2019 Advertising Monetization Insights Report (Part 1)

As 2020 approaches, many media have begun planning their platform operations and advertising monetization plans for the new year. For media with advertising monetization demands, understanding the market changes in 2019, gaining insight into the development trends in 2020, exploring the monetization potential of their own products, and planning the focus of advertising monetization (key industries, key monetization forms, etc.) will help them to be more targeted and win at the starting line of the new year.

Based on years of deep cultivation and accumulation in the industry, we have compiled this "2019 Advertising Monetization Insight Report" in the hope that through effective data information and monetization experience, we can provide traffic owners with solutions to increase revenue and more scientific and effective operational decision-making guidance!

1. News and Information APP

1) Overall monetization trend

In 2019, the number of users and industry penetration rate of news and information applications maintained a steady growth trend. At the same time, the outstanding media traffic value, platform content value, platform ecological value, etc., make the marketing value of mobile news and information media favored by more and more advertisers. The overall advertising revenue of news and information media is considerable, even far exceeding that of other types of media.

2) Key monetization forms <br />According to Meishu’s monetization data: splash screen ads, information flow ads, and ads inserted in the article details page/bottom banner ads are the commonly used advertising monetization methods for news and information apps. In addition, some of Meishu’s partner media have also actively developed splash screen video ads and information flow video ads in video format, and their click and exposure performance is more prominent than that of graphic and text ads.

Judging from the monetization effect data of Meishu: compared with other forms of advertising, the click-through rate of splash screen ads has obvious advantages, reaching an average of 5%-10%. At the same time, splash screen ads are also favored by brand advertisers; and information flow ads are the "darlings" of performance advertisers. They not only have higher user attention and acceptance, but also can bring better conversion effects to a certain extent. Looking at the monetization data of Meishu, the click-through rate of information flow ads in news and information media generally remains at around 1-3%. The monetization effect of insert ads/bottom banner ads on article details pages is relatively poor compared to splash screen and information flow ads, and the click-through rate is slightly lower. However, it can also gain the favor of some small and medium-sized performance advertisers, so it can also expand media monetization revenue and fill to a certain extent. In addition, according to Meishu’s monetization experience, the click-through rate of video ads can be increased by 30%-70% compared to graphic and text ads.

3) Key delivery categories <br />Among the advertising materials of news and information media, advertisements for the purpose of e-commerce promotion account for the largest proportion, reaching 45.8%; secondly, the TOP 5 delivery industries also include application promotion, games, automobiles, and education and training. In addition, the home furnishing, event promotion, tourism, and financial industries have also made significant investments in news and information platforms.

Advertising monetization advice for 2020

1) Data from the Meishu Market shows that video purchases showed a rapid growth trend in 2019, especially in the second half of 2019, and the number of video materials increased by 6 times. Therefore, it is recommended that news and information media consider developing more new video advertising formats in 2020 based on changes in brand demands: such as information flow video ads, splash screen video ads, etc., in order to continuously tap into new profit growth points. Here is another suggestion from Meishu: immersive vertical full-screen video ads are a hot trend. They not only cater to users' current mobile phone usage habits and bring an excellent viewing experience, but also have more outstanding monetization effects. Meishu data shows that compared with horizontal ads, vertical ads have a 20-60% higher conversion rate and a 25-50% lower activation cost. Therefore, it is recommended that media develop and support this type of advertising format.

2) It is recommended that news and information media incorporate technologies such as big data, machine learning algorithms, and artificial intelligence. Technology is used to drive the continuous maturity of crowd analysis and advertising distribution capabilities, as well as the continuous enrichment of advertising formats, so that the following can be achieved in terms of delivery: accurately recommending suitable advertisements (advertising format + advertising content) to the right people in the right scenarios (online + offline), so as to ultimately improve brand marketing effects while enhancing the media's own monetization revenue and competitiveness.

3) In addition to conventional advertising styles, in order to attract more user attention and advertisers’ budget, it is recommended that news and information media innovate and explore more innovative advertising styles. For example, you can refer to: NetEase News’ information flow flip ads; Tencent News’ information flow picture gallery ads (click for details); Toutiao’s “1+4 Headline Premium Column” information flow ads (click for details) to expand media advertising monetization effects and profit growth space.

2. Online Reading Apps

1) Overall monetization trend

Among the fastest growing industries, the online reading industry ranks at the top. With the high growth trend of the online reading industry, in order to expand brand communication and increase user base, advertisers' advertising budgets are further tilted towards this field. As a result, many online reading apps, especially free reading apps, have used advertising monetization as their main means of profit. The overall monetization performance of the online reading industry is good and the prospects are promising.

* Online reading in a broad sense includes all content publications such as e-books, comics, digital magazines, audiobooks, etc.; online reading in a narrow sense only includes online literature and electronic versions of publications (e-books). The main research object of this paper is online reading in a broad sense.

2) Key monetization forms <br />According to Meishu’s monetization data and actual cases: splash screen ads and reading page insert ads are the most commonly used monetization forms. In addition, full-bar ads at the bottom of the reading page and information flow ads are also commonly used in online reading apps.

In terms of monetization effects: Splash screen ads have the best exposure and click-through effects, with an average click-through rate of 2-5%, and a maximum of 12%; since reading page insert ads appear during the reading process, they have higher exposure and visibility, but their click-through rate is slightly lower than that of splash screen ads, at an average of 1-3%; the full-width and information flow ads at the bottom of the reading page have a slightly lower click-through rate due to their display and exposure positions.

3) Key categories of investment <br />Among online reading APP channels, e-commerce promotion and application promotion received the most investment, accounting for 32% and 25% respectively; secondly, education and training, games, life services, entertainment and leisure, health, and financial industries also often use online reading media to attract traffic and increase the chances of brand reach.

Advertising monetization advice for 2020

1) In addition to conventional entrances, some advertising locations with certain traffic and monetization capabilities (such as the "My" section, etc.) are also suitable for APP advertising implantation. In addition, it is recommended to embed interactive ads or incentivized video ads, which are user-friendly, small in size, native, and flexible, to ensure user experience and advertisers’ display needs while increasing APP profit margins.

2) Relevant technologies (intelligent engine recommendations, machine algorithms, etc.) can be used to combine display scenarios, reading scenarios, etc. to match the audience with suitable advertisers and their creatives, so as to improve the relevance of advertisements to users and bring higher monetization effects.

3) Since the interstitial ads and the full-width ads at the bottom of the reading page appear during the audience's reading process, it is recommended to reasonably control the exposure frequency and strengthen advertising review and filtering to reduce user interference so as not to affect the media's image and favorability.

4) Splash screen ads can be displayed in video format to seize the "golden time" when the app is launched, greatly enhancing advertising attention and brand memory.

3. Game apps

1) Overall monetization trend

From the Meishu market data, we can see that in 2019, the continued growth of the game market (especially casual games) has stimulated more advertisers to invest their budgets, and at the same time stimulated more and more game apps to integrate into the advertising monetization model. In general, the advertising monetization momentum of gaming apps was strong in 2019. Many gaming platforms not only achieved a continuously rising eCPM, but advertising also became their main source of monetization revenue.

2) Key monetization forms <br />According to Meishu monetization data: interstitial ads, banner ads, and incentive video ads are the three mainstream ad monetization types for current gaming apps, with a display ratio of 5:3:2.

In terms of the performance of the three advertising formats: interstitial ads can relatively bring better exposure and visibility effects. At the same time, with the help of the Meishu platform for precise targeted delivery, the click-through rate of interstitial ads can reach an average of 2%-4%; banner/Banner ads usually appear during the game, with considerable exposure effects, but relatively low click-through rates; in addition, the click-through rate of incentive video ads is relatively the highest, exceeding 4%. In addition, incentive video ads are a popular form of advertising among players. App retention can be increased by at least 4 times, and user experience and product satisfaction are also higher.

3) Key categories of advertising <br />Based on the advertising display data of all gaming apps tracked by Meishu, it shows that e-commerce, video applications, tool applications, games, and tourism industries account for a large proportion of advertising.

Advertising monetization advice for 2020

Each gaming app should design its advertising format according to the type of game. Among them, incentivized video ads have a higher eCPM, are more popular with players, and have better advertising effects. Therefore, they can serve as an important entry point for future incremental expansion of various game apps, especially medium and heavy game apps (games with complex gameplay and long game time); and for super casual and casual games with faster game pace and simpler gameplay, although incentivized videos are an advertising form with better monetization effects, interstitial ads are also indispensable. At the same time, when designing interstitial ads, developers must also set an appropriate exposure frequency to avoid interfering with users' normal gaming experience and causing user loss. In addition, although the monetization effect of banner ads is lower than the other two, its advertising revenue is relatively stable and can be used as an effective supplement to game revenue under special circumstances.

author: SaaS Cloud Platform

Source: AdxData