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AppLovin MAX

Score8.9 out of 10

11 Reviews and Ratings

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What is AppLovin MAX?

MoPub was a mobile ad server owned by Twitter since the September 2013 acquisition, acquired by AppLovin, and now part of the MAX mediation platform. MAX gives users a diverse set of auctions for supply.

Categories & Use Cases

Media

the Main Screen
Waterfall Preview
the MAX A/B Test feature, used to test real-time data to test and measure the impact of any change to the waterfall configuration.
the Ad Review
the Network Comparison report.
the MAX Cohort Report.

1 / 6

Reviews

What users are saying about AppLovin MAX.
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Strong programmatic player

Incentivized
Gabriela BandView profile
Sales Specialist in Sales at Ogilvy (10,001+ employees employees)

Pros

  • Easy to use platfrom. You can set up QPS management system on your own.
  • They have MoPub Analytics to get inventory stats.
  • Their AM team is very supportive.

Cons

  • Their take rate is not transparent, its unclear the margin percentage.
  • Not a lot of premium publishers on the platfrom, mostly gaming.
  • Discrepancies keep arising between impressions served and billing numbers.

Return on Investment

  • CPMs are low, CPC are low as well and that increases margin.
  • Take rates are high, reducing ROI
  • It has given us a lot of reach, thus allowing us to complete and deliver existing budgets and win more budgets.

Alternatives Considered

Smaato, OpenX and AppNexus

Other Software Used

SmartyAds SSP, SmartyAds DSP, Carta (formerly eShares)

Programmatic partner that has potential

Verified User
Director in Marketing (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We used MoPub before AppLovin Max. On the programmatic side of things, it worked perfectly for all of our apps. MoPub/AppLovin Max is used by the monetization team. We're using them to execute programmatically, which is helping us scale our ad revenues. Among all of our mediation platforms, AppLovin Max is the main source of our ad revenues.

Pros

  • Lightweight SDK with waterfall setup
  • Large support for every ad format possible
  • Great display of analytics
  • Amazing support team

Cons

  • Their take on ad monetization is one size fits all. They should consider treating every app differently instead of treating all apps as gaming apps.
  • eCPM are not comparable to what we were getting from MoPub
  • Not as many levers for the monetization team to pull as we had with MoPub

Most Important Features

  • A/B testing - experiment with ad formats
  • Growth support
  • Automation on in-app bidding

Return on Investment

  • CPMs are very low compared to other mediation partners which has caused a negative impact on our revenue

Alternatives Considered

Google AdMob, Unity, Meta for Business, InMobi, ironSource, Vungle, Digital Turbine and Smaato

Other Software Used

Google AdMob, Vungle, Meta for Business

SSP that has your back

Incentivized
Verified User
Director in Sales (201-500 employees employees)

Pros

  • Vast network of publishers, from different verticals
  • Low CPMs which translate into good CPAs
  • Great support team, always eager to help

Cons

  • Not a lot of inventory in the EMEA region.
  • Not a lot of high impact formats. Mainly banners and not a lot of interstitials and videos.
  • Reporting tools not very advanced. You can't get a lot of granular details from the tool.

Return on Investment

  • CPMs are low, which translate into good CPAs and more budgets.
  • Possibility of rebate programs for big volumes can also increase ROI.
  • Lack of clarity on billing numbers reduces profitability for a few months.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Smaato, Vungle, SmartyAds SSP, AppLovin, Cheetah Digital Marketing Suite (formerly Experian) and Google Ad Manager

Other Software Used

Smaato, Vungle, Cheetah Digital Marketing Suite (formerly Experian), SmartyAds SSP

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