AppLovin made money. It just took 12 months.

An ad buyer at Guaranteed PPC ran AppLovin next to six other channels for one client and published every number. AppLovin finished at 118% ROAS, behind Facebook, YouTube, and Google Display. It still made money, after months of losing it first.

We pulled ten lessons out of his video. Here are three worth stealing for your next round of in-game ads.

Before you buy

The offer has to beat the game

An ad that interrupts play mostly annoys people. It works for things nobody has seen before, at prices up to about $500.

The fixIf your product wouldn't surprise someone mid-game, leave AppLovin for later.

The ad itself

Keep it short and leave a question open

Ads that explained the law behind loan forgiveness lost to one plain line: you can get your loan forgiven, and others already have.

The fixMake the click the ad's only job. Let the landing page do the explaining.

Measuring and waiting

Expect the first months to lose money

AppLovin ROAS was about 20% in month one and 118% three to six months in. Facebook got there in 2 to 3 months.

The fixSpend only what you could keep spending for a year if nothing sold.

The other seven cover the $20k minimum and how to test around it, why app clicks aren't junk, remarketing, ROAS targets, first-click measurement, and channel risk.

Read the full teardown Book a call

Talk soon,

Muzni Mubarak, Flixr Studios

You're getting this because you signed up for Flixr updates.

Flixr Studios · [Mailing address]

Unsubscribe · Email preferences