? As the new dominant force in mobile, hyper-casual games are getting a lot of attention from players and developers alike. Their meteoric rise has been achieved by doubling down on the proven design principles that have historically made casual free-to-play titles so successful, taking tactics like bite size gameplay...

Read More

3 Lessons All Game Developers Should Learn From The Success Of The Hyper Casual Genre

Sunny Cha

3 Lessons All Game Developers Should Learn From The Success Of The Hyper Casual Genre

Mobile hyper-casual games are having a moment. On a platform historically dominated by puzzle, social casino, and build-and-battle titles, hyper-casual games are changing the status quo. They’ve managed to combine simplicity, approachability, and creative business practices to produce unique, profitable gameplay experiences that have seen them dominating the app store charts, at many times occupying...

Read More

6 Free Tools For Building Stunning Facebook Ad Creative

Sunny Cha

6 Free Tools For Building Stunning Facebook Ad Creative

Facebook gives advertisers access to some powerful creative tools right out of the gate. The creative hub is an excellent way to develop mockups and see what they feel like in their native environment, but marketers looking to gain a competitive advantage will need to look beyond the standard offering in order to take their campaign creative...

Read More

3 Ways Deferred Deep Links Can Drive Growth And Engagement For Mobile App Marketers

Sunny Cha

3 Ways Deferred Deep Links Can Drive Growth And Engagement For Mobile App Marketers

July 11th, 2018 marks the 10 year anniversary since mobile deep linking technology was first made available to developers with the release of iOS 2.0. Since then, it’s become something of a divisive topic. Detractors from the worlds of academia and industry have cited security concerns and an alleged lack of practical applications as deterrents to investment. On the...

Read More

Ad Monetization For Hyper Casual Games – A Data Scientist’s Playbook

Sunny Cha

Ad Monetization For Hyper Casual Games – A Data Scientist’s Playbook

Mobile game publishing is undergoing a dramatic paradigm shift, and hyper casual games are at the center of it all. Characterized by their short engagement loops, low retention, and ad-based monetization, hyper casual titles represent a stark departure from the whale-driven, IAP-centric, tentpole economies traditionally found in the social casino and build & battle genres....

Read More

The 2017 Tenjin Ad Monetization Report

Sunny Cha

The 2017 Tenjin Ad Monetization Report

As mobile innovation drives ahead, in-app advertising remains a staple of monetization. There are plenty of options available for publishers looking to implement basic solutions, but in order to realize the maximum potential ad revenue, monetization managers need to keep up with market trends. In the rapidly evolving world of mobile ad monetization, this is...

Read More

7 Ways To Increase Your Freemium App’s ARPPU

Sunny Cha

7 Ways To Increase Your Freemium App’s ARPPU

In 1906, management consultant Joseph M. Juran paid homage to Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto by coining the term “Pareto Principle” in reference to a unique relationship he observed in the business world. He found that in the vast majority of firms he analyzed, 80% of the sales came from 20% of the clients. For the...

Read More

What’s The Difference Between Total Revenue and LTV?

Chris Farm

What’s The Difference Between Total Revenue and LTV?

Developers use the terms “total revenue” and “LTV” interchangeably too often. This isn’t accurate. There are crucial differences that set these terms apart. Failing to consider these differences leads companies to misinterpret app performance and make poor business decisions. In order to keep your growth initiatives on-track and cost-effective, let’s clarify the differences and look...

Read More

5 Easy Ways To Protect Your Brand From Ad Fraud

Sunny Cha

5 Easy Ways To Protect Your Brand From Ad Fraud

Fraud prevention should be a top priority for today’s mobile marketers. It’s the first line of defense against ineffective ad spending and should therefore be the first thing considered when developing your advertising strategies. Downstream optimizations like context, viewability and performance become irrelevant the second your ads aren’t being viewed by a real audience. In...

Read More

The Beginner’s Guide To CVR Marketing

Sunny Cha

The Beginner’s Guide To CVR Marketing

In the world of digital marketing, CVR stands for Conversion Rate or Conversion Ratio. It’s a key performance indicator for digital advertising campaigns, mobile applications, and commercial websites. It looks like this: (Total Conversions / Total Impressions) * 100 The word “conversion” refers to the completion of a final and desired outcome. To be considered...

Read More

Introducing a Better Way to Track Mobile Users

Chris Farm

Introducing a Better Way to Track Mobile Users

Tenjin is proud to announce its new mobile web-based cookie attribution technology! Currently iOS marketers depend on inaccurate mobile fingerprinting technology to attribute a user’s install to a clicked ad. At a high level, fingerprinting captures many attributes about a user’s device when an ad is clicked and directed through a browser. The attributes collected...

Read More

The Most Interesting New iOS Features

Sunny Cha

The Most Interesting New iOS Features

New iOS Features Every Developer Needs to Know Last year’s iOS update gave developers two new toys: 3D touch and third-party integration for Siri. But this year, the iPhone 8 and X are offering many more additions. Apple’s new hardware and OS features should be interesting both for immediate development and for the future —...

Read More

5 Questions to Help Find Your Indie Niche

Sunny Cha

5 Questions to Help Find Your Indie Niche

Creating a massive hit is every developer’s hope, but it happens far too rarely to be a goal for the majority of indie developers. Successful indies, instead, find ways to thrive without ever rising into the top ranks of the app stores. “You probably don’t know my games, and I make a pretty good living,”...

Read More

How Subscriptions Are Driving App Revenue & Retention

Sunny Cha

How Subscriptions Are Driving App Revenue & Retention

Subscriptions are more than a niche: services like Spotify and Headspace prove that users are willing to shell out money for content they regularly use. App Annie’s chief marketing officer, Al Campa, predicts that subscription-based monetization will be the future of games. Non-gaming apps are already seeing success with subscriptions: this month Tinder reached the #1 top...

Read More

Scaling Your Freemium App Business: Knowing When You’re Ready, and How to Do It

Sunny Cha

Scaling Your Freemium App Business: Knowing When You’re Ready, and How to Do It

You’re almost there. Your app is ready for the limelight, you’ve tested user acquisition campaigns with platforms like Facebook and Google to figure out your audience and measure conversions, and you’ve soft-launched in test markets to get a sense of install costs and initial monetization metrics. You are starting to get some traction, and you’re...

Read More

ROI vs. ROAS: Choosing the Right Performance Metric

Roman Garbar

ROI vs. ROAS: Choosing the Right Performance Metric

When you measure your ad campaigns, you’re going to use either ROI (Return on Investment) or ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). But these measurements aren’t fully interchangeable: each has its strategic uses. A few years ago, most companies wouldn’t have stopped to consider whether switching to a subtly different measurement might be worthwhile. But today,...

Read More

How Non-Gaming Apps Are Improving Retention

Sunny Cha

How Non-Gaming Apps Are Improving Retention

For mobile app developers, retention is hard. An average of just 7.5% of mobile users stay active 30 days after downloading an app. And while mobile game developers have spent countless hours trying to crack the retention code, there are plenty of lessons they can learn by looking at their non-gaming peers. Below, we examine four ways...

Read More

Increase ROI With Tenjin’s Deferred Deep Linking

Chris Farm

Increase ROI With Tenjin’s Deferred Deep Linking

Tenjin’s latest feature, deferred deep linking for ads, enables one of the Web’s best features for mobile apps. Imagine you’re on your phone, looking for the newest Air Jordans. Which ad is more appealing? “Get shoes here” or “Get the Air Jordan 6 Retro Chameleon here.” More clicks — and more valuable clicks — will...

Read More

Harnessing the Power of Big Data into Actionable Insights

Sunny Cha

Harnessing the Power of Big Data into Actionable Insights

Big data tools are now ubiquitous and, compared to years ago, cheap. But while these tools give you the “what” — fire hydrants of data — they don’t provide the “how” of using it. A gaming app developer, for example, can set up easy, out of the box tools to collect millions of data points...

Read More

Growth Analytics vs. Product Analytics: What’s the Difference?

Sunny Cha

Growth Analytics vs. Product Analytics: What’s the Difference?

We often get asked how Tenjin compares to analytics companies such as Mixpanel, Amplitude, deltaDNA, and others. The short answer is that the best way to describe those other analytics solutions is as product-centric tools, while Tenjin can best be categorized as a growth-centric tool. What do we mean by product vs. growth analytics? Product-centric...

Read More

How to choose the right Business Intelligence Tool for your business

Sunny Cha

How to choose the right Business Intelligence Tool for your business

Update 25.11.22: Regardless of what BI tool you choose, you can always count on Growth FullStack to set up the data pipelines for it. To get a leg up in today’s ultra competitive landscape, most app developers have come to depend on some type of Business Intelligence (BI) software. Whether built by an in-house team or bought and...

Read More

Reported Installs vs. Tracked Installs

Sunny Cha

Reported Installs vs. Tracked Installs

If you use our attribution to track installs by media source, you might notice that there are two types of installs described there: Reported Installs and Tracked Installs. What’s the difference? Why are there differences between Reported Installs and Tracked Installs? Are the networks trying to scam you by overcharging for installs? No, probably not. In very few...

Read More

LTV 201: A Simple Method for Forecasting

Sunny Cha

LTV 201: A Simple Method for Forecasting

Lifetime value is tricky. The simplest — and also the most reliable — LTV calculations tell you what happened in the past: segment X made Y dollars per user. In a perfect world, that would be enough. But usually, you’ll want to know the future, and that means building a more complex model. “Complex” can mean a lot...

Read More

The Paid Marketing Conversion Funnel

Chris Farm

The Paid Marketing Conversion Funnel

In my last few meetings with small developers who want to learn about paid User Acquisition, we talked about the paid marketing conversion funnel. It seems like a simple concept at the outset, but when marketers first start buying installs it’s probably the most important concept to understand. Here’s a slide that sums up the...

Read More

7 Tips for Optimizing Mobile App Install Campaigns From Setup to Analysis

Sunny Cha

7 Tips for Optimizing Mobile App Install Campaigns From Setup to Analysis

Mobile app install campaigns are like carefully tuned machines: every part needs optimization to prevent an explosion (in your ad budget, of course). From compiling the creatives to interpreting analytics into actionable insights, you’ve got to get it all right to succeed. We put together a list of seven tips, from the start of a...

Read More

LTV 101

Sunny Cha

LTV 101

I talk to mobile app developers every day. After each conversation, it still amazes me how most of them don’t know what LTV means, and for those that do, they might be fuzzy on the math. This post is intended to get developers up to speed, if not to expert level (a tall order!). What...

Read More

IDFA Sends All Zeros on iOS 10 Devices

Chris Farm

IDFA Sends All Zeros on iOS 10 Devices

A few months ago, Apple announced that iOS 10 will send all zeros for itsadvertisingIdentiferfield when the device’s user sets their limit ad tracking flag toON. According to Tenjin’s aggregate records, this represents ~15% of devices where IDFA will not be unique for a specific device. As I noted in my last post about cookies, the...

Read More

Time to profitability is a key metric for a growing app

Chris Farm

Time to profitability is a key metric for a growing app

It’s common for app developers to acquire users for their apps by paying 3rd parties (like ad networks). Paying for users is an investment. To measure the success of an investment, an app developer needs to monitor how quickly they can recoup the invested dollars. Time to profitability (TTP), a.k.a “time to break even”, is...

Read More

Tenjin DataVault: a marketing infrastructure as a service.

Sunny Cha

Tenjin DataVault: a marketing infrastructure as a service.

Tenjin is proud to announce DataVault, a professional, fully managed, direct access SQL Data Warehouse for all your marketing needs. It’s a big step to democratizing mobile app business infrastructure. App developers commonly build business infrastructure once their mobile app shows promise. This is distracting. Tenjin can offload this infrastructure work with DataVault, allowing developers to...

Read More

Building for the Marketing Scientist

Chris Farm

Building for the Marketing Scientist

As marketing goes digital, it starts to share a lot of common ground with data science. At Tenjin, we are seeing people with backgrounds in these two seemingly distinct fields, marketing and data science, emerge with a new role: the “Marketing Scientist”. There are two main drivers for the rise of the Marketing Scientist: These two...

Read More