Case Study: Pinger

Based in San Jose, California, Pinger is one of the leading app developers in the messaging and communications space. With the goal to “help people communicate in new and surprisingly simple ways,” their core apps Textfree, Doodle Buddy, POP, Messenger, and ChatMeUp have over 100 million downloads and are used billions of times every month.

Pinger began working with Smaato back in 2011 when they were looking for a strong and globally focused app monetization partner. Because Pinger’s apps are free, they needed an effective monetization method that was easily integrated and included the personalized customer service needed for their high-volume apps.

Smaato provides an advanced mobile ad exchange that gives us scale and coverage across a wide range of ad formats and geographies. Smaato also provides personalized account management which makes it a great partner to work with.

Pinger Fast Facts

• Target Audience: Millennials, professionals
• Open Rate: 1 – 10%; dependent upon ad format
• Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Tablet, and Mobile Web
• Category: Social
• Monthly Traffic: 2.5B
• Ad Units: 320×50, 300×250, and 728×90

Strategy/Execution

In August 2012, Pinger opened their inventory to Smaato’s Real Time Bidding Platform (SMX) and began optimizing that inventory through 90 different demand side platforms. Over time, this number grew to over 390 demand partners, all competing within Smaato’s platform for impressions within Pinger’s apps.

Results

Smaato’s CPMs consistently meet or exceed Pinger’s expectations for the 320×50 and 300×250 ad sizes, which are both carefully managed depending on Pinger’s demand stack. Smaato also continues to achieve Pinger’s minimum daily revenue goals for its US-based traffic—traffic that accounts for over 95% of the publisher’s inventory. These accomplishments led to Smaato becoming Pinger’s Tier One monetization partner in 2013.

Since then, a pivotal partnership strategy was realized as Pinger evolved into a sophisticated RTB publisher. Together it was determined that by optimizing price tiers and price floors, Pinger would see higher CPMs and increased revenue—which, to Smaato and Pinger’s mutual satisfaction, was exactly what happened. Through attention to detail, personalized account management, access to data, guidance, and optimization, Smaato solidified itself as a major partner in driving success and app revenue for Pinger.