The complete guide to native advertising in the mobile application

Native advertising today is one of the most promising formats for mobile application developers. According to eMarketer , budgets for it in 2017 will grow by 25%. This format is already offered by all major ad networks: Applovin, Avocarrot, Facebook, Flurry, myTarget, Pubnative, InnerActive, StartApp, Mopub and others. This means that developers should now think about how to use native advertising in their projects.

How is native advertising different from other formats?

Native advertising is organically placed in the application and adapts to its design and context. It looks like part of the application, therefore, is more informative and generates a higher CTR. In addition, such advertising causes the user much less irritation - the brain perceives it like any other application content and does not automatically block, unlike bored banners.


Native ads in the application VFeed
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The main advantage of this format is the ability to independently create an ad unit. The developer himself adjusts the size, appearance and location of all fields in the ad. His task is to maximally adapt the design and choose the right moment to show, so that the advertisement becomes an appropriate part of the application.

Ad Items and Parameters

Native advertising is not just a banner or video that appears at the right moment in the application. In response to each request for advertising, we in Appodeal receive from the advertiser a specific set of data, which will then be displayed in the application in the order specified by the developer. Among such data are both mandatory and optional elements with their limitations.

1. Title - ad title, up to 25 characters (mandatory)
2. Description - a story about the characteristics of the product or a description of the functions of the application with a length of up to 100 characters.
3. Icon - an application icon or a company logo in the size from 80 * 80 to 512 * 512 pixels *
4. Main image - the main picture with the image of the product or application, 1200 * 627 pixels.
5. Call-to-action (CTA) - a call-to-action button. The size of the button and the inscription on it can be any (required).
6. The URL to which the redirect from the advertisement is sent is a link to the advertised product or application (mandatory).
7. The “Advertising” label is an element that clearly indicates that it is an advertisement. The appearance of the element is determined by the application developer himself, for example, Ads, Sponsored, Advertising, Promoted or Recommended (mandatory).
8. Content rating - the allowable age of the consumer of the product (4+, 12+, 18+, etc.).
9. Star rating - the rating of the advertised application or product in the store (from one to five stars).
10. Some networks, such as Facebook, Avocarrot and Mopub, require the application to place an AdChoice icon on the ad. It is transmitted by the network itself, but you will have to consider this element in the application.

* Advertising may contain an icon and main image at the same time, but at least one of these elements must be present.

Important! Elements of native advertising can be placed as you like, but the fields should not overlap or overlap each other. For example, you cannot place the Install button or product title on top of the main image.

Types of native advertising

Different applications are suitable for different types of native advertising. The most common options for today are Newsfeed (aka In-feed) and Content stream.


This type is ideal for news apps and blogs. Advertising is located in the tape among the usual blocks of content. It necessarily contains the “Advertising” mark, but does not spoil the user experience.


This option you probably saw in the applications of social networks or photo galleries - it is ideal for them. In addition, it is convenient to embed native video ads in the content stream, which is more expensive and beneficial for the developer.

Native video ads

If native advertising is the most fashionable of the formats, then native video is the trend among native placement. Compared to other formats, video gives a higher eCPM, although in general such ads in advertising networks are still noticeably smaller.

Native video consists of the same fields as standard native advertising, only the Main image element is replaced with a video. When working with it, two specific parameters appear:

• Ability to skip ads - turns on 5 seconds after the start of the video.
• Mute function - the ability for the user to turn off the sound in the video.

In addition, we have an internal Viewability parameter: the display of any native advertising is taken into account only if it was placed in the visible part of the application and the viewing lasted more than two seconds.

An example of native video integration from Appodea l

Android:

Appodeal.setAutoCacheNativeIcons(true); Appodeal.setAutoCacheNativeMedia(true); Appodeal.setNativeAdType(Native.NativeAdType.Video); NativeCallbacks getNativeCallback = new NativeCallbacks() { @Override public void onNativeLoaded(List<NativeAd> list) {} @Override public void onNativeFailedToLoad() {} @Override public void onNativeShown(NativeAd nativeAd) {} @Override public void onNativeClicked(NativeAd nativeAd) {} }; Appodeal.setNativeCallbacks(getNativeCallback); Appodeal.cache(getActivity(), Appodeal.NATIVE, 10); 

iOS:

 ViewController.h @property (nonatomic, strong) APDNativeAdLoader* adLoader; @property (nonatomic, strong) APDMediaView* mediaView; ViewController.m @interface ViewController () < APDNativeAdLoaderDelegate, APDMediaViewDelegate> … @end (void) viewDidLoad{ … _adLoader = [APDNativeAdLoader new]; _adLoader.delegate = self; [_adLoader loadAdWithType:APDNativeAdTypeAuto]; } - (void)nativeAdLoader:(APDNativeAdLoader *)loader didLoadNativeAd:(APDNativeAd *)nativeAd{ APDMediaView* mediaView = [APDMediaView alloc] initWithFrame:YOUR_NEEDED_FRAME; [mediaView setNativeAd:nativeAd rootViewController:self]; [mediaView addSubview: mediaView]; [mediaView setMuted:YES]; [mediaView setSkippable:YES]; self.mediaView.delegate = self; [self.view insertSubview: self.mediaView aboveSubview:self.view]; } //media view callbacks - (void)mediaViewStartPlaying:(APDMediaView *)mediaView {} - (void)mediaViewFinishPlaying:(APDMediaView *)mediaView videoWasSkipped:(BOOL)wasSkipped {} - (void)mediaView:(APDMediaView *)mediaView didPresentFullScreenView:(UIView *)presentedView {} - (void)mediaViewDidDismissFullScreen:(APDMediaView *)mediaView {} 

Integration Tips

To check how native ad will look like in your application, use our SDK test mode or cross promo tools. In the first case, you will receive a test offer from Appodeal with native video and standard native advertising. In the second, you will assemble your own test ad as it should be in the application, and launch it using the tool for direct campaigns.

Appodeal tools allow you to experiment with types of advertising and combine video and statics. For example, use the Content stream template, but instead of a big picture, place a video or embed standard native advertising and video at the same time, and in the application show the option for which the advertiser currently gives the maximum price.

Do not show more than one native ad on one screen of the application. In addition, we advise embedding video ads no longer than 30 seconds, because users rarely watch long videos to the end.

The advantages of this format are precisely in its flexibility and unlimited possibilities for adaptation - use them at full capacity.