Back to Basics: A quick guide to SKOverlay banners
By Jane Handel
What are SKOverlay banners, and how can they help your monetization and advertising strategy? In this blog, we’ll go back to the basics on this innovative ad format that is helping demand partners improve their app install campaigns, and generating higher revenue for publishers.
What are SKOverlay Banners?
SKOverlay banners are small click-to-install banners that appear at the bottom of interstitial ad formats like playable or rewarded ads.
Uniquely, these banner ads are not only clickable, but also allow for immediate, in-banner downloads of the advertised app. As a result, users can download a new app without ever leaving the native app.
Available on iOS, SKOverlay banner placements are transforming app-install campaigns.
Why Do Advertisers and Marketers Love SKOverlay Banners?
For demand partners, SKOverlay banners help drive app installs.
As a user is engaging with the ad, they will see an option to download the advertised app. Historically, ads redirected users to the App Store, where they had to manually select to download the app. With SKOverlay banners, however, they can simply confirm install/purchase right from the banner ad. The banner triggers an install prompt. Upon completion, the new app appears on the user’s device, and their in-app experience is uninterrupted.
By keeping the download in the native app experience, dropoff is less, brand sentiment improves, and of course, app installs increase.
Additionally, for rewarded video ads, after a user installs the app they can continue to watch the video ad to reap the reward upon video completion.
What Are the Benefits of SKOverlay Banners for Publishers?
Quite simply, SKOverlay banners keep users engaged with the publisher’s app. With any ad that causes a redirect, users are less likely to return to the app. By creating an opportunity to install the advertised app without a redirect to the App Store, users have a better UX, and they stay engaged with publishers’ content.
Of course, as marketers and demand partners see better returns on their KPIs, they are willing to spend more for placement. As a result, publishers can also enjoy higher eCPMs with these SKOverlay placements.
Getting Started
At Smaato, we make it easy to enjoy this ad format, along with countless others. For publishers, download the latest version of our SDK to ensure you can monetize SKOverlay banner inventory. Integrate with Smaato’s NextGen SDK for iOS. For demand partners, get in touch with your client partner manager to learn more!
As always, we’re here if you have any questions.
This blog post originally appeared on Smaato’s website. Smaato is part of Verve Group.
Back to Basics: Ad tech is a complicated world. What’s more, it’s constantly changing. That’s why it’s so important to develop a strong understanding of the nuts and bolts of ad tech. The Back to Basics blog series is dedicated to providing readers accurate, simple, and useful information about ad tech. Whether it’s untangling jargon, breaking down the advertising supply chain, or figuring out what trends actually matter to you, Verve Group’s team is here to help you make sense of it. Here’s the latest:
