How to Spot Hidden Revenue in Your Ad Stack

Every year, mobile games leave millions of dollars on the table — not because their titles lack players, but because their ad stacks aren’t optimized. According to industry estimates, poorly structured mediation and outdated SDKs can reduce ad revenue by 20–30%, meaning that for a game generating $1M annually from ads, up to $300,000 could be lost without developers even noticing.

Why is this revenue hidden?

There’re few common reasons from the technical side:

• Fragmented mediation setup: Many developers rely on a single network or outdated waterfalls, leaving demand sources untapped.
• Lack of transparency: Without proper reporting, it’s hard to know which ad units underperform.
• Unbalanced ad strategy: Too many interstitials can hurt retention, while too few rewarded ads miss monetization opportunities.
• Slow SDK updates: Networks release optimizations regularly, so it’s essential to update your SDKs to avoid draining eCPMs. Heavy SDKs can also slow performance, frustrating players and causing churn.

And a few more from the development team side:

• Hard to keep up with ever-changing ad tech (SDK versions, bidding adoption).
• Limited time or expertise to A/B test ad placements.
• Difficulty analyzing regional performance — what works in the US may flop in Brazil.
• Fear of hurting player experience when experimenting with new formats.

How to capture hidden revenue with MAS?

That’s where MAS (Managed Ad Services) comes in. MAS connects your game to multiple ad networks through one SDK and automatically optimizes placements, formats, and bidding for more effective revenue effect.

More precisely, here’s how MAS helps developers spot and capture hidden revenue:

• Full mediation coverage: Full mediation coverage: MAS integrates and manages multiple top ad networks—and keeps adding new ones—so you never miss demand from the highest bidder.
• Always up-to-date SDKs: The MAS team handles all updates, so your game runs on the latest optimizations without dev headaches.
• Smart ad strategy: MAS places and balances ad formats to boost ARPDAU while maintaining retention, turning rewarded ads into both revenue and engagement drivers.
• Global performance insights: With MAS, you can compare monetization across regions and adapt strategy for every market.
• Hands-off growth partner: MAS continuously audits, tests, and adjusts your ad stack, so you’re not leaving 20–30% of potential revenue on the table.

Win This Hide and Seek

Getting the most from your ad stack means more than just chasing higher eCPMs — it’s about keeping monetization smooth without burning developer time. Having experienced these challenges firsthand as a publisher, we built MAS to take care of the complex parts in the background and make our insights available to everyone, so you can focus on making great games.