Okay, so this is a really good point. While gameplay is addictive (comments like, "omg, 5am, I should be asleep") it does not help when I get bottom-of-the-heap advertising for dating / etc.
Sponsorships/etc are not something I feel the app is ready for. I feel those are something games with 1mil+ impressions/day do.
I have already ditched all of the Mobclix advertisers because of dating/etc ads and will be moving to another advert provider for my 15k impressions/day (and growing) which are currently served through admob. Just not sure who though !
The app in question is a Boggle-type word game with a bunch of extra's thrown to add a element of strategy. We payed a LOT of attention to addiction psychology to ensure the game is really compelling.
Perhaps if I added a "about you" dialog and asked for (optional) sex/age/zip code/etc to better target ads. I don't think anyone has done this before.... actually ask users to help them better target adverts !
I like the idea of micro-payments to see your name in the leaderboards.
Backend is currently google appengine. Referral system (facebook/email/etc) is all in place. The app is pretty mature, but like a lot of others, it just needs more users and a way to monetize it.
When I initially did the numbers, I did web searches and it seemed like people were getting $1/1000 ads shown. By the time I launched, the bottom dropped out the market and I am getting under $0.05/1000 ads.
I feel that the problem is my low CTR (Click-through-rate)... low CTR = cheap/nasty ads = low CTR because they get ignored = more bad ads = low revenue... vicious cycle.
I have definitely thought of going the 'interstitial' ad route (show one ad only at the end of every N rounds). But the reason the game is so addictive, is at the end of a round, the scores are shown for all players playing (hence the need for a Cloud connection) and then the next round starts without any user interaction. This is key.
There are no higher game levels. Each round is different.
Can't do a premium version, since there are ongoing server costs. I want those covered by advertising. I don't want to have to fund the servers from now till forever with potentially no future income.
"Can't do a premium version, since there are ongoing server costs."
Care to elaborate why the costs exclude premium version? Why couldn't the paying users cover the costs, while the free play is basically your promotion tool (like Dropbox).
Sponsorships/etc are not something I feel the app is ready for. I feel those are something games with 1mil+ impressions/day do.
I have already ditched all of the Mobclix advertisers because of dating/etc ads and will be moving to another advert provider for my 15k impressions/day (and growing) which are currently served through admob. Just not sure who though !
The app in question is a Boggle-type word game with a bunch of extra's thrown to add a element of strategy. We payed a LOT of attention to addiction psychology to ensure the game is really compelling.
Perhaps if I added a "about you" dialog and asked for (optional) sex/age/zip code/etc to better target ads. I don't think anyone has done this before.... actually ask users to help them better target adverts !