x2 ad revenue in two weeks, thanks to Appodeal SDK 3.3+

An old Appodeal SDK negatively affected “VAZ Crash Test Simulator 2” monetization revenue. Despite the app's popularity – over 7 million downloads and a solid 4.7-star rating from more than 100,000 reviews – it wasn't reaching its full potential.

The day after integrating the new Appodeal SDK 3.3+ and executing an A/B test to test the new algorithms, the performance metrics rocketed:

The substantial gains across these metrics underscore the success of Appodeal’s intervention.

By updating to SDK 3.3+, FozerGames not only enhanced their ad revenue and DAU but also maximized the revenue generated per user, ensuring long-term growth and sustainability for their app.

FozerGames, the small eastern european studio behind the popular "VAZ Crash Test Simulator 2", faced a common challenge in the mobile gaming industry: not knowing how crucial it is to keep your partner’s SDK updated.

VAZ Crash Test Simulator 2 was using an older version of the Appodeal SDK!

Appodeal identified that the outdated SDK was not fully capitalizing on the app's growing user base and increasing engagement. The old SDK could not optimize ad placements effectively, missing opportunities for higher ARPDAU (Average Revenue Per Daily Active User) and overall ad revenue.

Additionally, it lacked the sophisticated mediation and monetization algorithms that the newer Appodeal SDK 3.3+ offers, which could significantly enhance revenue generation by integrating with more advanced ad networks and formats.

To address the immediate need for improved monetization, FozerGames updated their Android app with Appodeal’s SDK 3.3+.

This upgrade was a pivotal step, as it enabled the app to utilize the latest ad networks and formats, thus optimizing ad revenue opportunities.

Following the SDK upgrade, Appodeal launched a targeted A/B test to evaluate the impact of the new algorithm versus the old one. The test used a 50/50 split for a considerable cohort of users in a non-core but still relevant market. That would provide a clear comparison of performance metrics.

The initial results indicated a noticeable improvement in key metrics, validating the effectiveness of the new Appodeal SDK 3.3+, and pushing the latest version of the game to its complete release.

The integration of Appodeal’s SDK 3.3+ yielded impressive results for FozerGames, significantly enhancing key performance metrics such as Daily Active Users (DAU), Ad Revenue, and Average Revenue Per Daily Active User (ARPDAU). Below, we present the impact of this upgrade through three detailed charts.

Starting at Week 0, which marks the integration of the new SDK, we can clearly see a steady increase in DAU for users with SDK 3.3+. By Week 2, the DAU for the new SDK had improved by over 60% compared to the old SDK.

The second chart shows the weekly ad revenue. Here, the impact of the new SDK is even more pronounced. Within just two weeks post-integration, the ad revenue generated from users with SDK 3.3+ increased by x2.25 times vs. to users using apps with old Appodeal SDK.

This significant uplift demonstrates the effectiveness of the new algorithms and ad networks of the new Appodeal SDK 3.3+.

The third chart, highlighting the ARPDAU performance, also showed impressive results only two weeks after the SDK integration, the ARPDAU for users with SDK 3.3+ was:

Although ARPDAU saw a peak in Week 1, it’s better to focus on the metrics at Week 2, as they provide a more stable and realistic assessment, reflecting sustained improvement.