mNectar’s Rewarded Playable Ads Kill the Video Star

First, video killed the radio star. Now, video is in the crosshairs. mNectar, the leading provider of in-app playable advertising, today introduces the first rewarded playable advertisement that encourages users to sample mobile games and apps without a download in exchange for perks. To celebrate the launch, mNectar has selected mobile gaming company A Thinking Ape, the creator behind Kingdoms at War and Party in My Dorm, as the preferred customer for the initial roll-out of rewarded playable ads.

As the first and only provider of rewarded playable ads, mNectar has harnessed three key features – user opt-in, interactivity, and incentives – in order to provide gamers with an experience that is fun, engaging, and far less disruptive than standard interstitial and video ads. This in turn keeps the gamer from abandoning the game – a win for the developer. Now, rewarded playable ads compensate for that engagement, allowing users the opportunity to opt-in and ‘test drive’ another game, and in the process, earn perks that let them play longer.

“From day one, A Thinking Ape has created social mobile games that build a loyal fanbase around them. “Our users love mNectar’s rewarded playables because they are fun, easy to use, and highly interactive, and it shows in that rewarded playables have significantly higher eCPMs, generating up to four times more revenue than video ads,” said Tayber Voyer, Product Lead at A Thinking Ape.

In-app rewarded playables are the next generation of the playable ads mNectar pioneered nine months ago. Playables ads are delivered over Spectra, mNectar’s cross-platform streaming network that can reach any mobile device across any network connection, from WiFi to LTE to EDGE. Given their ease of integration, game developers who have deployed playable ads not only have seen a 60 percent drop in negative apps reviews in two weeks after integration, but also have seen higher returns on campaigns.

“For good reason, video ads have become hugely successful. But the fact of the matter is that people can still ignore them for the sake of the reward. Rewarded playable ads represent a quantum leap above rewarded video ads in that they keep gamers playing, whether it’s their current game or a new one they discover,” said Wally Nguyen, CEO of mNectar.

mNectar’s playable ads create a virtuous cycle between users, publishers, and advertisers. Users prefer them because they are given the option to play another game, without the annoyance or interruption that comes with interstitials or videos. For publishers, users are more likely to positively review the games they sample because they are getting hands-on experience of the product. Playables give advertisers a pay-by-play model, where advertisers only spend on users who have demonstrated engagement. This means there are no blind installs, as every interaction has been tracked along the path to conversion.

About mNectar

mNectar revolutionizes mobile app discovery by allowing customers to sample apps and games before downloading. Through its proprietary streaming and virtualization technology, mNectar has proven to drive higher ad revenue for publishers and higher quality users for advertisers, compared to interstitials and video advertising. mNectar’s customers include Bash Gaming: a subsidiary of GSN, Big Fish Games, Buffalo Studios, Freshplanet, GREE, King Digital, Mag Interactive, Mobile Deluxe, MobilityWare, Social Gaming Network (SGN), Storm8, Wooga, Zeptolab and Zynga. mNectar is funded by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and top app developers and is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.mnectar.com and follow mNectar on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact Information

Jenna Mukuno

Account Executive

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jenna@vscsonsulting.com