two & a half gamers Inside In-App Ads: Past, Present, and What’s Next?
In this episode, Two and a Half Gamers sit down with Shobeir Shobeiri, Director of Publisher Sales at Moloco, to give the industry’s most practical, no-BS crash course on the history, mechanics, and real money in mobile ad monetization. From the origins of banners to today’s machine-learning DSPs, the crew demystifies ad tech jargon, reveals the margins and secrets behind every middleman, and lays out what every publisher needs to know about maximizing revenue in 2025.
What’s inside:
The Evolution of Ad Monetization: How mobile moved from premium, paid apps to ad-funded juggernauts, and why rewarded video is now the fastest-growing segment.
DSP, SSP, and Mediation 101: How ad stacks work, what makes a DSP different, and where the money really goes between advertisers, publishers, and ad tech middlemen.
Margin Math: Ad networks and exchanges quietly take cuts of 20 to 30 percent or more, but the right direct SDK can boost your ad ARPDAU by 8 to 20 percent instantly.
Real-World History: From early Mad Men deals and waterfall hacks to today’s real-time bidding, learn the origin stories that shaped the $262 billion mobile ad market.
Creative Ad Unit Tips: Where to put banners, how to maximize rewarded ads, why playables are a must for UA, and the new rules for ad placement segmentation.
Moloco’s SDK Advantage: Why plugging in the Moloco SDK gives you priority, boosts ARPDAU, and connects you to two billion dollars in annual spend—backed by real results from the field.
Key Takeaway:
Understanding your ad stack, choosing the right partners, and owning your data is the real moat in 2025. Get your ad monetization right, and you’ll be printing money—get it wrong, and you’ll be just feeding middlemen.
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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.
Panelists: Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric
Special Guest: Shobeir Shobeiri
Youtube: https://youtu.be/T3OQzk0ldIY
Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Mobile Advertising and Maloko
04:16 The Evolution of Advertising: From Ancient Times to Mobile
06:45 The Rise of Mobile Apps and Monetization Strategies
09:23 Challenges in the Mobile Advertising Landscape
12:29 Understanding Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) and Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs)
15:27 The Mechanics of Mediation and Ad Stacks
18:06 The Transition from Waterfall Auctions to Bidding Systems
21:29 The Evolution of Ad Serving and Bidding
23:48 Understanding Ad Networks and Revenue Models
25:44 Ad Units: Types and Their Effectiveness
30:25 Pricing Models in Advertising
35:03 The Role of SDKs in Ad Revenue
40:11 Future of Ad Monetization
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Matej Lancaric
User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant
https://lancaric.me
Felix Braberg
Ad monetization consultant
https://www.felixbraberg.com
Jakub Remiar
Game design consultant
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar
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