It looks likely that apps and other service providers will pursue more varied monetization strategies this year. Traditionally, apps mostly pursued two strategies: in-app purchases and in-app advertising. Over the past couple of years, many developers have combined the two, but we’re increasingly seeing them use subscription-based models, as well as coupons or other incentives for viewing advertising, such as rewarded video. This shift will continue into 2021.

US mobile ad spending will reach $96.07 billion this year, lower than our pre-pandemic estimate of $105.34 billion. eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Yoram Wurmser joins host Nicole Perrin to discuss why despite this year's blip, mobile ad monetization is on a better trajectory than before, how advertisers will deal with the SKAdNetwork, and what the future holds for contextual in-app advertising.

As much as consumer behavior and the wider economic situation influence the app economy, Apple and Google do as well. With their commissions on in-app purchases (IAPs) and subscriptions, and with their rules surrounding data and advertising, they can make or break different monetization strategies. The changes set to take effect in early 2021 under Apple’s iOS 14, especially, have upended app monetization.

The pandemic has caused reduced advertiser spending overall, leading to lower growth of in-app ad spending despite significantly higher numbers of ad placements. While in-app purchases (IAPs) never stopped growing amid the pandemic, publisher revenues have recently been shifting from in-app advertising to purchases.

Join us for eMarketer One-on-One, a new video interview series where industry leaders share how to stay competitive in the marketing and advertising worlds. Abhay Singhal, CEO of InMobi, talks with Geoff Ramsey, co-founder of eMarketer and chief evangelist of Insider Intelligence, about the power of in-app advertising for brands. Abhay also debunks a few in-app advertising myths and offers insights on what may lie ahead.

eMarketer research analyst Hirsch Chitkara and principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Yory Wurmser discuss the new 5G iPhone 12 and whether it will be a game-changer. They then talk about living in a mobile-first world, why your next phone might come without any apps and rewarded video vs. in-app purchases.

Native advertising includes digital display ads that follow the form, feel and function of the content of the media on which they appear. See the infographic in the native advertising section of the report for examples of native ad formats.

User acquisition-focused app advertisers are going to lose a lot of their current capabilities to measure customer lifetime value and target the most valuable customers with in-app ads. But none of the experts we’ve spoken with for this report, or others throughout 2020, expected a doomsday scenario here.

But more recently, publisher revenues have been shifting away from in-app advertising and toward purchases. Sensor Tower estimated that global app revenues from purchases rose 23.4% YoY in H1 2020. Of the $50.1 billion generated by in-app purchases, $36.6 billion came from within games, a 21.2% YoY increase.

Many of those downstream changes involve the limited amount of information that will be available from Apple’s SKAdNetwork, which will be the only source of deterministic attribution data about in-app ads for users who don’t opt to share their IDFA with an app.

App bidding (think header bidding for mobile apps) is becoming a more popular way for developers to optimize yield from their mobile apps. Andy Berman, head of North America at Facebook Publisher Solutions, joins eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin to discuss increased engagement with mobile games during the pandemic and how a hybrid model of in-app purchases and in-app advertising is working for app publishers.

Apple to upend in-app advertising with iOS 14. iPhone 12 will supercharge mobile AR in 2021.

Nicole Perrin is an eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, focusing on digital marketing and advertising, including native advertising, storytelling and creative, customer experience, brand safety, Amazon’s ad business, and consumer attitudes toward advertising.

US native ad spending continues to grow robustly, reaching nearly $44 billion this year. By the end of 2020, almost two-thirds of US display spending will be on native units.

Nicole Perrin is an eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, focusing on digital marketing and advertising, including native advertising, storytelling and creative, customer experience, brand safety, Amazon’s ad business, and consumer attitudes toward advertising. Bill Stratton is head of the media and advertising vertical at Snowflake.

Nicole Perrin is a principal analyst at eMarketer, focusing on digital marketing and advertising, including native advertising, storytelling and creative, customer experience, brand safety, Amazon’s ad business, and consumer attitudes toward advertising. Mike Grier is director of industry strategy and marketing for media, entertainment & communications at Adobe.