• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, December 23, 2021

AppLovin spent $1.05 billion in cash last October to acquire MoPub -- an in-app monetization technology platform for app publishers -- from Twitter for about $1.05 billion.

The combined platforms are forecast to process more than $15 billion of annualized advertiser spend by 2023. The transaction is slated to close in early 2022.

Features being added to the MAX in-app bidding platform include universal creative reporting, native ad-format support, built-In General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) consent flow, among others.

New features are being added frequently. The next iteration of the combined platform will support advanced implementation and will provide access to AppLovin’s full suite of SDK-based network partners in addition to AppLovin Exchange DSPs. 

The company has also expanded its brand-safety solution offering, Ad Review, to cover a full suite of advertising formats and creatives, such as banners and playables.

Ad Review scans banner ads running in apps, along with other ad formats that MAX supports, and protects from the malicious auto-redirects running in apps across all demand sources. Problematic ads are caught automatically to protect the user experience.

Ad Review is exclusively available for MAX developers and will be incremental for MoPub developers who are migrating over to MAX.

AppLovin also published a chart that helps explain the aspects in a mediation platform.

Search & Performance Marketing Daily (S&PMD) caught up with Idil Canal, general manager of Business Solutions at AppLovin, to talk about the acquisition and changes to the company and platform. She leads product development and growth of AppLovin's software.

S&PMD:  What is the latest on MoPub? 

Canal:  We’ve moved very quickly since announcing our plan to acquire MoPub from Twitter and to integrate its features with MAX, our monetization platform for app developers and the first mediation solution built to run the entire auction in real-time that enables key market players to bid for mobile ad impressions. 

We are on track to complete the acquisition by January 1, and have already migrated many MoPub customers to MAX, including top publishers, DSPs and advertisers. We are excited to be able to significantly expand access for both buyers and sellers as in-app bidding becomes mainstream — creating one of the largest and most robust in-app advertising platforms in the world.

S&PMD:  Did AppLovin integrate the technology into its platform?

Canal:  Yes. We’ve been working diligently to seamlessly integrate MoPub’s core mediation features that will be incremental to MAX. The unified solution is the only platform that has combined MoPub’s core features and access to its supply with what is now one of the largest programmatic exchanges available.

S&PMD:  How does it work today?

Canal:  After rebuilding MAX in 2018, our goal was to offer a truly fair and unbiased solution to bolster growth for publishers and create more engaged users for advertisers. As we rolled out MAX to all developers in 2020, we saw a significant shift from traditional waterfall-based mediation to bidding as publishers and advertisers saw material gains.

That then meant that agencies, advertisers, and DSPs could bid more efficiently into increased publisher inventory. Advertisers had massive reach and publishers got more demand for their inventory.  

S&PMD:  What did AppLovin do to make the process more efficient? 

Canal:  For advertisers, agencies, and DSPs, we provide SDK-direct and immediate access to the entire supply transacted in the diverse set of auctions in MAX. They love this because they are assured of easy, efficient, and cost-effective access and transactions.

They get massive reach, in a brand-safe environment, and they get to see what they spend end-to-end.

S&PMD:  How does it work today compared to when AppLovin bought MoPub?

Canal:  Prior to this integration, AppLovin was not providing a programmatic exchange. We were a pure-play SDK-based mediation solution.

Today, ALX brings in the top programmatic demand from agencies, trading desks, and 150+ global DSPs of all sizes, which means AppLovin Exchange enables any advertiser – brand or performance -- to reach more valuable users, bid directly, and win high-quality inventory on a per-impression basis.

By the end of 2022, we project more than $15 billion of media transacting through the combined platform.