Ads Growth Tools
SEOSEOPaid AcquisitionPaid acquisitionProgrammaticWebsite MonetizationProgrammaticApp UAApp MonetizationWebsite monetizationKeyword ResearchSearch IntentApp acquisitionROASCPAApp monetizationCPCLTVAffiliateeCPMRPMRetail MediaAttributionConversion TrackingCreative IntelMMPHeader BiddingDSPSSPRTBAd ViewabilityFill RateASOSKAdNetworkARPDAURewarded VideoAd MediationAffiliateCreative TestingA/B TestingRetargetingLookalike AudiencesCampaign OptimizationBrand SafetySupply Path
SEOSEOPaid AcquisitionPaid acquisitionProgrammaticWebsite MonetizationProgrammaticApp UAApp MonetizationWebsite monetizationKeyword ResearchSearch IntentApp acquisitionROASCPAApp monetizationCPCLTVAffiliateeCPMRPMRetail MediaAttributionConversion TrackingCreative IntelMMPHeader BiddingDSPSSPRTBAd ViewabilityFill RateASOSKAdNetworkARPDAURewarded VideoAd MediationAffiliateCreative TestingA/B TestingRetargetingLookalike AudiencesCampaign OptimizationBrand SafetySupply Path

App Monetization

AppLovin MAX

Free

AppLovin MAX is AppLovin's in-app advertising mediation and yield management platform for mobile publishers. It runs a unified auction across supported SDK bidders, networks, and AppLovin demand, while providing waterfall controls, testing, ad review, creative reporting, analytics, and impression-level revenue data for optimization and attribution workflows. It is best suited to game and app teams with meaningful ad volume that want competitive demand and detailed monetization operations, particularly when AppLovin's user-acquisition products are also part of the growth stack.

Monetizationad mediationunified auctionapp monetizationrevenue analytics

What it does

AppLovin MAX is the mediation platform that runs a unified, real-time auction for every impression across connected SDK bidders, traditional waterfall networks, and AppLovin's own demand. Publishers integrate the MAX SDK, connect their network accounts, and let in-app bidding replace most manual waterfall management. It supports rewarded, interstitial, banner, native, and app open formats, with ad review tooling for inspecting served creatives, network-level A/B testing, and detailed revenue reporting down to impression level, which feeds ROAS-based UA loops including AppLovin's own AppDiscovery. The user acquisition flywheel is the strategic context: MAX supply data strengthens AppLovin's ad engine. For publishers, it delivers competitive yield, dominant in gaming alongside Unity LevelPlay.

Where it fits

MAX is the auction layer of app monetization, deciding which demand source wins each impression and feeding revenue data back into acquisition bidding.

Core features

  • Unified real-time auction across bidders and networks
  • Rewarded, interstitial, banner, native, and app open formats
  • Ad review tools for inspecting served creatives
  • Network and placement A/B testing
  • Impression-level revenue reporting for ROAS loops

Best for

  • Game publishers with meaningful ad revenue at stake
  • Apps running ROAS-driven UA that needs impression-level revenue
  • Teams consolidating many networks into one bidding auction

Beginner notes

  1. Connect enough bidding demand for real competition, because a unified auction with only AppLovin demand is not much of an auction.
  2. Use the ad review tools regularly to catch problematic creatives, since bad ads damage retention before they show up in any metric.
  3. Impression-level revenue export is the feature that unlocks serious ROAS UA; pipe it into your MMP from the start.
Visit official website

Comparisons & guides featuring this tool

Concepts behind this tool

Ad Mediation

Ad mediation manages competition among multiple app advertising demand sources.

eCPM

eCPM expresses advertising revenue per one thousand impressions.

Ad Fill Rate

Fill rate measures how often eligible ad requests result in delivered ads.

ARPDAU

ARPDAU measures average revenue per daily active user.

Rewarded Video

Rewarded video gives users an in-app benefit for choosing to watch an advertisement.

More tools: App Monetization

Free

Google AdMob

Google AdMob is Google's mobile app advertising and monetization platform for Android and iOS developers. It provides Google demand, banner, interstitial, native, rewarded, app-open, and video formats, plus mediation, real-time bidding, reporting, brand-safety controls, and integrations with services such as Firebase. It suits developers of many app categories that want an accessible first monetization stack or a mediation layer, provided ad placement, consent, policy compliance, retention, in-app purchases, and user experience are optimized together.

App Monetization
Free

Unity LevelPlay

Unity LevelPlay is Unity's app and game monetization mediation platform, built from the former ironSource product and still accessed through parts of the ironSource account infrastructure. A single SDK connects multiple ad networks and supports real-time bidding, waterfall management, automated optimization, reporting, testing, and common formats such as rewarded video, interstitials, and banners. It fits mobile developers that need active control over a multi-network monetization stack, especially game teams already using Unity services or ironSource integrations.

App Monetization
Free

DT FairBid

DT FairBid is Digital Turbine's independent mobile ad mediation platform for app developers and publishers. Its SDK connects supported ad networks and lets teams combine real-time bidding with managed waterfalls, control network priority and placements, run experiments, inspect reports, and test whether adapters and ad instances are configured correctly. It fits mobile businesses that want a mediation layer separate from a single dominant demand source and are prepared to manage integrations, auction settings, privacy requirements, and user-experience tradeoffs.

App Monetization