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Tag: Moloco

  • Moloco plugs into Google’s AdMob and Ad Manager with self-serve SDK

    Moloco plugs into Google’s AdMob and Ad Manager with self-serve SDK

    MUMBAI: Moloco, the AI performance advertising company, has rolled out its SDK on Google’s AdMob bidding and Ad Manager’s SDK bidding platforms, making the tool fully self-serve for publishers.

    The move cements Moloco’s credentials with Google’s stringent performance and reliability standards, giving app developers fresh access to its global advertiser demand while preserving user experience. Publishers already plugged into Google can now tap Moloco’s ecosystem without extra effort.

    “Moloco has consistently been recognised as a top-performing platform for ad monetisation, optimised to drive real business outcomes,” said Moloco supply head Yoni Markovizky He added that with Google onboard—alongside existing integrations with AppLovin’s Max and Unity’s LevelPlay—the company can fuel more publishers’ growth “with no margin fees, applying the cost savings directly to our partners.”

    Nearly 500 publishers, including Voodoo, Crazy Maple and Audiomack, already use Moloco’s SDK. The platform’s AI ensures the right ad finds the right user, maximising revenue while allowing publishers to control how creative formats appear. Advertisers, too, gain sharper targeting and more control, boosting return on investment.

    Moloco, founded in 2013 by ex-Google machine-learning engineers, now operates across the US, Europe and Asia. Its platform powers mobile app growth, retail media and streaming monetisation for businesses worldwide.

  • Ad it up, Moloco and Xiaomi dial up global reach with ML-powered alliance

    Ad it up, Moloco and Xiaomi dial up global reach with ML-powered alliance

    MUMBAI: What happens when one of the world’s biggest smartphone giants teams up with a machine learning marvel? A global ad tech power play. Moloco, the operational machine learning company, has struck a global strategic partnership with Xiaomi’s International Internet Business Department, unlocking a fresh frontier in mobile advertising across more than 100 countries and regions. With Xiaomi boasting a staggering 702 million monthly active users, the alliance is set to supercharge advertising efficiency, targeting accuracy and developer growth worldwide.

    As part of the deal, Moloco will bring its ML chops to optimise ad placements across Getapps (Xiaomi’s overseas app store), in-app inventory and lock screen ads. In return, Moloco’s advertisers get front-row access to Xiaomi’s high-value user base served through a tech ecosystem spanning mobile, smart homes, and even electric vehicles like the new Xiaomi SU7.

    Having tested the waters in a pilot partnership in 2023, the results spoke for themselves. Daily ad spends soared, native and interstitial ad formats drove stronger conversions, and Xiaomi’s presence across Brazil, India, Turkey and Germany emerged as a serious magnet for advertisers chasing scale and precision.

    Moloco, co-founder and CEO Ikkjin Ahn called the partnership a response to the rising need for “efficient monetisation and the ability to reach the right users.” He added, “Xiaomi’s global ecosystem is a perfect match for our machine learning platform. Together, we’ll unlock serious ROI for advertisers and push the boundaries of programmatic efficiency.”

    Xiaomi International Internet Business general manager Qiang Song echoed the sentiment, noting that Moloco has already “helped enhance the competitiveness of our ad platform.” With more AI-powered tools on the horizon, both companies are eyeing innovative monetisation models that could reshape how brands connect with mobile-first consumers.

    Whether you’re an app developer chasing downloads or a marketer craving smarter reach, this partnership may just be the algorithmic edge you’ve been waiting for.
     

  • Krafton & Moloco shake up gaming ads with CTV blitz for Cookierun India

    Krafton & Moloco shake up gaming ads with CTV blitz for Cookierun India

    MUMBAI: For years, mobile gaming ads have tried to hook users through endless pop-ups, flashy in-app banners, and intrusive five-second videos that you just can’t skip. But Krafton and Moloco had a different game plan—Connected TV (CTV) advertising. And judging by the numbers, they just cracked the next big marketing play.

    Krafton, the publisher behind Pubg: Battlegrounds and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), went all-in on CTV ads via LG channels to launch Cookierun India, a localised version of Devsisters’ globally popular Cookierun series. Why? Because while mobile ads target app users, CTV taps into a much bigger screen with an audience that’s notoriously hard to reach. And as it turns out, when you see a fast-paced, sugar-fueled game running on your TV, you’re far more likely to download it.

    Krafton realised that while traditional TV commercials (TVCs) build brand awareness, they lack precise performance measurement. Enter Moloco’s CTV ads, which not only put Cookierun India in front of TV audiences but also let Krafton track how many users installed the game after seeing the ad.

    By integrating Moloco’s CTV platform with LG Channels, a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service, the campaign strategically placed ads on major Indian channels like NDTV and India TV. That meant Cookierun India wasn’t just reaching gamers—it was reaching families, casual viewers, and people who never considered downloading a mobile game before.

    The results? CTV didn’t just work—it outperformed expectations:

    ●    22 per cent of users acquired through Moloco’s mobile app campaigns were also exposed to CTV ads—and these users showed two times higher D1 retention than those who only saw mobile ads.

    ●    14 per cent of CTV viewers were entirely new users, proving that smart TV ads bring in fresh audiences.

    ●    Users acquired through CTV ads had 20 per cent higher D1 retention and 37 per cent higher D7 retention than those from mobile-only campaigns.

    Retention in mobile gaming is the holy grail, and CTV just schooled mobile ads in keeping users engaged.

    Krafton head of the India performance marketing team Sangbum Kim summed it up, “Moloco’s CTV advertising maximises campaign efficiency through a data-driven approach and differentiates itself from traditional TV advertising by enabling performance measurement. The users acquired through the CTV campaign have shown high retention, proving its potential as a new and effective marketing channel. We expect it to have a positive impact on our future campaign strategies.”

    Moloco Korea country manager JaeKyun Ahn added, “This collaboration has demonstrated that CTV advertising is an effective way to reach TV audiences that are difficult to access through mobile app ads, while also enabling advertisers to accurately measure performance. By leveraging CTV channels alongside mobile app campaigns, advertisers can further expand their reach, and this can also serve as a key marketing strategy to acquire high-value users, especially when launching new games.”

    With CTV proving its worth, expect more game publishers to take their campaigns beyond mobile screens. Krafton and Moloco’s partnership just set a new standard for game launches in India.

  • Gracenote hires Bill Michels as chief product officer

    Gracenote hires Bill Michels as chief product officer

    MUMBAI: He’s got noteworthy credentials. Bill Michels, who was brought in as AC Nielsen’s content solutions business unit Gracenote’s chief product officer,  has held senior leadership roles in companies like Moloco, The Trade Desk, Foursquare/Factual and Yahoo.

    As chief product officer,  Bill has been given the responsibility for leading Gracenote’s global product team as the company looks to grow its suite of video, sports and music products and accelerate key market expansion initiatives.
     

    “As Gracenote redefines the role of metadata in an AI world, it was important to bring in someone like Bill Michels who has successfully built data businesses and platforms powered by machine learning,” said Gracenote CEO Jared Grusd, CEO. “Bill joins at a very exciting time for Gracenote and his adjacent experience will help the company think more horizontally and accelerate our growth initiatives.”

    Bill brings two decades of product management, engineering and data partnership expertise across CTV, ad tech and search to Gracenote, as well as deep experience operationalising and scaling products globally. 

    “As someone who is passionate about data, the chance to create products powered by Gracenote’s unparalleled dataset—the industry’s most comprehensive and enriched—is truly exciting,” said Bill Michels. “I’m thrilled to join such a talented team and eager to bring my experience to the table as we drive Gracenote’s next evolution of growth.”

    Bill’s appointment marks the most recent addition to the Gracenote executive leadership team. Earlier this year, Phani Kalagara was named chief technology officer for Gracenote. Phani is a highly accomplished technology leader with deep expertise building large, diverse and high performing global teams. He has held various leadership roles at multinational companies such as PayPal, Flipkart and Advanced Interactive Systems. Most recently, Phani served as chief product and technology officer at Pine Labs, a privately held fintech company focused on building merchant platforms and payment solutions that enable efficient financial transactions.

  • Indian consumers increasingly prefer streaming services and personalised ads

    Indian consumers increasingly prefer streaming services and personalised ads

    Mumbai: Moloco, a leader in operational machine learning (ML) and performance advertising, together with leading independent research company YouGov has announced the findings of the consumer Perceptions of Ads on Streamers Survey 2024. More than 1,000 consumers in India were surveyed for their perspective on advertising on streaming media platforms. More than 1,000 consumers in the US were also included in the same survey. Overall, the results signal a tipping point in consumer consumption habits as they shift from traditional TV to streaming platforms.

    “It’s important to get the ads experience right because consumers will cancel a subscription based on the ads experience. This research is a wake-up call for many streaming media platforms to transform their approach to building an ad business,” said Moloco growth initiatives general manager Dave Simon. “Consumers have a strong appetite for relevant, personalized ads that enhance the viewing experience. These ads are influencing their behavior and decision-making process. These combined trends signal the need for a more personalized approach to advertising on streamers, driven by leveraging advanced machine learning at scale.”

    “Indian consumers do not mind watching that extra ad which can lower or entirely remove subscription fee to watch content – this insight got validated when this survey showed that two-thirds of Indian consumers chose lower fees in exchange for watching ads. What’s even more interesting is that approx. 80 per cent of customers prefer personalized ads, which significantly influence their decision-making process.” said, Moloco India general manager Siddharth Jhawar.

    The study revealed that:

    1.  Consumer behavior is changing as more people move away from traditional TV to use streaming media platforms, particularly on mobile devices.
    a.  60 per cent of Indian consumers report that a mobile phone is the device most commonly used for personal streaming, compared with 26 per cent for Smart TV, 11 per cent for laptops/PCs, and 3 per cent for tablets.

    b.  34 per cent of Indian consumers report that they are cutting the cord with traditional TV services; an additional 27 per cent are considering it but have yet to do so.

    c.  66 per cent of Indian consumers would choose lower fees in exchange for watching ads.

    2.  Consumers report clear preferences for ad formats that enhance the viewing experience.

    1. 44 per cent of Indian consumers believe that ads that are interesting and relevant enhance the viewing experience.
    2. Pre- and post-roll ads are ranked most acceptable compared with mid-roll and banner or display ads.
    3. Banner or display ads and mid-roll ads are perceived as the most intrusive or disruptive.

    3.  Consumers care about the ads experience. They report that personalized ads are more compelling and more likely to result in a favorable response, such as a purchase.

    a. 41 per cent of Indian consumers have canceled a subscription specifically because of the ads experience.

    b. The majority of consumers in India prefer personalized ads, with 78 per cent indicating a preference. Of the 78 per cent total, 48 per cent prefer personalized ads based on viewing habits alone and 30 per cent prefer personalized ads based on viewing habits and personal data.

    c. Ads on streaming platforms are influential in the decision-making process for product or service purchases with 83 per cent reporting some level of influence.

    “The ads experience is clearly important, especially with consumers not just adjusting to ads on streaming media platforms but embracing ads,” said YouGov senior research manager Vanessa Khoo. “In addition, this research showed that consumers find ads compelling and influential in their overall decision-making process for product purchases. This study also showed that personalized ads can actually enhance the overall viewing experience.”

    Methodology:

    This survey was conducted online in India by YouGov focused on consumers who watch video content at least once a month, including streaming content. 1,005 respondents participated in the 10-minute online survey from 19 January 2024 – 5 February 2024.

  • “Bad ads are spam but good ads are content”: Moloco India’s Siddharth Jhawar

    “Bad ads are spam but good ads are content”: Moloco India’s Siddharth Jhawar

    Mumbai: Ad personalisation isn’t just about tailored ads, it’s about transforming them into engaging content for enhanced user experience. Moloco, a multinational adtech company pioneering machine learning, is at the forefront of this revolution. In a strategic partnership with Viacom18 and JioCinema, Moloco’s advanced capabilities are reshaping the landscape of Indian advertising.

    From combating ad fraud to leveraging 5G for programmatic innovation, Moloco is driving tangible results for advertisers while prioritising user privacy. With success stories like Zupee’s 5x growth and significant user jumps for Rummytime, Moloco’s vision for India extends beyond market growth—it’s about fostering innovation and empowering businesses to thrive in a dynamic digital ecosystem.

    Indiantelevision.com caught up with Moloco India general manager Siddharth Jhawar to talk about growing concerns about ad fraud and privacy in the Indian market, the future of programmatic advertising in India, and much more…

    Edited Excerpts:

    On Moloco addressing growing concerns about ad fraud and privacy in the Indian market

    We believe that complete transparency, constant vigilance, & working with trusted partners are critical to ensuring that advertisers and customers are protected from fraud and privacy concerns.

    Moloco ads reports advertising spends to the most granular level, which empowers advertisers to pressure-test the quality of their traffic for any suspicious activity. For instance, we capture timestamp data and then analyze whether the time taken between viewing an ad, clicking on it, installing an app, and making a purchase are coherent with expected customer behaviour. It certainly helps if an advertiser works only with reputed channels, because it minimizes the risk of fraudulent activity.

    First-party data is critical for a machine learning engine to become intelligent in identifying high-value users of an advertiser. Hence it becomes even more important to adopt the highest standards of safety and privacy to help companies grow while ensuring their customers’ privacy.

    On Moloco envisioning the future of programmatic advertising in India, with the advent of 5G

    Moloco ads processes seven million requests per second. We take 14 milliseconds to make a deep neural network prediction. Building this kind of infrastructure has taken us more than a decade, and it helps that network speeds are improving. The advent of 5G will support the nature of innovation that we do in terms of speed and efficiency of computational infrastructure.

    On Moloco’s approach to ad personalisation and its impact on user experience

    Bad ads are spam but good ads are content. If an ad can be hyper-personalised to a user and their context, it improves the customer experience and also gives better returns to an advertiser.

    The trends we see today are that customers want great but inexpensive service without being bombarded with ads, advertisers want maximum returns on every rupee spent, and platforms want to grow fast while also being profitable. Personalized ads address these needs by enhancing the customer experience, delivering measurable outcomes to advertisers, and boosting advertising revenue for platforms. But this is easier said than done. There are almost five billion internet users in the world today. We can not expect any two customers to be exactly the same. But when the scale is massive, 1-1 targeting becomes computationally tough. This is when companies need world-class machine learning systems to support them. Moloco uses machine learning that works on an advertiser’s first-party data and helps them show hyper-personalised ads to users while also optimising bid prices and probabilities in real-time – that is tough, but when done right, can be valuable to both advertisers and customers.

    On the strategies that Moloco employs to effectively integrate in-game and mobile advertising for maximum engagement

    Showing relevant and hyper-personalised ads to a user on a gaming app improves their engagement levels on the app. India’s gaming industry makes about one-fifth of its revenue from in-app advertising, and this trend is expected to grow further.

    On Moloco’s approach to operational machine learning and its significance in optimising ad campaigns

    Operational machine learning is special in four ways – it is autonomous, it involves real-time predictions, it can work at massive scale, and it is highly adaptable to the context. While machine learning and artificial intelligence have become household terms now, building an operational machine learning system at scale is a problem that very few companies in the world have effectively cracked.

    We use this operational machine learning system to train on an app’s first party data, identify high-value users, and efficiently bid for them on the open internet – this helps the app acquire more high-value users which can grow their revenue and profitability.

    On Moloco’s partnership with Viacom18 and JioCinema exemplifying its commitment to revolutionising the ecosystem in India

    Viacom18 is building one of the largest streaming platforms in the world and we are proud to be their ad-tech partners. The platform has immense scale and saw 32 million concurrent users during IPL 2023 – we use Moloco’s machine learning and ad-serving capabilities to serve relevant ads at astronomical scale on JioCinema.

    On any success stories or case studies where Moloco’s solutions have driven tangible results for advertisers in India

    Within a matter of 18 months, we have created a measurable impact on several industries and digital platforms in India. Moloco ads works with nine of the ten largest gaming apps in India and we have driven high-quality user growth for them. Our partner Zupee attained 5x growth and 3x return on ads spend targets using our ML engine. Rummytime from the Gameskraft group saw a significant jump in their high-value users. We also used our monetisation solution for CityMall to help them build an in-house advertising business and increase ROAS by 900 per cent. There are over 40 apps who have benefited from Moloco’s machine learning in India.

    On Moloco’s plan to further expand its footprint and partnerships in the Indian market moving forward

    India is a unique region for Moloco. Not only is the India market a small yet fast-growing region, India is also emerging as an innovation hub of Moloco. The entrepreneurial activity and scale in India make it an exciting place to develop machine learning products. For this reason, we are also building a global engineering centre in Bangalore, so that we can build products in India that can be scaled to the rest of the world.

  • Moloco & Viacom18 forge multi-year partnership for ad serving on JioCinema

    Moloco & Viacom18 forge multi-year partnership for ad serving on JioCinema

    Mumbai: Moloco, a leader in operational machine learning (ML) and advertising technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Viacom18 and JioCinema in India. As part of this multi-year partnership, Moloco is using its advanced machine learning and ad serving capabilities to build a powerful monetization solution for Viacom18/JioCinema, and it began with the Tata IPL last year. The Tata Indian Premier League, featuring 74 matches, providing the ultimate opportunity for streaming media monetization, with advertisers reaching massive global audiences of engaged sports fans. Last year, 449 million cricket viewers watched Tata IPL on JioCinema from March to May 2023. Supported by the Moloco ad-serving technology, JioCinema served targeted ads to a peak concurrent viewership of 32M users.

    Moloco streaming monetisation is an enterprise software solution that empowers streaming services to transform how they monetize content and media in order to unlock profitable growth. Moloco works with streaming platforms to maximize the value of each ad impression from price-driven decisioning to outcome optimization. The rise of streaming video globally coupled with the complexity of serving ads at live events makes this partnership an exciting opportunity to innovate, by delivering engaging ads and profitable advertiser ROI.

    “As the streaming media industry continues to focus on monetization, we’re excited to partner with leading players such as JioCinema to develop their performance advertising engine,” said Moloco’s chief business officer Sunil Rayan. “We have leveraged Moloco’s deep experience in advertising technology over the last decade to build an ad serving solution for JioCinema that ensures stability at scale and improves user experience during peak times. Looking ahead to Tata IPL 2024, we anticipate an even bigger opportunity to engage millions of viewers while also creating measurable value for advertisers,” he added.

    JioCinema CPTO Akash Saxena stated, “By using Moloco’s advanced algorithms and highly optimised ad serving infrastructure, we were able to deliver ads to 32M viewers concurrently during Tata IPL 2023 and offer new monetization opportunities to our advertisers.”

    Speaking on the announcement, Moloco’s general manager for India Siddharth Jhawar said, “India’s 700 million digital population has shown a growing preference for consuming video content online. As streaming platforms scale and look for more monetization opportunities, Moloco Streaming Monetization can help them grow profitably.”

  • Disney+ Hotstar’s Sunil Rayan joins Moloco as chief business officer

    Disney+ Hotstar’s Sunil Rayan joins Moloco as chief business officer

    Mumbai: Machine learning platform for mobile apps Moloco announced recently that it has hired Sunil Rayan as the company’s first chief business officer.

    In his new role, Rayan’s duties will include overseeing all commercial functions across Moloco’s products and platforms, ensuring the proper strategies are implemented. He will report directly to CEO Ikkjin Ahn.

    As a pioneer of mobile ad performance marketing, Rayan brings over 25 years of global experience building commercial and product operations & leading go-to-market teams. He also brings a unique skill set and expertise in business strategy and scaling up large technology-driven businesses.

    “Together, we will help customers grow significantly by helping them unlock the full value of unique, first-party data with Moloco’s world-leading machine learning and infrastructure solutions,” said the statement.

    Prior to Moloco, he served as president and head of Disney+ Hotstar, where he grew the streaming business 8x to over 50+ million subscribers, scaled more than 20 markets internationally for Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar across India, Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa, and led the launch of the next-generation Hotstar streaming platform. Before joining Disney+, Rayan held leadership roles at Google for more than seven years, where he led the Global Mobile App ads business and helped build Google Cloud solutions for games. Prior to that, he was an Associate Partner at McKinsey, serving technology clients across a variety of functions.

    “I am happy to welcome Sunil Rayan as our Chief Business Officer. He brings the expertise in enterprise cloud products, engineering, business development, and proven success building & scaling global sales organizations that will help Moloco accelerate its next stage of growth,” said Moloco CEO Ikkjin Ahn. “He is a humble and ambitious leader with a track record for successfully growing global businesses, and we are excited to have him join us on our journey.”

    “Moloco is a generational company that is bringing the power of machine learning to programmatic performance advertising and enabling monetization for direct-to-consumer businesses of all sizes,” said Sunil Rayan. “Together, we will help customers grow significantly by helping them unlock the full value of unique, first-party data with Moloco’s world-leading machine learning and infrastructure solutions.”