If you’re part of an ad monetization team, your world revolves around eCPMs, fill rates, and optimizing every ad placement. But when an advertiser looks at your ad inventory, they see it very differently.
They’re not just looking for impressions, they’re looking for return on ad spends aka ROAS: impressions they can trust, measure, and conversions which bring them revenue.
So let’s shift perspectives.
Here are three things advertisers truly care about, and how that often differs from how publishers operate today.
1. They want clear, data-rich ad inventory
Not just more impressions
Advertisers make decisions based on data. The more information they have about an impression, what app it came from, user affinity insights, device type—the better they can decide how much to bid or whether to bid at all.
In a nutshell, they look for:
- Detailed app and placement-level information.
- Reliable user signals (device ID, OS, session depth, etc.).
- A direct and transparent supply path (knowing exactly where their ad will show).
When that data is missing or inconsistent, advertisers hesitate. They may lower their bids or stop bidding altogether if they can’t trust what they’re buying.
What many publishers do instead:
Add more demand partners to chase higher fill rates. But more isn’t always better. As the ecosystem matures, those who prioritize signal quality, transparency, and data consistency earn deeper advertiser trust and stronger, long-term demand.
2. They Want Clean, Safe Traffic
Not just high traffic numbers
Advertisers worry a lot about fraud, click spam, fake installs, invalid users. Brand-safe advertisers want to know their ads are shown in a reliable environment.
They care about:
- Verified impressions from trusted sources.
- Clean traffic checked by fraud detection tools.
- Apps that follow ad placement best practices, avoid accidental clicks and risky content.
If your traffic is flagged or shows patterns that look suspicious, buyers pull back quickly, sometimes permanently.
What many publishers do instead:
Assume fraud is handled by the ad networks or demand partners. But in today’s market, advertisers expect publishers to take an active role in proving that their inventory is safe.
3. They Want Consistent, Measurable Results from Your Ad Inventory
Not just high CPMs
Advertisers, especially those focused on performance, don’t just want to show ads. They want those ads to lead to conversions including installs, purchases, or engagement.
They evaluate your inventory based on:
- Click through rates
- Click-to-install rates (post-install behavior)
- Retention and user quality over time
If your app consistently delivers engaged users, advertisers will bid more and spend longer. But if outcomes are weak, even if CPMs look fine, your inventory gets deprioritized.
What many publishers do instead:
Focus on short-term revenue per impression, sometimes at the cost of the user experience or long-term performance. Advertisers notice when their campaigns underperform and quietly shift budgets elsewhere.
Advertisers Are Investing in Outcomes, Not Just Impressions or clicks
To earn long-term, high-value programmatic demand, publishers need to think beyond just volume and eCPMs. Advertisers are choosing where to spend based on trust, quality, and performance.
If your inventory helps them win, they’ll come back and they’ll pay more.
At Crackle, we have worked with quite a good size of large publishers in helping them monetize their in-app ad inventory effectively. Want to know how we made it possible for them? Click here to set up a 30 minute meeting with us.
