In 2016, Lory, the General Manager of the MC Platform Division at MobCastle, and his team focused on one thing: developing MobCastle. This is a mobile advertising platform based on the iOS system, focusing on e-commerce/gaming effects/tools, helping clients capture high-quality, non-incentivized users.
Recently, Morketing had an in-depth conversation with Lory, a “practical expert,” exploring the characteristics and trends of the DSP industry through the development and growth process of MobCastle.
Lory, General Manager of the MC Platform Division at MobCastle
On Traffic: Real and Quality Issues
In April 2016, the first version of MobCastle was launched, primarily targeting the iOS system. Lory explained that on iOS, the channels available for advertisers are quite limited, with most opting for ASO, hard ads, or large platforms like Guangdiantong and Toutiao.
“How to integrate real, quality traffic to help advertisers acquire genuine users” has been a constant consideration for Lory. The MobCastle team began by filtering the traffic they encountered, selecting real, suitable quality traffic, conducting detailed operations, and ultimately transforming the traffic into a user pool through a newly developed system, allowing advertisers to find the users they need.
“DSP companies face common issues during their development phase. For instance, when there isn’t a large volume of traffic available, they might connect to some traffic from Ad Exchange. Often, large traffic providers are reluctant to share their higher quality traffic with DSPs, preferring to sell directly to clients, making it challenging for DSPs to serve performance clients in the early stages,” Lory explained the traffic dilemma faced during the startup phase.
One significant issue is “fraud,” which includes forms such as fake clicks and repeated clicks.
How to eliminate fraudulent activities? Lory explained: First, the colleagues responsible for traffic must be sensitive to the traffic itself, understanding the general situation of normal ad click-through rates and conversion rates; the product developed by MobCastle, “Moyibao,” will also systematically assess the traffic. This dual approach effectively blocks the vast majority of fraudulent traffic. Additionally, when this traffic enters, Lory communicates with advertisers, running this batch of traffic through a separate link and requiring timely feedback on the data. MobCastle then monitors this traffic. If any issues arise, they investigate whether it was due to active fraud or product issues and make timely adjustments. After several rounds of filtering, fraudulent traffic occurrences have been largely eliminated.
On Clients: Keeping Up with Industry Trends
In August, MobCastle experienced explosive growth, with platform activations exceeding ten thousand. Lory mentioned that the initial promotion relied on word-of-mouth marketing, starting from the gaming circle, creating a product for a gaming client. “The gaming circle is quite small; if they perceive fake traffic or poor quality, it quickly spreads to other game manufacturers. Conversely, if we perform well and satisfy clients, we will build a good reputation.” Relying on accumulated word-of-mouth, clients began to refer MobCastle to more gaming clients, as well as e-commerce and tool application clients.
At this point, the rise of live streaming caught Lory’s attention. “In the advertising industry, we always follow market trends. Since live streaming is currently the hottest product in the market, we seize such clients to meet their needs. Although the costs are relatively higher, as long as we can provide advertisers with genuine payments, they are willing to pay a higher price for such quality.” MobCastle has established partnerships with live streaming platforms such as Huajiao, Douyu, and Yingke, with daily activation volumes reaching thousands.
For example, the collaboration between MobCastle and Huajiao, from July 22 to September 19, lasted 60 days, achieving 11,763,290 clicks and 32,781 activations, with an average activation rate of 0.28%. “These figures are considered above average, even excellent among clients.”
Lory also advised that for new forms and technologies in advertising, one should not blindly follow trends but assess whether they are suitable for oneself and the clients. For instance, for e-commerce clients, using incentivized videos may not be very effective, as they are more impactful for gaming.
MobCastle Interface
In October, Lory’s team readjusted MobCastle, blocking some risky operational elements, conducting a system upgrade, migrating new and old clients to the new platform, and performing a deeper inspection of the traffic system. This process took one to two months, and by early December, the new system’s functions were largely complete, with most clients migrated, and monthly revenue exceeding ten million. The variety of clients served by MobCastle is also increasing. Lory stated that in 2017, MobCastle will integrate the advantages of the MobCastle brand and other company resources, digging deeper into traffic vertically; horizontally, they will begin to explore the Android market and integrate overseas resources.
On Development: Maintaining an Entrepreneurial Mindset
MobCastle is a relatively successful attempt by MobCastle in the performance advertising sector, directly connecting existing media and integrating some traffic into DSP, managing frequency and operational risks, and utilizing relatively complex yet reasonable operational thinking for ad placements.
As DSPs gradually grow, once some attempts are validated, they can promote communication and data integration with industry peers and advertising platforms, pushing the entire industry forward. In fact, every company is exploring where the next opportunity in the advertising industry lies, but relying solely on one company may be challenging.
As a veteran with nearly ten years in the performance industry, Lory has witnessed the rise and fall of many advertising platforms. Facing the downturn of some DSP companies in 2016, Lory believes the issue can be analyzed from two perspectives:
First, China’s mobile internet is developing rapidly, closely following the pace of the United States, even surpassing Europe and other countries—many popular foreign apps are developed by Chinese companies going overseas; now, good live streaming platforms, after becoming popular domestically, quickly cover markets in the Middle East, South America, and North America. Whether the advertising industry can keep pace with the rapid development of mobile internet is crucial. In fact, some companies have not done enough in this regard. From 2013 to 2014, some platforms had excellent advertisers with large budgets, making it relatively easy to acquire media resources. If a platform becomes complacent and does not adjust, problems will arise. Advertisers’ demands are increasing; what used to be just clicks and impressions now requires user registrations and transactions. The industry is changing rapidly, and advertisers’ expectations are rising. Companies must maintain a mindset of learning and innovation to adapt to this industry, or they will quickly be eliminated.
Secondly, one must always maintain an entrepreneurial mindset. Whether in the advertising industry or the internet industry, it is a sector concentrated with human resources, and everyone needs to think one step further. For example, sales personnel should not only consider new clients but also stay updated on industry changes to identify new opportunities and collaboration points. Product technical staff should not only complete existing development tasks but also seek new breakthroughs to meet or even expand current business. Every employee in the company should have a positive attitude, an open atmosphere, and a mindset of unobstructed communication. It is dangerous to simply complete one’s work and leave at the end of the day. In the mobile internet industry, especially in advertising, such a mindset is very risky.
