AppLovin Acquired Mopub, What does that mean for you?

AppLovin Acquired Mopub, What does that mean for you?

Mopub was a unique tool that helped developers monetise their apps by providing a flexible network mediation solution. An important tool in helping Vivus Hub monetise its apps.

Like most developers, besides the product itself, one major reason that made us decide to go with Mopub was it was backed by Twitter and supported a wide array of mediation tools. Recent development shows that this is no longer the case. For one, Mopub has been acquired by Applovin for $1.05 billion in cash and Max mediation tools are limited.

What does that mean for you?

Ad Formats

Applovin has stated that Mopub commercial and technical support teams will be migrating businesses from Mopub to MAX. They’ll be working with businesses to ensure that the transition is smooth and completed within 30-60 days before Mopub is shortly depreciated (or “sunset”).

In this case, you’ll have to transition your Mopub SDK to MAX. What does MAX SDK support?

MAX SDK supports interstitial ads, rewarded ads, banner ads, MRECs and Native ads. A quick note, the native ad is limited when it comes to implementing them on both iOS UITableView and UICollectionView. You no longer have “placer”. As of the time of writing each native ad has to be requested e.g:

// Extract from their website
class ExampleViewController: UIViewController
{
    @IBOutlet weak var nativeAdContainerView: UIView!
    
    private var nativeAdLoader = MANativeAdLoader(adUnitIdentifier: "YOUR_AD_UNIT_ID")
    
    func createNativeAd()
    {
        nativeAdLoader.nativeAdDelegate = self
        nativeAdLoader.loadAd()
    }
}

extension ExampleViewController: MANativeAdDelegate
{
    func didLoadNativeAdView(_ nativeAdView: UIView, for ad: MAAd)
    {
        // Set to false if modifying constraints after adding the ad view to your layout
        nativeAdView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        
        // Add the native ad view to your layout
        nativeAdContainerView.addSubview(nativeAdView)
        
        // Set ad view to span width and height of container and center the ad
        nativeAdContainerView.addConstraint(NSLayoutConstraint(item: nativeAdView, attribute: .width, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nativeAdContainerView, attribute: .width, multiplier: 1, constant: 0))
        nativeAdContainerView.addConstraint(NSLayoutConstraint(item: nativeAdView, attribute: .height, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nativeAdContainerView, attribute: .height, multiplier: 1, constant: 0))
        nativeAdContainerView.addConstraint(NSLayoutConstraint(item: nativeAdView, attribute: .centerX, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nativeAdContainerView, attribute: .centerX, multiplier: 1, constant: 0))
        nativeAdContainerView.addConstraint(NSLayoutConstraint(item: nativeAdView, attribute: .centerY, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nativeAdContainerView, attribute: .centerY, multiplier: 1, constant: 0))
    }
    
    func didFailToLoadNativeAd(forAdUnitIdentifier adUnitIdentifier: String, withError error: MAError)
    {
        // We recommend retrying with exponentially higher delays up to a maximum delay
    }
    
    func didClickNativeAd(_ ad: MAAd) 
    {
        // Optional click callback
    }
}

That means these blogs may no longer be useful: How To Integrate Mopub Native Ads Swift and How To Integrate Mopub Interstitial Ads Swift.

Please note, Applovin native ad is still in its beta phase. Ad formats such as interstitial ads, rewarded ads, banner ads follow the same syntax. Integration should be straightforward.

Mediation networks

Integrating different Ad networks is somewhat different from Mopub, Applovin doesn’t provide Adapters at the moment. To integrate an Ad network:

If you wish to wait it out, Applovin aims to launch their Adapters in early 1Q 2022, you’ll have 90 days to integrate and update your app after closing.

WaterFall Model

Waterfall, a model that allows publishers to prioritise their ad network based on historical performance is not available on AppLovin. Rather than waterfall, Applovin relies on In-app Bidding. In-app bidding allows publishers to offer their inventory in auctions that take place in real-time i.e buyers bid on the same inventory simultaneously.

Useful link: Comparison between Waterfall and in-app bidding.

Motics

We’ve had a look at Applovin and while they’ve made decent strides, we found their offering limited in terms of our use case. We could wait it out but the time given in our opinion is too short. Rather than torching Motics, we’ll be transitioning the app to Support Admob. Don’t worry, this change won’t be reflected till the final days of Mopub.

If you are not using Admob, a few mediation tools you can use include: like IronSource, FairBid, AdMost or AdColony. Please note this list is by no means exhaustive, you can find more mediation platforms here.

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