Vungle – a source of high-quality in-app traffic

WakeApp is back with its “Source of the Month” – an educational guide for mobile app marketers.

According to information gleaned from Statista, app stores are currently swamped with applications: Google Play includes 2.6 million apps while there are almost 4.5 million in the Apple App Store. So, what does it take for an app to rise to popularity among its users? It surely is no longer the case of simply creating a unique, analogue-free program capable of connecting clients to a service. This is where our highlight tool of the month comes in.

At WakeApp, we’re always ready to lend a helping hand to novice marketers, partners and specialists in the mobile app promotion market to be aware of the latest GEO trends, traffic sources and promotion features. This time, we’re introducing our readers to a popular traffic source and tool that specialises in promoting mobile applications. Say hello to Vungle.

Vungle is an advertising network that specialises in promoting short videos within apps and games. Ads are played without reloading or buffering – just like on YouTube – and are stored in the cache and played without any pauses. Vungle offers a loyal moderation system as well as the ability to work on the CPI model. Through Vungle, developers can monetise mobile applications, and marketers can successfully promote products and attract large volumes of high-quality traffic through modern ad formats which are broadcast within programs connected to the network. 

Following Vungle’s merger with Liftoff, another major market player, all Vungle products, services and accounts are now available on liftoff.io.

Liftoff is a worldwide advertising network that has been providing in-app traffic monetization opportunities since 2012. The ad network is well known for its large selection of payment models and affordable ad formats, and is considered as one of the most accessible and easy-to-use ad networks amongst marketers, media buyers and traffic specialists. This has made Liftoff one of the most effective and popular sources of in-app traffic. 

Advertisers promoting their products through Vungle (or Liftoff) can successfully drive traffic from popular advertising spaces with flexible targeting. This will ensure that ads reach only their relevant audiences and that budget is spent more efficiently.

Some Vungle facts:

• Year of launch: 2011
• Average annual income $200.0M – $500.0M
• Ad Formats: Banners, Interstitial, MREC, Rewarded Video
• Payment Model: CPC, CPM, CPL, CPI
• Apps Included: 1800+ apps
• Impressions: +396B
• Annual Clicks: +6.2B
• First Time Events: 7.7M
• Installs: +275M
• Minimum deposit amount: $50 for PayPal, $1000 for bank transfers
• GEO coverage: WorldWide, Tier1

Vungle makes it possible to broadcast commercials within the products of the world’s leading brands, and to a wide audience. What’s more, Vungle allows you to successfully promote iOS and Android apps, as well as programs from the Microsoft Store and Amazon ASIN.

Vungle benefits

• Low percentage of rejections and bans for ad creatives. The platform adapts well to the promotion of any type of vertical.
• Possibility to promote iOS on CPI. By comparison, only the CPM format is available in Unity.
• High-quality traffic. Vungle has established itself in the market and confidently holds its position among the most effective sources of in-app traffic.
• Modern advertising formats. The platform allows you to promote products using advertising formats such as banners, Interstitial (full screen advertising), MREC (medium sized rectangle), Rewarded Video.

Disadvantages of Vungle

• High bid rate. The average ad network bid is typically 30-40% higher than competitors.
• Difficulty in scaling. The volume of quality traffic on Vungle does not guarantee the scaling success of the advertising campaign. Users who have not reached the stage of installing the application are blacklisted, requiring further optimization for traffic monetization.
• The minimum amount for the first deposit is $1000.

Advertising campaign targeting is configured according to all the main parameters: GEO, device type, OS, and screen resolution. It also provides the ability to set up smart targeting by optimizing impressions and selecting a relevant audience. In fact, advertisers promoting their product through Vungle can choose which category of apps to place their ads on.

Vungle’s main advertising format is video advertising. Users are provided their own SDK (Software Development Kit) with detailed instructions to integrate video into the application. What’s more, advertisers needn’t go to the trouble of creating or filming ads themselves. Rather, they simply can place an application in Vungle and indicate the main points of the product that they’d like to highlight, as well as select one of the suggested voice templates. The design studio, Vungle Creative Labs, will independently develop a unique promotional offer for any request.

How can marketers use Vungle?

In order to start using the advertising network, start by registering here.

1. Select Monetization as Job Position

Verify your account via email and head over to your Vungle Dashboard.

2. Create a new Vungle app

Go to Dashboard and click Add Application. If your app supports both Android and iOS platforms, you’ll need to add each one separately.

Choose a platform for your application, specify the name and its presence in the Store. If the app is available in the store, select My app is live and use the search box to add a link.

Important! If your application is designed for children under 13, select Disagree – COPPA settings will apply.

3. Create a placement for your application

Select the ad type and enter the name of the placement. For rewarded videos, select No in the Skippable field.

Click Continue, and I’ve already integrated the most recent SDK. On the next page, click Sounds Good.

After adding your application, you can add a new placement in its settings. To do this, click Add Placement.

To launch an advertising campaign in Liftoff:

1. Select Direct as Job Position

Click Add Campaign and Add New Application.

Specify the OS of your application and its App ID.

2. Specify the name of the advertising campaign and the timing of its launch.

3. Provide a link to the postback tracker, if necessary.

4. Specify targeting settings: GEO, device type, OS, screen resolution, as well as the ability to download ads over a mobile connection.

5. Enter your cost per click and daily budget. The minimum daily budget is $1,000.

6. In the creative field, upload the finished video or leave a request for its creation in Vungle Creative Labs.

In the creative field, upload the finished video or leave a request for its creation in Vungle Creative Labs.

Vungle is one of the 30+ sources our media buyers use to promote WakeApp. 

Here at WakeApp, we are proud to say that we have been using Vungle as a traffic source for over 10 years. Vungle has proved to be a massive convenience for our clients in their goal to attract a young and solvent audience.

About our guide: Every month, we publish helpful promotion guides where we discuss promotion features in a particular region according to traffic sources and GEO traffic. We also seek to keep our readers up-to-date on tips, as well as restrictions and bans about promoting on certain sources. 

Think of it as a mobile marketer’s desktop guide!

About us: WakeApp is an international mobile marketing agency with over 9 years of experience in the market, and is leading the development and promotion of gaming and non-gaming mobile applications in the e-com, video streaming, food delivery, sport, utilities, and finance verticals. In 2022, WakeApp received The Media Agency of the Year at the SiGMA Asia Awards, and in 2021, WakeApp placed in 5 categories in the 13th edition of the AppsFlyer Performance Index XIII.