Google Adds App Install Ads To Display Network, Video Install Ads, New Bidding Strategy

Google announced several updates to its app install and app engagement ad offerings Tuesday.

App install ads have been made available on the search network, YouTube and AdMob networks over the past year, and now Google is making inventory available for these units on the mobile Google Display Network for Android app marketers.

Checking this box in AdWords will extend app install ads to theGoogle Display Network.

Google says early tests showed installs increased 28 percent while cost-per-install held steady.

Video App Install Ads

Google is also adding a new video app promo ad format. It’s an interstitial that is available for on Android and iOS devices. The ad units can be used to show users how they’ll interact with your app, for example.

Conversion Optimizer For In-App Buyers

Finally, Google is rolling out a new bidding strategy specifically for app marketers. The new Conversion Optimizer for in-app buyers uses paid app install and in-app purchase data from the Google Play app store to inform bids on users that are most likely to make in-app purchases after installing your app.

The idea is to optimize bids based on customer lifetime value rather than in just getting the initial app install.

Fiksu is among the advertisers to test this bidding strategy. “We were able to triple one client’s install-to-purchase conversion rate after users download the app and decrease cost per purchaser by 61%,” says Ken Kehoe, Performance Labs Analyst at Fiksu in the announcement.

The app install ad market is one that Google can’t afford to miss out on. Research firm eMarketer pegs the US app install ad market at $1.67 billion in 2014. That’s 8.7 percent of all mobile ad spend. The firm expects app install ad spending to increase 80 percent this year to hit $3 billion. Facebook, Twitter, Google and others will continue to vie for this segment.

In February, Google began testing app discovery ads in search result in the Google Play store.

About The Author

Ginny Marvin

Ginny Marvin was formerly Third Door Media’s Editor-in-Chief, running the day-to-day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin writes about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.