Fingersoft scales to new heights with AdMob

Pedal to the metal

When Toni Fingerroos, founder and CEO of Fingersoft, started developing ‘Hill Climb Racing,’ he had little idea he was about to create not only a popular mobile game app, but also a phenomenon. Since its introduction, ‘Hill Climb Racing’ has accumulated 70 million downloads on Android and iOS, with about 21 million stemming from the iOS edition of the game. Within the first week, the game – which is available for free – gained 1.5 million downloads on iOS alone.

All of Fingersoft’s apps for mobile devices are monetized through Google AdMob. The company relies heavily on AdMob house ads – a way to cross-promote all the Fingersoft properties by trafficking ads across all Fingersoft apps at no charge. Because of AdMob’s high ad fill rates and effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM), Fingersoft was able to re-invest the required effort and resources into developing ‘Hill Climb Racing.’ Most of Fingersoft’s revenue before the introduction of ‘Hill Climb Racing’ was generated through AdMob ads deployed within the previous camera apps. “A large ad pool means developers like us don’t need to worry about managing unfilled impressions or be concerned about their ad network keeping up as they achieve scale,” says Fingerroos, the CEO.

AdMob revs up income

When it came to generating income for ‘Hill Climb Racing,’ Fingersoft, once again, put AdMob top of the list to connect with advertisers looking to reach users across platforms, including Android and iOS. For Fingerroos, AdMob is considered the foundation of app monetization and promotion. For Toni, AdMob made sense because it is the biggest ad network for mobile apps, with tens of thousands of advertisers, and it had produced reliable income for him in the past.

For ‘Hill Climb Racing,’ the Fingersoft team kept its AdMob strategies and formats simple: they used only banner ads and placed them at the bottom of the screen to be less obtrusive. If players wish, they can purchase coins and hide ads altogether. The company uses other mobile ad networks in addition to AdMob to augment income for its apps, but considers AdMob the cornerstone. “AdMob has a fill rate reaching close to 100% and great eCPM, so AdMob is really a necessity for us in making money on our free apps,” says Fingerroos. “We never need to worry about unfilled impressions and can reach massive download counts quickly. AdMob makes it easy to scale and monetize quickly.”

Maximal income

To keep users satisfied, Fingersoft keeps a pulse on their comments on social channels as well as on app marketplaces such as Google Play. The app then adjusts code for the game accordingly. Users also can share their results from playing the game on social media networks, and this, in turn, drives new downloads.

For ‘Hill Climb Racing,’ success relies on engaging large numbers of players and garnering significant eCPM value, with AdMob being the pivotal advertising medium. The income from coin purchases and advertising allows the Fingersoft team to develop new apps and games. “AdMob is a solid platform that is exceptionally easy to use,” says Fingerroos. “The AdMob income, which is substantial, started coming in right away. I was very surprised and pleased, especially because our marketing budget is zero today.”

“We never need to worry about unfilled impressions and can reach massive download counts quickly. AdMob makes it easy to scale and monetize quickly.” Toni Fingerroos, founder and CEO, Fingersoft