comico boosted ARPDAU by over 20% in iOS and Android with Moloco SDK

About comico 

comico is a leading smartphone-optimized manga app offering a rich library of original and popular manga. With over 23 million downloads in Japan since its 2013 launch, the app is free and features vertical scrolling and full-color display. comico also offers POCKET COMICS, tailored for English-speaking markets.

Challenge: comico sought new demand source to boost ad monetization returns

With a growing user base, comico sought to optimize their ad monetization strategy. As in-app ads were the app's primary revenue stream, comico recognized the need for an additional demand source to increase competition for their ad space.

As a user of AppLovin’s MAX mediation platform which managed its in-app advertising, they sought to increase the competition for ad impressions to drive higher returns. The goal was simple: maximize revenue by attracting more advertisers willing to pay premium rates for high-value ad placements. With this in mind, comico turned to Moloco, intrigued by its unique ability to connect directly with a global network of advertisers spanning over 190 countries and reaching over 6.7 billion devices.

The opportunity arose when Moloco SDK became a certified bidding partner on MAX. Eager to see if this integration could provide the additional demand and competition they sought, comico decided to test Moloco SDK to assess its impact on their monetization efforts.

Solution: comico leveraged Moloco SDK to drive competition and incremental demand

To evaluate Moloco SDK's potential to improve its ad monetization, comico implemented a series of A/B tests on iOS and Android platforms. They divided their traffic, routing 50% through Moloco SDK while keeping the other 50% as a control group. This enabled them to clearly compare performance with and without Moloco's advanced machine learning-powered SDK.

Moloco SDK leveraged machine learning algorithms to assess and target the value of each impression, connecting comico's ad space with high-quality advertisers who could recognize the real value of each placement. This resulted in increased competition from advertisers, driving up the prices of ad placements and providing incremental demand that wasn't accessible through other demand paths.

Moloco's global reach also ensured that comico could tap into a much broader and more diverse pool of advertisers, enhancing the competitive environment for its ad inventory. This combination of machine learning and extensive global reach proved to be the key to boosting its monetization efforts.

Results: comico increased ARPDAU by up to 24% and transitions 100% of traffic to Moloco SDK

The A/B tests delivered immediate and impressive outcomes for comico. Within just one week, they saw significant gains across iOS and Android platforms:

• Achieved on an average a 11% lift in eCPM and 24% in ARPDAU on iOS
• Achieved on an average 4% rise in eCPM and 22% in ARPDAU on Android

‍“By integrating with Moloco SDK we significantly enhanced competition and increased our returns. The results of our A/B tests demonstrated notable improvements in both eCPM and ARPDAU, leading us to quickly transition all our traffic to Moloco SDK”

‍— Nobushige Sugisawa, Ad Monetization Manager, Platform Division, comico

These results demonstrated Moloco SDK's ability to drive higher competition for ad space, attracting premium advertisers and delivering substantial revenue growth. Encouraged by the consistency and stability of the performance, comico swiftly transitioned 100% of their traffic to Moloco SDK, confident that it would continue to optimize their ad monetization and drive long-term growth.