I read the post from performance marketing expert Matej Lancaric on “fake ads”. With data, he demonstrated that big spenders do not care about fake ads, and they help to lower CPI (cost per install) for mobile games. Fake ads are regulated in other industries, not in mobile games.
From 200 real payers (including whales):
75% uninstall instantly when the game doesn’t match the ad
40% leave negative reviews
27% ask for refunds
But 17% of paying users STILL stay… and STILL spendAnd here’s the uncomfortable part nobody wants to admit:
Those 17% often represent 60–80% of total revenue in 4X, SLG, and Casino.Whales don’t care about fake ads.
Whales care about depth, progression, and competition.
And if fake ads drop your CPI from $60 → $15, the math wins. Every time.
The point here is that we, game creators, rely on algorithms to distribute our games nowadays. Speaking simply, a computer program decides on the visibility of our creations. We need to make good games but also think about how to trick the machine in order to make our craft arrive to the people. In the case of free-to-play the thing is worse because we need huge volume of people to find our real clients who are big spenders (described as “whales”, a term that comes from casinos).
The post doesn’t clarify WHY big spenders don’t care and fake ads spread rapidly. Also, it doesn’t explain what happens when people are exposed over a long period of time to fake ads. But we can make hypotheses:
- Whales are often addicted to gaming, so anything that stimulates their dopamine system is OK.
- Algorithms prefer easy to get, average, exciting moments.
- On the long term, brands corrode because of continuous exposition to fake ads.
I am still worried about those 75% of people who uninstall instantly. I mean, we are still paying for those people to install in first place. What if, instead of making fake stuff we make simple onboardings and put those into our fake ads? Maybe the conversion would be better and we could find more players.