Moloco Articles

AI is reshaping consumer behavior, with 80% of Google searches ending without a click and half of consumers using AI for product research. This disrupts traditional channels like search (CPC up 10-25%) and affiliate marketing (revenues down 7%). Meanwhile, mobile apps and CTV offer stable, high-engagement alternatives. Advertisers should diversify away from disrupted channels, targeting the independent app ecosystem where Day 30 ROAS can be 116% higher. Key metrics: organic direct traffic share (target >51%) and disrupted channel spend share (target <34%).

Moloco ranks 5th in the 2026 Singular ROI Index with 29 leaderboard appearances, highlighting consistent ROI across global, regional, and new multi-touch attribution categories. It appears on all global and regional leaderboards (APAC, EMEA, North America, South America) and in both MTA leaderboards: Assist Power and MTA Uplift, showing value beyond last-click. This helps advertisers achieve profitable growth outside walled gardens like Google and Meta.

Costco partners with Moloco Commerce Media to power onsite ads on Costco.com, aiming to replicate in-warehouse discovery digitally. The AI-powered platform helps brands drive results while preserving Costco's member-first experience, as highlighted by Mark Williamson, AVP of Retail Media at Costco.

AI-driven disruption is reshaping consumer journeys, with 67% of marketing leaders expecting high impact. Brands risk losing direct customer access as 14% of shoppers start with chatbots and 80% of AI overview searches end without clicks. Key action: prioritize owned surfaces like mobile apps to build direct relationships and capture first-party data, which 77% of leaders are doing. Balanced channel investment is critical.

The Super Bowl drives huge deposit volume but is only average in cost efficiency due to competition. January NFL and college playoff games offer up to 3x better cost per first-time deposit (cpFTD), with lower CPMs and CPI. Advertisers should shift some Super Bowl budget to January playoff dates—especially the Triple Header weekend (Jan 17-19)—for more efficient acquisition. Extending optimized spend through March Madness also yields below-average cpFTD. The key insight: earlier activation captures high-intent bettors before market saturation.

MCM's outcome-based smart bidding enhancements help e-commerce platforms and advertisers thrive during Q4 holiday surges. Features like promotions context, dynamic bid multipliers, and an optimized feedback loop enable real-time adaptation to high-intent traffic, unlocking up to 25% additional ad spend while maintaining ROAS. This turns seasonal spikes into sustained revenue growth.

Moloco reached #5 in AppsFlyer's 2025 Performance Index, up from #15 in 2023. It ranked #4 in iOS gaming globally and top 5 in many categories. New recognitions include #2 in Creative Index and first entry in remarketing, highlighting AI improvements.

The 2025 holiday season offers peak engagement from Diwali through Q5. Key efficiency windows include Christmas-New Year for US gaming (ROAS +32% iOS, +15% Android) and social apps (+88% ROAS). Marketers should front-load testing in early Q4, then scale UA during festive dips in CPI. Timing spend to user behavior (e.g., Lunar New Year spikes in Korea and Japan) maximizes ROAS across verticals.

Retail media success now hinges on measuring true incremental sales, not just ROAS. 71% of advertisers prioritize incrementality, yet many rely on legacy attribution. Traditional testing methods are manual, revenue-limiting, and incompatible with AI-driven optimization. AI-native ghost bidding—using randomized controlled trials during live campaigns—cleanly separates ad-driven impact from organic behavior. Early results show iROAS from 253% to 1,609%, with up to 29% of conversions being truly incremental. Best practices include statistical rigor, clean population definitions, comprehensive conversion tracking, and regular testing. Future-proof incrementality solutions will be privacy-compliant and integrated into ad serving.

Retail media ad spend has reached $140B globally, but performance hinges on personalized customer experience, where a gap exists between retailer perception (92% believe they deliver personalization) and shopper reality (48% agree). AI-powered personalization can bridge this gap, debunking myths about data readiness, resource intensity, privacy risks, and growth ceilings. Modern AI handles imperfect data, automates campaign management, requires less PII, and enables real-time inference for higher engagement and revenue. Retailers can achieve 3-5x growth even in mature networks.

Analysis of thousands of real-money casino video ads reveals that on-screen text, home environments, text message UI, user POV gameplay, people interactions, and explicit legitimacy assurances boost IPM globally. Conversely, 'Play Now' CTAs, future level previews, skill-based framing, and seasonal content drag performance. Marketers should prioritize clear value props and relatable settings while avoiding pressure tactics and unnecessary complexity.

Moloco's In-App Bidding SDK achieved Google AdMob and Ad Manager certification, expanding its reach to four major platforms. With ~500 publisher integrations, including Voodoo and CrazyMaple, the SDK showed key improvements: bid error rates dropped from ~40% to under 1% on iOS, rewarded video skip-timer boosted ROAS by 8%, and smarter caching increased share of voice by up to 10%. The fully self-serve platform offers direct access to ~$2B in advertiser demand, enabling publishers to maximize revenue without intermediary fees.

The article discusses the evolution of in-app advertising for mobile game publishers, from direct deals to real-time bidding. It highlights challenges like network overlap and fee structures, and introduces new pricing models like dCPM. Moloco offers AI-powered tools for both advertisers and publishers, including the Moloco SDK that provides transparent, margin-free access to global demand, set for broader release soon.

Moloco supports the IAB Gold Standard to enhance trust, transparency, and ad quality. They reduce ad fraud with buyers.json, DemandChain Object, and Open Measurement SDK, ensure brand safety via TAG certification, and improve user experience through the Coalition for Better Ads. This commitment fosters a healthier ecosystem for all stakeholders.

RMG creatives must segment users into Active, Casual, and Inactive player types. Casino ads thrive with longer videos (30-53s) showing gamified visuals and big wins, while Sportsbook ads need short, offer-first videos (27-30s). Key formats are portrait orientation and banner sizes 300x50/320x50. Avoid short videos without value, landscape orientation, and hype-heavy testimonials. Top competitors like Chumba Casino and FanDuel use UGC, clear offers, and localized relevance to boost conversions.

Moloco announces global launch of AI-powered re-engagement models, improving ROAS by up to 15% and reducing CPA by 12%. Re-engagement conversions grow 10x faster than UA, are 5x more cost-effective, and deliver 3x higher ARPU. Key features include shorter learning periods, enhanced targeting, and flexible campaign goals. A trading app saw 50% lower CPA for first deposits; a gaming studio achieved 4x ROAS improvement and 3.5x CPA drop.

Creative strategy drives 56% of campaign ROI in mobile gaming, with top 2% of creatives generating over 50% of ad spend. Proven formats like playable ads (49% lift in IPM, 25% ROAS improvement), longer videos (up to 30% higher ROAS), and interactive end cards (up to 30% higher conversion) significantly outperform average ads. For ad ops, focusing on high-performing creatives improves user quality and retention, boosting ARPDAU and publisher CPMs.

The NFL season is a golden opportunity for RMG advertisers. Top brands start ramping up in August, shifting from CPA to ROAS strategies to capture high-intent users. CTV is a breakout channel for awareness, with QR codes driving performance. Budgets spike 30-50% on game days, and creative refreshes happen weekly. Early investment in August-September is key to capitalizing on first-time deposits.

Commerce media, projected to reach $140B in 2025, leverages retailers' first-party transaction data and AI to deliver targeted, performance-driven ads. Privacy regulations and high-margin revenue potential drive growth. Advertisers benefit from closed-loop measurement and high-intent audiences. Retailers gain 70-90% margins. AI enables real-time personalization, automated bidding, and closed-loop optimization. For ad ops, investing in first-party data activation and AI-native platforms is critical to capture this expanding market.

Mobile attention is fragmenting beyond Meta and Google, which now capture only 32% of in-app time. The independent app ecosystem (3M apps) reaches 2B daily active users, matching TikTok+Instagram. Diversifying ad spend into this ecosystem yields 48% higher Day-30 ROAS for all advertisers, 116% for consumer apps, and 214% for shopping apps. AI-driven technology now enables scaling across these contexts, presenting a major opportunity for ad ops leaders to reallocate budgets and educate their organizations.