The mobile gaming advertising industry is exploding, but recent developments are forcing game developers and publishers to reconsider their approaches.

During Covid, many industries suffered. However, mobile gaming thrived. It is not slowing down either; mobile game revenues grew.

According to the most recent GlobalWebIndex report, there's a 12 percent increase in online gamblers. New mobile gamers (those who started playing after March 2020) play more hours per week than existing mobile gamers, according to Facebook Gaming. According to Facebook's report, these gamers are more social and spend more money.

The mobile gaming industry is booming, and developers are working hard to meet the demand for new games. In 2018, the global mobile gaming market was worth an estimated $106.4 billion, and it is expected to grow to $138.7 billion by 2021. This rapid growth is being driven by the increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets, as well as the popularity of gaming among a wider demographic.

Developers are responding to this demand by creating innovative new games that can be enjoyed on the go.

From multiplayer games that allow players to compete with friends to solo games that can be played offline, there is something for everyone in the mobile gaming market. With such a wide range of titles available, it is no wonder that mobile gaming is one of the most popular pastimes around the world.

The mobile gaming market is booming, and developers are working hard to supply the growing demand.

In Q1 2021, there were 477,000 mobile games available in the Google Play Store, an increase of 11.90% from the previous quarter. Similarly, 316,000 games were available in the Apple App Store, a 6.21% increase from the previous quarter. Mobile gaming ads are changing to embrace new gamers

Regardless of the platform, you’re using, your ads need to be tailored for each new wave. From switching up monetization strategies and experimenting with different brand-driven advertising initiatives--test everything!

Mobile gaming is a booming industry, but marketers have been slow to catch on. The Sims games for iOS and Android are an excellent example; retailers spent $4 billion last year without reaching more than 50% of gamers with their ads - at least not where female consumers are concerned!

A new study conducted by Game Insight reveals that 47 percent avoid playing any game if they feel like it’s not made for them.

This represents millions of lost opportunities from those who could benefit greatly through increased engagement rates appeal to gamers in this landscape, you can shift focus to personalized ad models. Appealing to your target audience’s motivations like we talked about earlier is a way of doing this. To implement it, you can tell a story that creates emotional engagement with your ads.

The game mechanics in hyper-casual games like Fruit Clinic are often very simple. There is no complex theme or character, just the bare essentials to keep players interested for as long as possible!

Targeted mobile game advertising is becoming tougher

Recent advertising changes to major mobile platforms are making it harder to acquire users for specialized mobile games. Apple’s recent identifier for advertisers (IDFA) changes have damaged advertisers’ ability to measure performance and target users. Previously, IDFA was enabled by default, with an opt-out option for users. Now it’s opt-in, which will significantly reduce the effectiveness of IDFA when it comes to measuring mobile gaming ads.

The changes to Facebook and Google AdWords could lead advertisers into an era of more traditional advertising. This is because they are adjusting their privacy features, which would ultimately harm targeting ads or retargeting campaigns in some cases; but eventually, this trend might subside as well due to other factors like a revival within social media platforms for creative content creation by brands themselves gaming influencers align with the creative advertising trend.

Influencer marketing offers a variety of ways to acquire new players, including live streaming and content creation. Live streams allow gamers an opportunity to interact with their favorite influencers while they play games in real-time! Furthermore, many mobile game developers are turning towards these creative professionals because it's easier than ever before to connect with potential customers digitally through social media channels like Instagram Stories or Snapchat Lenses.

• Consider having your mobile game featured in a sponsored stream, allowing audiences to get an in-depth, authentic look at your game from someone they know and respect. Sponsored streams represent a great long-term option to advertise your game.

• Freebies offer another route for you to get your mobile game exposure in the influencer space. Whether it’s a free subscription, access to lucrative in-game items, or even physical merchandise, freebies help build positive relationships with influencers you want to promote your game. It’s adaptable too; you can implement this tactic as part of a long-term sponsored stream strategy, or just offer freebies as a short-term approach when your game launches or drops an update.

• Events around your mobile game are another way to leverage influencer marketing. Events represent a great opportunity for you to dictate the way you want your game to be advertised. Once your creative is set, it’s just a matter of selecting influencers you think will integrate authentically with your campaign. Offering audiences exclusive items or access alongside your event is always a good idea, too.

The growth of the gaming industry has led influencer marketers to recognize its pull.

Did you know that playable ads allow for deeper insight into ad performance analysis? They also let users experience different touchpoints throughout, which is key in a mobile game environment. It doesn't matter if it's your casual game or one geared towards hardcore gamers—protecting rewards should happen no matter how many times someone plays through an advertisement campaign cycle (or even multiple cycles). Do keep this info on hand as we're seeing 113% more people playing various platforms next year thanks to these innovations

These ads are seeing such success that they’ve been deemed the most effective in-app ad format. A Facebook case study found that mobile games company Me2Zen increased its click-through rate by 10X and saw a 50% return on ad spend through playable ads.

The mobile gaming industry is growing at an alarming rate, and it’s only going to become more competitive in the coming years. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, you need to be aware of the latest trends in mobile game advertising and invest in those formats.

What do you think? Are you ready to jump on the bandwagon and start implementing these strategies into your ad campaigns?

1. This study by Facebook Gaming found that mobile gamers who are uncomfortable with sharing data can be persuaded to do so. And it isn't a lot of data, either — 83% stated that they would share primary gameplay data if given in-game rewards, while 76% said they would share the same information if it meant easier log-in/account creation and/or in-game deals.

2. The 'Live Subscription' will let TikTok users pay monthly subscriptions to individual creators in return for perks including profile badges, custom emotes to use in Livestream chats, and access subscriber-only chats if the creator turns it on. It’s been coming. We’ve been hearing about TikTok live video monetization for quite a while, and now we’re finally getting a sneak peek at what it could look like.
 

3.  Email data can become obsolete quickly. According to Return Path, on average only 56% of subscribers remain on an email list after 12 months! Of those remaining, roughly 47% are “active” — having opened and read at least one email. While these statistics seem scary, there are several ways to maintain an engaged list. 1) Removing unengaged subscribers. 2) Running email verification on any subscriber that hasn’t been emailed in over 30 days. 3) Encouraging new email subscriptions. 4) Keep email frequency low to new subscribers to prevent immediate opt-outs.

4. Big update for the Twitter API. Developers will now be able to access the platform’s reverse-chronological timeline much easier than before, which means third-party apps are about to get a lot better.  Not only is the new API better for getting the latest tweets, but it should also make the process of developing a Twitter client less complicated, since developers now no longer need to implement support for v1.1 and v2.

5.  Microsoft announced that Bing has deprecated the anonymous sitemap submission method. From now on, you must use an SSL certificate and present your site’s URL in order for it to be published on search engines like Google or Yahoo! In addition ,the new requirement is set at all times when submitting a Sitemaps file through HTTP requests so they can no longer accept these submissions without proper authentication eitherway - meaning anyone trying this out risks having their attempt blocked by whichever engine receives them as well was removed because of spammers, "recent evaluations have shown that it was often subject to misuse by spammers," Fabrice Canel wrote. "As a result, we will be deprecating the ability for anonymous sitemap submissions starting today," he added. 

6.The global mobile games market grew by 10% in 2019, but Japan saw an 18 percent decrease and China's player spending remained stable at 1%. South Korea had the highest growth rate with players' expenditures up 73%, followed closely behind Taiwan (up 47%).

7. The United States government filed a lawsuit against Eddy Alexandre, the CEO of EminiFX, a purported cryptocurrency and forex trading platform. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested the defendant. According to U.S.  Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams, Alexandre has been charged with commodities fraud and wire fraud offenses.

8.  Angry Birds Transformers is a spin-off product within the Angry Birds franchise produced by Rovio. This release was primarily intended to attract a new generation of players by porting the mechanics of Angry Birds down to an idea that didn't take itself too seriously, but such fanfare as had built up around the game actually got in the way when Rovio removed reward-based ads for those who had purchased coins or other virtual goods inside the game. The removal of these ads caused players to be angry because they had come to rely on them as a sort of 'prize' for making purchases, rather than just seeing them as annoying interruptions.

9. Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson has responded to questions about introducing in-game ads, saying, "There is a place for advertising when done right." During EA's Q4 2022 earnings call, the topic of in-game advertising was brought up following reports that PlayStation and Xbox are ramping up their own in-game advertisement campaigns for free-to-play titles. In response, Wilson stated that the company wants to "ensure that the player experience is the best possible player experience that we can provide," adding that they've tested various models over the course of time, while "some have continued and some we have stopped on the basis of really upholding the best possible player experience we can."

10. Google has announced a range of new ad tools at its Google Marketing Live event, including new opportunities to advertise within YouTube Shorts, new layouts for Responsive Display Ads, improved analytics, new ad testing options, and more. The new ad tools are designed to help marketers better reach and engage with consumers on mobile devices. YouTube Shorts is a new short-form video format that is similar to TikTok. Marketers will be able to create six-second bumper ads that run before YouTube videos. The new responsive display ad layouts provide more flexibility for advertisers to create ads that are optimized for all screen sizes. Improved analytics will allow marketers to track the performance of their campaigns across different devices and platforms. New ad testing options will give marketers the ability to test different ad formats and strategies before launch. These new features provide additional opportunities for marketers to reach and engage with consumers on mobile devices.

11. The next generation of advertising is about to be born. PubMatic, an independent technology company delivering digitalizing the supply chain for all your media needs has just announced that they are launching Connect -a comprehensive and fully integrated platform which will enable buyers across any industry or field in question seamlessly connect with their desired target audiences on public sites like Facebook & YouTube as well private messaging apps such us WhatsApp Messenger where users can engage directly.