Mobile App Ad Mediation Setup

Without properly configured mediation, your app loses up to 60% of ad revenue. Each impression is sold to a single network at its price — no competition, no auction. Ad mediation solves this: it automatically selects the network with the highest bid for each impression, increasing eCPM by 30–60% through competition between AdMob, Meta, AppLovin, IronSource, and others.

We configure mediation for your stack: iOS (Swift, SwiftUI, Combine), Android (Kotlin, Jetpack Compose), or cross-platform (Flutter, React Native). Our experience shows that proper waterfall and bidding configuration increases revenue by an average of 1.5–2 times compared to working with a single network.

Why Ad Mediation Increases Revenue

In a waterfall auction, the SDK polls networks sequentially by descending floor price. AdMob with floor $3 → Meta with floor $2 → myTarget with floor $1. The first to respond with a filled ad wins. If no one responds within the timeout (usually 3–5 sec), a house ad or empty slot is shown.

Bidding works differently: all networks bid simultaneously, the SDK collects tokens, sends them to the auction server, and receives a winner in ~200 ms. As stated in the AppLovin MAX documentation, bidding boosts eCPM by 20–40% compared to waterfall. Bidding outperforms waterfall in revenue by an average of 1.5 times.

How to Choose a Mediation Platform

For apps with a Russian audience, we also consider Yandex Adfox as a source of direct campaigns on top of mediation.

Common Mistakes in Self-Setup

Too many networks in the waterfall. 8–10 networks with low floor prices create high total timeout and degrade UX. Optimal is 3–5 networks with proper floor prices.

No geo-segmentation. Yandex works great in RU/BY/KZ but yields $0 in USA. AdMob in USA gives $2–5 eCPM, while in Russia it's $0.3. Mediation without geo-segmentation is useless.

Lack of A/B testing. Mediation platforms support split tests for different waterfall configurations. Without tests, you are working blind.

How We Configure Mediation

Step 1 — audit your current stack. We check which networks are already integrated, their SDK versions, and any conflicts. Common issues: AdMob connected via an old tutorial with a major version lag; adapters incompatible with new GMA SDK.

Step 2 — choose the mediation platform. Three main options: Google AdMob Mediation, AppLovin MAX, IronSource LevelPlay. Each has its strengths, and we help you pick the best one for your traffic.

Step 3 — set up ad units and waterfall. For each format (banner, interstitial, rewarded), we create a separate ad unit. Waterfall strategy: start with eCPM data from the last 30 days, set floor prices, configure order. First two weeks after launch — active manual optimization.

Step 4 — transition to bidding. Once enough data is collected (~10k–50k daily impressions), we move networks that support bidding to open auction. Waterfall remains as a fallback.

Step 5 — analytics and monitoring. We integrate ImpressionDataListener (AdMob) or ISImpressionDataDelegate (IronSource) to receive impression-level revenue. This data is sent to Firebase or Amplitude for monetization attribution by user segments.

What's Included in Our Work (Deliverables)

• Monetization audit: check integrations, SDK versions, dependency conflicts.
• Ad unit setup for all formats with geo-segmentation.
• Adapter integration with Gradle conflict resolution.
• A/B testing of waterfall configurations.
• Documentation of the mediation architecture.
• 30-day support after handover.

Our experience shows that properly configured mediation pays for itself within a week. For traffic of 100,000 daily impressions, switching to bidding brings substantial additional revenue. Mediation setup is a key element of eCPM optimization.

eCPM Comparison Before and After Mediation

Timeline

Basic mediation (2–3 networks, one format) — 3–4 days including testing. Full setup with multiple formats, bidding, analytics, and geo-segmentation — 5–7 days. Pricing is individual. Contact us to discuss your project and get a consultation and preliminary audit.

Mobile App Monetization: IAP, Subscriptions, and Ad Mediation

An app with poorly implemented purchases loses money not because users don't want to pay, but because a StoreKit transaction hangs, Receipt Validation fails with an error, or restore purchases doesn't work — and the user writes to support or leaves a 1-star review. Our experience (over 7 years in mobile development) shows that proper monetization increases LTV by 30–60% within the first three months after implementation. Get a consultation on monetizing your app — we'll analyze the current model and find growth points.

Why StoreKit 2 is the Best Choice for IAP?

StoreKit 2 (iOS 15+) is a modern API with async/await and device-side verified transactions without a server. Transaction.currentEntitlements returns all active purchases. Key change compared to StoreKit 1: JWS signature verification on device via VerificationResult<Transaction> — no need to send receipt to server for basic validation.

But server-side validation is still needed for consumable purchases and fraud prevention. App Store Server API replaces the old /verifyReceipt endpoint. Webhooks via App Store Server Notifications v2 provide real-time events: SUBSCRIBED, DID_RENEW, EXPIRED, REFUND — without polling.

A typical mistake: not handling paymentQueue(_:updatedTransactions:) in the background for unfinished transactions. User bought a consumable, app crashed before finishTransaction — purchase remains in queue, restores on next launch and requires reprocessing on server. Without server idempotency — double crediting.

How Not to Lose Revenue on Subscriptions?

The subscription model requires tracking states: trial → active → grace period → expired → refunded. RevenueCat is the de facto standard for managing subscriptions in production. It abstracts StoreKit and Google Play Billing, providing a unified API, webhooks, cohort analytics, and A/B testing of paywalls.

Alternatives to RevenueCat include custom implementations with Adapty or Qonversion. Fully custom only if data must not leave the infrastructure or there is non-standard logic. We guarantee that webhook setup and subscription lifecycle event handling is done without losses — verified on projects with over 500k DAU.

Google Play Billing Library 6+ requires handling PurchasesUpdatedListener and explicitly calling acknowledgePurchase() or consumePurchase() within 3 days — otherwise Google automatically cancels the purchase and refunds. The average cost of such an error is a significant loss per user per month (based on our project data).

Ad Mediation: Boosting CPM via Bidding

Showing ads from a single source means losing revenue. Mediation (waterfall or bidding) requests ads from multiple networks and displays the best bid. Google AdMob is the foundation for banner, interstitial, rewarded ads. Mediation via AdMob Mediation or MAX (AppLovin) is the second de facto standard. MAX uses In-App Bidding — a real-time auction without waterfall. In practice, MAX yields significantly higher CPM than classic waterfall (depending on geo and audience). For example, for rewarded video in the US, the improvement can be substantial. With 100,000 rewarded video impressions per day, switching from waterfall to In-App Bidding can generate additional daily revenue.

ironSource (Unity Ads) has a strong position in the gaming segment, especially rewarded video. Mintegral covers the Asian audience well.

Setting up mediation requires ATT (App Tracking Transparency) on iOS 14+. Without requestTrackingAuthorization, ad CPM drops by 3-5 times for non-consenting users. SKAdNetwork and Privacy Manifest (iOS 17) are mandatory requirements; without them, review fails.

How We Implement Monetization: Step-by-Step Process

1. Current model audit — analysis of funnel, paywall, price tiers, and identification of bottlenecks.
2. Model design — choose type (subscription, consumable, non-consumable) and optimize price points.
3. IAP integration — set up StoreKit 2 / Google Billing 6, receipt validation, webhooks.
4. Ad mediation — connect 3-6 networks, configure waterfall or In-App Bidding, test fill rate.
5. Analytics and cohorts — integrate RevenueCat, Amplitude, or Firebase for LTV tracking.
6. A/B testing of paywall — use Remote Config for experiments without a release.
7. Launch and monitoring — 2 weeks of free support after launch, bug fixes by 24-hour SLA.

How to Design a Freemium Model and Paywall?

Freemium works when the boundary between free and paid is properly drawn. Too strict a paywall at the start — users delete. Too generous a free tier — no incentive to pay.

A technically sound pattern: server-side feature flags (Remote Config in Firebase or LaunchDarkly) control access to features. This allows A/B testing of paywall without a release, changing trial conditions, and running promotions.

Implementation at the code level: EntitlementManager — a single point for checking access to features, aware of subscription status, flags, and promos. No scattered isPremium checks throughout the code. Experience shows this approach reduces paywall-related bugs by 80% (confirmed on 30+ projects).

Scope of Monetization Work

• Current model audit — analysis of funnel, paywall, price tiers.
• IAP integration — StoreKit 2 / Google Billing 6, receipt validation, webhooks.
• Ad mediation — configure MAX / AdMob, connect 3-6 networks, test fill rate.
• Analytics setup — RevenueCat, Amplitude / Firebase, cohort analysis.
• Documentation — description of entitlements, restoration procedure, review checklist.
• Team training — analysis of typical mistakes, support recommendations.
• Guarantee — 2 weeks free support after launch, bug fixes by 24-hour SLA.

Estimated Timelines

Cost is calculated individually. We have been working in this field for over 8 years and have implemented monetization in over 40 projects — many of which passed App Store Review without a single rejection. Contact us for an audit or order a consultation — we'll tell you what growth points exist in your app.