Monetizing ad traffic in the Huawei mobile ecosystem

Hello, Habr! Work with embedded advertising in applications based on the Huawei Mobile Services platform is carried out using the service Ads Kit… The service provides users with personalized ads, allows developers to analyze the results of promotional campaigns and work with the main ad formats. In this article I will tell you what this service includes, what ad formats it supports, and what analytics capabilities it provides. Anyone interested – please, under cat.

What is Ads Kit

The Ads Kit includes two services: the Ads Publisher Service and the Identifier Service. The Ads Publisher Service provides tools for the integration of advertisements and receiving reports (the number of requested and viewed ads, clicks). Identifier Service provides work with the user’s advertising identifier Open Advertising ID (OAID) and ad personalization.

So far, the advertising platform is available only for corporate accounts, so it is worth remembering that when working with payment services, the Huawei ecosystem requires mandatory registration of a legal entity. But soon all developers will be able to implement Ads Kit into their applications. It should also be borne in mind that Ads Kit works with HMS Core (APK) 4.0.0, as errors are possible on previous versions.

Advertising formats

Currently, there are 5 different types of ads available in the Ads Kit:

Banner advertising… By size, banners are divided into fixed and responsive. Fixed 5 sizes: 320 x 50 dp, 320 x 100 dp, 300 x 250 dp, 360 x 57 dp for 1,080 x 170 pixels and 360 x 144 dp for 1,080 x 432 pixels. Responsive banner ads automatically adjust width based on device aspect ratio. It is also possible to use smart banners – when loading ads, the Huawei Ads SDK creates an ad screen of the same width as the screen, depending on its orientation on the device.

Native advertising… This type of ad fits into the surrounding content to match the design of the app. These ads can be customized as needed. You can embed not only images or text into native ads, but also videos. Huawei provides a set of native ad templates that are available in two sizes – small and medium – and the layouts and styles are customizable. It is also possible to dislike native ads from the user’s side, while developers can customize the further display of ads after Dislike. For example, ask why this ad is irrelevant.

Rewarded Ads… Rewarded ads are full-screen video ads that reward users for watching. When viewing ads, the server sends a unique URL with specific parameters to the Ads Kit to notify the media server that the user should be rewarded for interacting with the video ad. When deciding when to reward a user, it is necessary to balance user verification and reward confirmation speed, on the one hand, to protect against spoofing, and on the other, not to keep the user waiting for their reward. Huawei developers recommend to immediately reward the user by processing the request on the client side, and then check all the rewards when receiving callbacks on the server side. This approach ensures that the rewards provided are valid while ensuring a good user experience.

Interstitial Ads… Interstitial ads are full-screen ads that cover the app’s interface at the hotspots of the app. These advertisements are displayed when the user starts, pauses, or closes the application without interfering with its operation. You can add video, text, and images to interstitial ads.

Splash Ads… Promotional screensavers are displayed immediately after launching the application, even before the main screen of the application is displayed. For such screensavers, a display timer can be set and a response to specific events, for example, when a user follows an advertising link, can be set.

It is important to note that Huawei strictly adheres to its privacy policies and local laws. Therefore, using advanced settings Developers can request permission from the user to confidentially collect their information, or add additional regulatory requirements that must be considered before using the application. For example, you can tag content directed at children in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

For different types of ads, you can also tag them with age and region. For example, according to the agreement GDPRoperating in the European Economic Area cannot display personalized ads and request the right to display them to users under the age of 16, while some countries set a threshold of 13 years.

Advertising analytics

Traffic analysis and ad personalization is done using the Identifier Service. It creates and operates with a user’s advertising identifier (OAID). The user can turn off the personalized advertising function or reset their OAID. When you reset the OAID, unless personalized ads are disabled, a new number will be generated. If the user has agreed to the processing of his data and to receive personalized advertising, then the developers, in turn, will be able to use his encrypted anonymized OAID.

This can be used to analyze traffic and conversions, separate user groups and adjust advertising campaigns – for this, the Ads Kit can integrate with third-party advertising platform APIs. In this case, you need to add to the Ads Kit Analytics Kit, through which can also collect data on more than 500 parameters, including different scenarios of user behavior, their reaction to advertising and key points that affect further interaction.

To analyze traffic sources, use the function Install Referrerthat reads information from the referral link used by the user to install the application. To use Install Referrer you need to integrate API Ads Kit and after that publish the app to AppGallery.

Ads Kit is just one of the monetization tools. Also, our platform allows you to use in-app purchases, motivate users with Huawei points and gift system. That’s all for now, if you have any more questions about monetizing your apps, ask them in the comments.