App Developer Insight: Greystripe and iAds

As we’ve been talking to developers at meetups, conferences and online, we’ve heard a lot of confusion about iAds, what it means for Greystripe and for iOS developers. Now that iAds has been around for a month, we thought it’d be good to address some of that confusion so you can make informed decisions.

Many Ways to Monetize

One question we get all the time is, can I use Greystripe and iAds? Yes! There is no legal or technical reason you can’t use Greystripe alongside iAds, if that’s what makes sense for your app. Whether through mediation layers, such as AdWhirl, or integrating directly (using Greystripe for full screen and iAds for banner ads, for example) there’s no requirement you put all your ad eggs in one basket.

Monetize Your Whole Audience…including iPad and iOS3

Another issue with iAds is that it simply doesn’t work with older devices, iOS 3 or on iPad. When you add in iPad users, less than 50% of your potential audience can ever even see an iAd. The ads are also not available in most countries outside the US. Greystripe’s SDK, however, offers the same rich media ad experience on iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches with iOS 3 or iOS 4 in markets around the world.

Effective CPM

While there have been a few high profile stories of developers earning high rates for using iAds, much of the buzz has missed the key question of fill rate. Fill rate is how often you get an ad when you ask for one. We believe “eCPM” or “effective cost per thousand” is the real metric ad networks should be measured by. If Apple only provides you 1000 iAds a day at $20 CPM, you’ve made $20. But – if you could have shown 100,000 ads, that’s a fill rate of 1%, and 99,000 opportunities lost. And your eCPM is just $0.20, not $20. Additionally, if you had worked with Greystripe in this case, you could have served 100,000 Greystripe ads at an eCPM, significantly higher than $0.20 – let’s say $2, and you’ve now made $200 instead of $20. Unlike iAds, Greystripe provides near 100% fill rate in our core ad sizes, meaning our “effective CPM” and your total earnings over time will be much higher.

One Size Fits All?
The Greystripe SDK offers a range of sizes on both iPhone and iPad, allowing you to choose the right ad format to fit your app experience. iAds offers only a single banner size, and only on iPhone. While that size banner may fit great in some apps, not every developer wants to squeeze a banner into the limited UI space of the iPhone. Greystripe’s full screen interstitials and iPad banner sizes give you the flexibility you need, without sacrificing earnings power.

The Ad Experience

For almost 2 years Greystripe has been the leading provider of rich, branded, engaging ad experiences on iOS. Our proprietary Lightning Technology allows us to take existing flash ad units created by the best brands and creative agencies and serve them to your application (while still within Apple’s Terms and Conditions). We’ve got to admit, the two iAds we’ve seen look pretty good, but our rich media formats look just as great. And all without brands and ad creators having to work on our terms, or give up their tools. That’s one reason why Greystripe has seen a huge uptake in ad sales since iAds.

The Next Opportunity

Many developers are taking a “wait and see” attitude with iAds. Although iAds may be limited now, the thinking goes, down the road it will expand and fill in the gaps. That could be true (though why wait to start making money?) but there are some things iAds will never do. iAds will never come to Android, for example. As the growth of the Android platform accelerates and passes iOS, its quickly emerging as the next big opportunity in mobile apps. And Greystripe is there, maximizing revenue for developers working on both platforms, with the same great technology, branded advertising and user experience.

We hope this clears up what iAds is, and isn’t. We welcome the great publicity and vote of confidence Apple has brought to the in-app advertising space. But Greystripe’s mature technology and innovative ad formats offer a real and in some cases, unmatched, alternative to making the most of your iOS app.