Zedge is one of the world’s leading personalization apps, offering wallpapers, notification sounds and more to millions of people worldwide. To date, it has surpassed 720 million downloads.
The team wanted to diversify its portfolio of demand partners in order to ensure a more resilient monetization strategy. By integrating BidMachine through AppLovin MAX, Zedge grew ARPDAU by 4% in various instances and strengthened its overall mediation setup.
More demand, less dependency
Like many large publishers, Zedge continuously tests new demand partners. Relying too heavily on a small number of sources can leave publishers exposed to shifts in advertiser budgets, market conditions or overall demand. By adding more bidders to its mediation stack, Zedge made its monetization strategy more resilient.
Ignas Danielius, Senior Director, Analytics and Ad Operations, explains:
“Portfolio diversification was our primary goal. Relying too heavily on a few demand partners creates risk if there are budget cuts or unexpected changes.”
Validating performance through controlled A/B testing
Before scaling the integration, Zedge evaluated BidMachine for SDK stability, crash rates, ANRs and long-term maintenance requirements. The team then applied its standard rollout methodology, testing each ad unit independently through AppLovin MAX.
Only ad units delivering more than a 2% improvement in ARPDAU were moved into production.
“The integration was smooth. We follow a granular A/B testing process where each ad unit is evaluated independently.”
Adding incremental revenue
Following A/B testing, BidMachine became a consistent contributor to Zedge's mediation stack.
The results included:
- Up to 4% ARPDAU growth
- 2% average ARPDAU uplift
- 3% share of wallet for interstitials
- 2% share of wallet for rewarded video and native ads
BidMachine added incremental revenue without replacing existing demand partners, increasing competition across multiple ad formats.
Expanding demand without compromising ad quality
Zedge did not observe any recurring ad quality issues following the integration. In the few cases where advertiser blocks were required for compliance reasons, they were handled promptly.
This gave the team confidence to keep BidMachine as part of its long-term monetization strategy.
Advice for other publishers
For publishers considering BidMachine, Danielius recommends following the same disciplined approach Zedge applies to every monetization partner.
"Implement carefully, validate results with controlled A/B testing and make data-driven rollout decisions. If the performance is there, it can become a valuable addition to a diversified stack."
For publishers looking to reduce demand concentration and improve monetization performance, Zedge's experience shows how adding another high-quality bidder can support both revenue growth and a more resilient demand mix.
Ready to diversify your demand and grow revenue? Sign up for BidMachine to add another high-quality source of demand and maximize competition for every impression.
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