Twitter Rolls Out MoPub Native Ads for App Developers

Twitter Mopub Native ad example Flipboard
A native ad, in its native environment

Twitter has launched programmatic native ads for all MoPub publishers, following a four-month test period with a small number of mobile app developers.

As of today, any publisher can use MoPub’s native ads platform to serve direct-sold or in-house native ads, and auction inventory on the MoPub Marketplace. Publisher participation in MoPub’s Marketplace remains subject to approval by the MoPub policy team to ensure that the app complies with viewability and other impression and click tracking standards.

MoPub has also submitted a Native Ads Extension to the OpenRTB spec to the IAB working group. The company said that advertisers have quickly adopted this standard extension to OpenRTB, with over 10 DSP partners already buying based on these standards.

There are three components to MoPub’s native ad platform. A native ad SDK can be used to create a customized ad unit inside the developer’s app. The ad server allows publishers to traffic their own ad campaigns into their native inventory, with budgeting support, targeting options, integrated reporting and a full order and line items system for trafficking native ad campaigns, both for in-house and direct sold campaigns. The reporting suite includes details for each app and ad unit, and breaks down revenue by platform. The third component is MoPub’s native ad extension to OpenRTB, which allows demand partners to bid on the publisher’s native ads, no matter how they are rendered in the app.

In a MoPub blog post, the company quotes Flipboard CTO Eric Feng thus: “MoPub’s native ads solution lets us control the whole ad experience, from setting minimum price floors and prioritizing direct advertisers over house ads to blocking certain ad categories and limiting how often a user sees a creative. We have a level of transparency into what our users see, and control over how and when they see it.”

Developers wishing to integrate MoPub native ads into their ads are advised to visit the company’s GitHub page to download the iOS or Android SDK.