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Comment by w1ntermute | Hacker News Reader

Do contract work and let others deal with monetization. The problem with creating a mobile ad network is that you're competing with Facebook and Google[0,1]:

> • Facebook and Google have the most inventory and are still growing in terms of both users and ad-load; there is no temporal limitation that works to the benefit of other properties (and Facebook in particular is ramping up efforts to advertise using Facebook data on non-Facebook properties)

> • It is cheaper to produce ads for only Facebook and Google instead of making something custom for every potential advertising platform

> • Facebook and Google have the best tracking, extending not only to digital purchases but increasingly to off-line purchases as well

0. https://stratechery.com/2016/the-reality-of-missing-out/

1. https://stratechery.com/2016/how-facebook-squashed-twitter/

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And do you think that having this ...more human approach..when selling/buying ads is obsolete?

I think that high-quality apps have a loyal and passionate audiences - a smaller one for sure - but advertisers can rest assured they have access to the best audience money can buy.

I've never thought in terms of Facebook or Google's scale and I actually want to take a more anti-Facebook/Google approach where the amount of user tracking is inexistent. Just track the ad performance and that's about it.

> [D]o you think that having this... more human approach... when selling/buying ads is obsolete?

My understanding is that larger companies with bigger ad spend don't have time to hand-pick each app or web page. (Using human labor to pick apps and pages can significantly raise the cost I presume.) Perhaps there is a marketplace for smaller advertisers here.

Big companies have big marketing budgets and are interested in big numbers (eg. huge number of impressions).

I was thinking in terms of a more human approach where advertisers are actually looking to connect with their potential users.

App publishers don't sell impressions - they sell influence by allowing the advertiser to get a spot from their app real-estate.

Overcast just did this. If you remember Tweetie (ancient Twitter app on iOS) they built a little bespoke network as well.

It's certainly possible, but not scalable. If your goal is to support your own work and you have the hustle and editorial eye, you can make money.

Keep in mind that the big players can wipe you out in a second. Overcast exists because Apple's benign neglect of podcasts. They can wake up at anytime and wipe the app and ad market out.

Indeed - Overcast just did this - and that was also one of the main factors that pushed me to want to build this. I guess Marco would prefer to focus on Overcast and not take care of the ads management system - but since AdMob was not an option for him (and neither for me) he had to.

I'm not sure I've understood - what's not scalable? Selling ads by yourself or using a network that helps you sell ads?

I completely agree with this point of view. If you have a niche audience with high engagement, brands get a better visibility.

The audience will be more open to ads as well if delivered right. For e.g. A sports app with a limited audience will be interested in knowing more about a particular sport equipment or a sports drink.

But let's not just throw banners here and take them to new links / apps; show them meaningful info in the app itself, when users click on the banner.

I am planning to implement this approach in my app cricheroes.in - will update on how that is working.

> And do you think that having this ...more human approach..when selling/buying ads is obsolete?

No, it can still be done, if you're in a niche for which it doesn't make sense to have a more automated approach (either because it's too small to justify the investment in building an ad network, or because it requires higher-touch interactions).

It sounds like what you want to build is a niche ad agency. It wouldn't be a software/technology business, but a sales business. Your first step should be to get high-quality apps to agree to place high-quality ads that you've sourced - that will be infinitely more difficult than building an ad network (if that's what you're doing). And if you can do that, you can probably run the business at first using Excel, without writing any code.

contract work and publishing your own apps are different things. I think most people publishing their own apps do that specifically because they do not want to do contract work.

contract work is not a monetization strategy, it's a different job.

His question has nothing to do with creating an ad network...

Did you read his post, or just the title?

> That's why I've started working on an ad network for mobile apps...

Jesus I really thought I read the whole comment...sorry about that

No, Jesus doesn't give second chances. You're in trouble man.

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