Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an app in 2022?

Posted by lairv on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @03:10PM
from the ask-hn dept.

Do you have examples of app that still make their main profits from ad revenue ? If so, are their better alternatives than AdSense to put ads on a website ?

I guess a typical answer would be "it depends on the app", so I'll give a bit of context, you can skip if you don't care: I'm building an app which fetch and process big amount of data from multiplayer game, and users can check their data and stats (similar to op.gg for those who know). Processing and storing such data is costly, and ads seems like the most natural way to monetize the app, since ideally users would regularly come and check multiple pages

( 19 comments | 19 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by tmp65535 on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @04:34PM (#33000764)

This app has earned significant money since 2017:

http://driftwheeler.com

Not safe for work. Pornography advertising.

I get a cut of the monthly fees when somebody signs up for MetArt.

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by urbandw311er on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @05:27PM (#33001339)

Yes, but only with significant numbers of active users ideally DAUs.

Our app has several hundred thousand MAUs and we make about two cents per month per active user. Margin on this is about 50%.

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by samspenc on Wednesday September 28, 2022 @12:51AM (#33004353)

Thanks for sharing some numbers. Assuming 500K MAU, that means around $10000 per month or roughly $120K per year in revenue? And with 50% margin, sounds like you spend around $60K per year to keep the app (and related backend service) up and running?

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by urbandw311er on Wednesday September 28, 2022 @02:48AM (#33004940)

Based on 500k MAUs that’s correct. There is seasonal variation in eCPM rates to bear in mind, and any long term trends in eCPM for the territory where your users are based.

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by Ahmedb on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @04:53PM (#33000965)

I just wrote about how ads actually hurt my user retention. My case is particular, my app is privacy-oriented

https://ahbou.org/post/696176028423487488/ads-impact-on-perc...

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by cercatrova on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @04:30PM (#33000717)

Just have both, an ad version and offer an in-app purchase for an ad-free version. That way you can capture both types of consumers.

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by lairv on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @04:46PM (#33000882)

True although I have no idea how much people are willing to pay only for the ad-free feature (which they can get with any adblocker)

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by metadat on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @05:05PM (#33001114)

How does one install a system wide ad-blocker on mobile? AFAIK, this isn't feasible with iPhone or Android.

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by cercatrova on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @10:59PM (#33003797)

It is possible, source: me. AdGuard, Blokada, DNS66 are all system-wide adblockers which block ads even inside apps.

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by lairv on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @05:11PM (#33001177)

Oh.. yeah I was talking about a web app, should have just said website I guess

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by disadvantage on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @03:16PM (#32999812)

How much traffic will you be getting? Would the traffic bring in substantial revenue, as in, enough to pay rent, eat food, etc?

You could always go AD-free and offer a premium-only app. I prefer this model since ADs invade privacy and I block them anyway with ADGuard.

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by lairv on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @03:32PM (#33000006)

Hard to estimate traffic for now. I use ad-blockers as well, but on the other hand I don't like the idea of hiding core features behind a premium-paywall

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by lw_seventhree on Thursday September 29, 2022 @05:09AM (#33018078)

So you could just use a platform that has money-taking built in (www.salable.app)

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by j0hnyl on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @04:27PM (#33000694)

If you make an app that gets a lot of users, advertisers/networks/etc. will find you.

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by seydor on Wednesday September 28, 2022 @05:43AM (#33006162)

> will find you.

how?

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by j0hnyl on Wednesday September 28, 2022 @08:57AM (#33007339)

Advertisers are hungry for good inventory, if you have users then you stand out in the rankings and they'll send you inbound emails, etc.

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by reducesuffering on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @04:32PM (#33000743)

Pretty sure GasBuddy, for tracking US gasoline prices, is mostly ad-supported.

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by eimrine on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @03:16PM (#32999815)

How about gathering as much of personal data as you can for the sake of selling it to Facebook/Google/Bytedance?

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Re:Ask HN: Are ad revenue still a viable way to monetize an ... by lairv on Tuesday September 27, 2022 @03:27PM (#32999941)

Is that sarcasm ? Anyway I'd like my app to stay account-free (no account required to access any feature) so I don't really know how I could collect data

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