How to Fix Annual Cycles of eCPM and Fillrate Drop in Mobile Games and Apps
In this tutorial, we will consider the following questions:
1. What are eCPM and fillrate ?
2. Why eCPM and fillrate drops?
3. What are eCPM / fillrate drop annual cycles?
4. What are key events when eCPM and fillrate grow?
5. How to fix eCPM and fillrate drop?
6. Strategy to use eCPM and fillrate drop in your favors
1. What are eCPM and fillrate ?
eCPM
eCPM stands for "effective cost per mille" (mille is Latin for thousand). It is a metric used in online advertising to measure the estimated earnings of an advertisement per 1,000 impressions. The term "effective" is used because it represents the average earnings generated for every 1,000 impressions, considering factors such as clicks, conversions, and other relevant actions.
The formula for calculating eCPM is:
eCPM=(Total Earnings / Total Impressions)×1000
Here:Total Earnings: The total revenue generated from the ad campaign.
Total Impressions: The total number of times the ad is displayed.
eCPM helps advertisers and publishers compare the relative performance of different advertising campaigns or channels. It provides a standardized way to assess and compare the efficiency of ad revenue generation, regardless of the specific pricing model used by the ad platform (e.g., cost per click, cost per mille, cost per acquisition).
Fill rate
Fill rate is a metric used in online advertising, particularly in the context of ad serving and impressions. It represents the percentage of ad requests that are successfully filled with ads and displayed to users compared to the total number of ad requests made.
The formula for calculating fill rate is:
Fill Rate=(Number of Ad Impressions Served / Number of Ad Impressions Requested)×100
Here:Number of Ad Impressions Served: The total number of ad impressions that were successfully delivered and displayed to users.
Number of Ad Impressions Requested: The total number of ad impressions that were requested by the website or app.
Fill rate is an important metric for publishers and ad networks because it reflects how effectively ad inventory is being utilized. A high fill rate indicates that a large percentage of ad requests are being successfully filled with ads, maximizing revenue potential. On the other hand, a low fill rate may suggest that there are unsold ad impressions, potentially leading to missed revenue opportunities. Publishers often aim to optimize fill rates to strike a balance between maximizing revenue and providing a positive user experience.
2. Why eCPM and fillrate drops / grows ?
The amount of money put into ads changes for the following reasons:
1) The end of fiscal year
A fiscal year is a 12-month period that organizations use for budgeting and forecasting. Many advertising agencies see the end of June as the end of their fiscal year. Typically, any expenditures set for a fiscal year must be used before the end of the fiscal year, which is why the market sees a massive influx of advertising money in June.
2) Boost of advertising budgets for Annual Holidays
Advertising budgets are typically increased when they can have the most impact on the consumer. CPMs and fill rates spike around annual holidays such as graduation season, Mother's and Father's Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas, New Year because individuals have more reasons to spend money. This is why we can always rely on Quarters 2 and 4 to be the most profitable quarters.
3) New quarter beginning is cheap
Brands tend to spend the least at the beginning of a new quarter of the year, and more towards the end of the quarter.3. What are eCPM / fillrate drop annual cycles?
According to graph above we can see strict annual cycles. Months with minimal eCPM / fillrate : January ( lowest ), April, July, October. Months with highest eCPM and fillrate : March, June, November, December ( TOP ).
4. What are key events when eCPM and fillrate grow?
Simple answer - HOLIDAYS! International and local. Graduation season, Mother's and Father's Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas, New Year, etc.5. How to fix eCPM and fillrate drop?
We can't fix it. It is external market state, like nature outdoor.
Out-of-the-box solution - add IN-APP PURCASES.
In-app purchases are a must to compensate eCPM and fillrate drop!!!
6. Strategy to use eCPM and fillrate drop in your favors
1) Ads in cheap months + In-app purchase monetization
If eCPM is low you can get a lot of install for game app for cheap. But you should have in-app purchases to monetize them.
2) Ads in before rich months + ads monetization
Invest in ads to promote your app / game just before rich months in case you only have ads monetization - than it will be quickly paid back in rich months.
