Case Study: ASKfm

Challenge

Founded in 2010, ASKfm, part of IAC/InterActiveCorp, is the only global social network built on a Q&A format. With 164 million registered users and 150 million unique monthly visitors, ASKfm is a safe, fun and engaging place for learning about and exploring the social world around you.

As a large, global publisher reliant on programmatic monetization, ASKfm was looking for a partner with unified demand functionality to generate the optimal price for every ad impression. The company had been searching for this technology for a year in an effort to eliminate the problems that come with the typical “waterfall” or “daisy chain” model. They also needed a reliable partner with high quality standards who understood the challenges and value in monetizing traffic from countries around the globe.

Strategy/Execution

For ASKfm, Smaato’s SPX platform differentiated itself from other partners they’d considered by launching Dynamic Demand™ decisioning logic on its unified platform in early 2015. In addition to running traffic on its own marketplace, SPX provided ASKfm with the option to connect their own partners to compete with its demand, thereby maximizing revenue on every ad impression.

Smaato’s 420+ global demand partners also met ASKfm’s need for truly global demand. With users in 100+ countries in the world, ASKfm could monetize inventory in countries around the globe on the Smaato Exchange. Recognizing that global inventory in Tier 1 countries was only part of their revenue stream, ASKfm turned to Smaato to help them monetize Tier 2 countries. Smaato – and virtually any other exchange – can effectively monetize Tier 1. Where Smaato really added value was its exchange’s ability to monetize Tier 2 marketplaces and the rest of the world.

Results

After migrating from Smaato’s legacy platform to SPX, their fill rate doubled and revenue increased by 40% thanks to Dynamic Demand decisioning logic that forced competition among their entire demand stack.

Smaato proved to be a partner with high quality standards and a personalized approach to customer service. We are very happy with their market quality team that delivers regular reports on ad quality. 90% of mobile monetization is powered by technology. The other 10% is the people behind the technology. Smaato’s got both covered.