WordHero

Okay, so this is a really good point. While gameplay is addictive (comments like, "omg, 5am, I should be asleep") it does not help when I get bottom-of-the-heap advertising for dating / etc.

Sponsorships/etc are not something I feel the app is ready for. I feel those are something games with 1mil+ impressions/day do.

I have already ditched all of the Mobclix advertisers because of dating/etc ads and will be moving to another advert provider for my 15k impressions/day (and growing) which are currently served through admob. Just not sure who though !

The app in question is a Boggle-type word game with a bunch of extra's thrown to add a element of strategy. We payed a LOT of attention to addiction psychology to ensure the game is really compelling.

Perhaps if I added a "about you" dialog and asked for (optional) sex/age/zip code/etc to better target ads. I don't think anyone has done this before.... actually ask users to help them better target adverts !

Because the premium version is a one-time income, but the costs are monthly & forever.

Ideally, Android needs a micro-payment system (tied to their service provider billing or something).

I like the idea of micro-payments to see your name in the leaderboards.

Backend is currently google appengine. Referral system (facebook/email/etc) is all in place. The app is pretty mature, but like a lot of others, it just needs more users and a way to monetize it.

When I initially did the numbers, I did web searches and it seemed like people were getting $1/1000 ads shown. By the time I launched, the bottom dropped out the market and I am getting under $0.05/1000 ads.

I feel that the problem is my low CTR (Click-through-rate)... low CTR = cheap/nasty ads = low CTR because they get ignored = more bad ads = low revenue... vicious cycle.

Depends on your CTR. If you CTR is like mine @ 0.02% and you only serve banner ads ....

Admob: expect $0.05 average even if you do over 100k ads. Mobclix: random, but under $0.10 Others: unknown, but being investigated :/

I have definitely thought of going the 'interstitial' ad route (show one ad only at the end of every N rounds). But the reason the game is so addictive, is at the end of a round, the scores are shown for all players playing (hence the need for a Cloud connection) and then the next round starts without any user interaction. This is key.

There are no higher game levels. Each round is different.

Can't do a premium version, since there are ongoing server costs. I want those covered by advertising. I don't want to have to fund the servers from now till forever with potentially no future income.