N3TWORK is a new type of games, media and technology company at the intersection of entertainment and community. Based in San Francisco, N3TWORK has more than 100 employees and created hit games like Legendary, a match-three game that combines dark fantasy RPG, puzzles, and magic card battles in one epic hero quest which broke the top 50 for grossing mobile games. Always looking for ways to improve its mobile gaming experience, N3TWORK realized there was an opportunity to significantly improve ad monetization performance by having a properly optimized waterfall stack. Previously, N3TWORK used an automation-based monetization solution partner that had been restricting its ability to effectively monetize non-paying users. This solution didn’t offer certain features that were necessary to expand: in-app bidding, A/B testing strategy to maximize revenue for its global user base. The team was without adequate monetization guidance to help them maximize revenue.
“MAX’s header-bidding approach helped us significantly grow our ad revenue in recent months without having to invest additional time in optimizing our waterfall and figuring out the right setup,” said Nebojsa Radovic, UA Platform at N3TWORK.
After some thorough research and an understanding of the operational benefits, N3TWORK decided to give in-app bidding a try. The company implemented MAX because they were excited by the promise of running unbiased auctions, increasing the competition for its impressions by including a more diverse set of buyers, and the opportunity to ultimately raise its eCPMs to generate more revenue per user. Since integrating MAX, N3TWORK benefited from the operational ease of managing a waterfall within an in-app bidding based platform. They enabled multiple bidders to participate in auctions with minimal manual work involved, generating an ARPDAU increase of 75%+ on Android, 85%+ on iOS. Revenue growth has sustained over the past month with each test driving 5% to 15% more lift in each round — with A/B tests still to be run — demonstrating incremental lift opportunities in its apps.
“The transition to MAX was quick and nearly effortless — it didn’t have any impact on the in-game experience which is ultimately what we care about. The recent results we are seeing in Legendary encouraged us to use MAX across our entire portfolio of first and third-party games in order to get the most out of ad monetization in these titles,” said Nebojsa.
N3TWORK’s perspective on a competitive waterfall shifted after implementing MAX — no longer believing that just one network with a high fill rate was the best practice. The company now has the ability to test various waterfall strategies that the AppLovin team recommends in order to generate the highest possible revenue for its app. N3TWORK has since moved several key networks from its waterfall stack to in-app bidding — allowing them to earn more and direct the increase in revenue to keep the content fresh in its existing games, build new titles, and acquire more, high-quality users for its games.
N3TWORK saw an ARPDAU increase of 75%+ on Android, 85%+ on iOS.
“Working with MAX helped us understand the ad monetization space better, and leverage this strategy to further grow the LTV of our players. With MAX, N3TWORK remains competitive in a hyper-competitive mobile gaming space and can continue to build a strong revenue stream in our products,” said Nebojsa.
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