Here’s an interesting article about ad-supported mobile games
There are some structural reasons why this business model is interesting (low willingness to pay, way to attract new customers, entrance of media and Internet players whose BM relies on advertising…), however I think we are still at a trial stage.
Despite the press around Amobee, First Hop, Hovr or Greystripe’s initiatives, operators, games developpers and content providers are still skeptical. To convince them, the market needs evidence that non-intrusive, relevant and very well segmented ads would help the mobile gaming market as whole to grow.
For the moment, our research (clients, click here to download the report) shows that users who are ready to receive ads on their mobile phones are also more willing to pay for mobile games than the average mobile population. Cannibalization of potential revenues? Not necessarily, if well targeted and not 100% ad-funded.
The challenge is thus to find the right balance between quality content and upsell toward more premium mobile games. Don’t believe the hype but test the concept.
