With around 7 billion smartphone users worldwide, mobile advertising has been taking the advertising landscape by storm. The average person spends over three hours a day using their phone and sees thousands of ads a day. But not all mobile advertising is made equal. With apps becoming more popular by the day and mobile browsers losing traction, publishers can’t help but wonder — which mobile advertising channel should I turn to? So let’s solve the in-app vs. mobile web advertising dilemma once and for all.
In-App Advertising
Mobile in-app advertising, as the name implies, is all advertising that takes place within mobile applications. It is one of the best and most widely used ways for publishers and developers to monetize a mobile app.
Advantages of In-App Advertising
As one of the most popular app monetization strategies, in-app advertising has some great advantages. The major ones include:
- Large User Base — Mobile app usage has been on the steady rise for years now. In fact, the average mobile phone user spends around 90% of their time using apps, as opposed to only 10% spent on web browsing.
- Great Audience Targeting — Different apps have different user bases, making it easier for advertisers to choose apps with the audience they are looking for. In addition to this, apps gather more useful user data for audience targeting purposes than websites do.
- Advanced Ad Formats — In-app ad formats allow for a lot of variety and flexibility. For instance, rewarded ads are one of the most widely used in-app ad formats, and they tend to be highly engaging.
- Higher Conversion Rates — Statistics show that in-app advertising yields over 150% higher conversion rates than mobile web ads do. And for publishers, higher conversion rates translate to higher ad revenue.
Disadvantages of In-App Advertising
As great as in-app advertising is, it does have certain shortcomings. Here are some of the main disadvantages to consider if you’re planning to monetize your app through ads:
- You’ll Need an App — If you want to generate ad revenue through an app, you will need to have one first. Developing and launching an app takes a considerable amount of time, money, and effort, so this is definitely something to keep in mind.
- Not All Users Will Tolerate Ads — Introducing advertisements to your app can put some users off. Not everyone is prepared to see ads in exchange for access to an app, especially if there are similar, ad-free apps available.
How Much Does In-App Advertising Pay?
The ad revenue you can make from in-app advertising depends on a number of different factors. First of all, different app monetization platforms offer different CPMs. In addition to this, the number of your app’s daily active users will affect how much you can charge for your ad inventory.
CPMs also differ depending on the in-app mobile ad format. For instance, banner ads tend to be quite cheap, at around $0.20–$0.50 per impression. On the other hand, rewarded video ads can earn around $12–$13. These numbers also differ depending on the operating system. Check out the table below for a more detailed comparison.
| Ad Format | Rewarded Video Ads | Interstitial Ads | Banner Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android | $13 | $10.2 | $0.49 |
| iOS | $12.5 | $8.9 | $0.22 |
What Lies in the Future of In-App Advertising?
The average mobile phone user has been spending more and more time using apps. For reference, in 2019, the average user spent around 2 hours and 40 minutes every day on mobile apps. In 2022, this time rose to 3 hours and 20 minutes. In 2023, experts predict that users will spend around 3 hours and 30 minutes using mobile apps.
The clear trend of increased app usage means that the demand for in-app advertising will keep rising, too. So if you’re wondering whether to launch an app and monetize it through ads, the answer is most likely a resounding yes.
Mobile Web Advertising
Mobile web advertising is a type of mobile advertising that takes place in a browser. Much like with desktop advertising, mobile web ads come in various formats, including native ads, instream and outstream video ads, banners, and more.
Advantages of Mobile Web Advertising
Mobile web traffic has been experiencing a decline for a while now, making many advertisers turn away from it in favor of apps. However, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be gained from web advertising anymore. Let’s take a look at some major advantages of mobile advertising:
- All You Need Is a Mobile-Friendly Website — Compared to developing an app from scratch, making your website mobile-friendly requires significantly less time, money, and effort.
- Mobile Web Is Still Far From Dead — Although apps dominate mobile-based user activity, mobile web browsing is still not a thing of the past. In fact, statistics show that more than half of all web traffic takes place on mobile devices.
Disadvantages of Mobile Web Advertising
While mobile web advertising is still alive and relevant, we can’t ignore that it has been experiencing a downward trend. This becomes even more apparent when we compare it to in-app advertising. Let’s take a look at some of the major issues facing mobile web advertising:
- Lower eCPMs — As people are spending less time on mobile browsers, advertisers are seeing a drop in the effectiveness of ads placed there. For this reason, they are willing to pay less to have their ad served on the web as opposed to in a mobile app.
- Ad Blockers — Ad blockers tend to be way more effective on the web than in apps. This can significantly impact ad impressions and, by extension, bring in less ad revenue to publishers.
- Ad Fraud — It is much harder to prevent fraudulent traffic on the web than in apps. Ad fraud is one of the biggest obstacles in brands’ advertising efforts, making them less eager to advertise on mobile browsers (or browsers in general).
- Lower Engagement and Conversion — Several factors play into this. For instance, web-based advertising is more susceptible to banner blindness. Also, in-app ad formats, such as rewarded ads, tend to incite engagement much more successfully.
How Much Does Mobile Web Advertising Pay?
Much like with other types of advertising, the exact ad revenue you can expect from mobile web ads depends on a number of factors, from the mobile ad network you’re using to the number and type of ad spaces you decide to sell.
While the information on the exact numbers is pretty scarce, according to Statista, most businesses invest more in in-app ads than web-based ads. In 2019, around 26% of brands allocated the same amount of money to both advertising channels, while around 42% invested more in apps. On the other hand, only around 34% of them spent more on browser ads.
What Lies in the Future of Mobile Web Advertising?
Unfortunately, the future of mobile web advertising doesn’t look promising. Mobile web traffic has been on the decline for a while now, and apps have been taking over the advertising landscape. Still, although mobile web advertising is no longer a highly profitable option for most publishers, it can be a great supplemental stream of revenue along with apps.
In-App vs. Mobile Web Advertising: The Verdict
All things considered, the final verdict is quite clear. In-app advertising is more profitable for publishers and more effective for advertisers. Although mobile web advertising is still not completely obsolete, it seems to have had its peak years ago. Investing in an app for your mobile business might be worth the effort if your long-term goal is to monetize content through ads.
Monetize Mobile Traffic with TargetVideo Premium Demand
Whether you’ve decided to show ads on your app or mobile-friendly website (or both), you should first find a reliable programmatic ad platform. With the right partner by your side, you will have access to high-quality ad demand, good CPMs, and in-depth analytics, so you can be sure you’re getting the most out of your ad monetization efforts.
With TargetVideo Premium Demand, you can do all that, and more. Our publishers can monetize their mobile content through an array of innovative and engaging ad formats, closely track the performance of their ads, and optimize ad yield in just a few clicks. Join TargetVideo and start monetizing today!
· Premium Google ADX Demand
· Omnichannel Monetization
· Rich Selection of Video Ad Formats
· Real-Time Performance Tracking
· Automated Reporting
