Words With Friends 2 shows performance lift after migration to CB Mediation

Zynga, a global leader in interactive entertainment and wholly owned subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, is known for its massive reach in more than 175 countries and portfolio of iconic franchises that have generated over 6 billion downloads on mobile.

From its 2009 launch, the Words With Friends franchise has become a global pop culture sensation and some of Zynga’s most iconic games by connecting players through quick and clever wordplay. 

Consumer preferences and behaviors are constantly evolving, and in response, new entertainment platforms and non-gaming apps have entered the crowded competition for ad spend. 

Zynga turned to Chartboost to enhance ARPDAU (average revenue per daily active user), a publisher’s most critical success metric. Made for developers by developers, Chartboost Mediation features a wide range of demand sources, technical expertise in key ad formats, auction result visibility, flexible ad network control, stability, and custom mediation logic.

Of particular significance, this implementation offered Zynga:

• Less reliance on individual demand sources — Giving every buyer a fair chance to fill ad requests leads to a more diversified share of wallet (SOW) and eliminates the potential for a single point of failure 
• Rewarded video expertise — Strong performance on specific high-engagement ad formats, particularly rewarded video 
• Transparent auctions — Visibility into how and why specific bids win auctions, placing control back into Zynga’s hands 
• Adapter separation, partner toggle — Plug-and-play flexibility as well as control to temporarily shut off specific ad networks or SDKs causing technical issues, reducing the overall revenue impact 
• SDK stability — Chartboost Mediation’s lightweight SDK minimizes impact on app performance and crash rate 
• Latency/CPM balancing — Customizable mediation logic with rule-based bidding prioritization sets the balance between the user experience, app performance, and ad monetization 

Results

The impact of Chartboost Mediation was significant. Words With Friends 2 experienced significant lifts across the board including:

• 2.5% overall ARPDAU increase
• 6% to 11% ARPDAU increase across interstitial and rewarded video ads
• 6% to 7% IMPDAU increase for Words with Friends 2 across iOS and Android devices for rewarded video ads
• 6% CPM increase for Words with Friends 2 across iOS and Android devices for interstitial ads
• 14% CPM increase for Words with Friends 2 across iOS and Android devices for rewarded video ads

By embracing a level playing field with the best demand sources in the industry, Zynga not only increased its performance, but also met its goals. 

Chartboost Mediation also proved highly stable by moving Words With Friends 2 closer to its app reliability goals with a crash rate below 2%. Technical expertise in high-value ad formats (interstitial and rewarded video were mission-critical to Zynga), toggleable individual ad network control, and user-defined rule-based bidding prioritization were integral to this level of dependability. 

Level the playing field and see how unbiased ad mediation can make your games more profitable. Contact us to learn more about Chartboost Mediation today.