First, let’s get one thing straight; in-app ads are making money, and lots of it. In fact, revenue from in-app ads has exploded in the last 3 years and they’re on a pace to top $70 billion in revenues by 2017. When it comes to monetizing apps, in-app ads are the proven leader.
The biggest problem is simply this; there are so many different types of in-app ads that many advertisers and agencies are confused by them, so much so that a glossary of terms (with a tip of the hat to Phunware) was recently put together to help decipher them all.
Static in-app ads are pretty much finished by the way, as advertisers and agencies opt for more dynamic, entertaining and engaging forms of in-app ads that really grab users’ attention.
What this means is that agencies and advertisers are struggling to figure out the new normal, and thus some smarty pants put together a glossary of terms to help them out.
You can see them explained in all their glory here.
They include (briefly):
- Native ads, which mimic editorial content in look and tone and are very popular right now
- Interstitial ads, which appear during ‘breaks’ when a user is changing levels in an app
- Exit ads, which appear when a user taps the ‘back’ button
- Splash ads, that appear before an app loads
- App lists that offer, you guessed it, a list of apps to choose from and download
- Panel ads, which are like app lists but with more info
- Slider ads, which are new but up-and-coming and mirror a user’s touchscreen sliding habits
- Banners, the ‘black sheep’ of in-app ads that are cheap, ineffective and universally loathed
Developers have access to all of these in-app ad formats and must simply decide which one will be best to monetize their new app.