Which iPhone app ad solution gives the best rates?

Question

I have a free iPhone app downloaded by 3,000 users, most of whom use my app at least once per day. So I plan to show ads in my app. Which ad solution is best? I looked in some sites, but no one is giving clear details about CPMs.

How much will I get for 1,000 impressions using different ad solutions?

Answer 1

The major ad networks are so generic that you're only going to see a couple dollar CPM (cost per thousand impressions), if that.

If your ad is specific to a certain market, you'd be better off getting sponsored by an advertiser or two in that market.

Answer 2

Your mileage will vary. AdMob eCPM between $0.35 and $2.00.

An alternative to choosing a single ad vendor is to use the AdWhirl solution. This lets you dynamically configure ad networks on the fly, even after you have shipped your app.

Answer 3

There are many iPhone ad networks. Perhaps the most popular is AdMob.

I've been using it for my application, iLaugh, for several months now and it's generating decent revenue (average $2000 per month on 175,000 daily ad requests). That low number is partly due to the fact that AdMob displays less than half of my ad requests as CPC ads, instead printing the rest with their sucky Download Exchange program.

What I would recommend, though, is going with AdWhirl, which is a solution that lets you dynamically change ad networks on-the-fly, put your custom ads or automatically balance between ad network to generate the most revenue.

If your app gains traction, you'll probably be better off negotiating a deal with one of the exclusive ad networks that veto your app based on traffic and merit and only accept the big guys. I've been accepted by the JumpTap network (implemented by Pinch Media) and am planning to use their ads as well as AdMob's in the next iteration of my app, which uses AdWhirl.

Oh, and I run a mailing list specifically dedicated to these kinds of questions / discussions: iphonesb.

Answer 4

Why don't you try out Moduad? It provides virtual goods hosting as well as pay-per-install, pay-per-click advertising.

Answer 5

The best (and easiest) iPhone ads service is that 1 where the ENTIRE procedure is just:

1. Drop a small WebView into the bottom of your app.
2. Add 3 lines of simple code that points to your http ad-key number.

No frameworks, no SDK, no API, no downloads, no reading, no link, no bugs, no updates, no nothing.

Oh wait... that's too easy. No one offers that.