An SDK — or Software Development Kit — is essentially a toolkit or collection of software development tools in one installable package. In Anzu’s case, the SDK is embedded into video games and becomes a part of the game. By comparison, hard-coded ads are (you guessed it) hard-coded, meaning the game developer has to code everything related to the ad inside the game from scratch.
Here are five reasons why choosing an SDK is the preferred way to utilize in-game advertising for your games compared to hard-coded ads.
1. Integrate SDKs in record time
SDKs are quick and easy to add to your game code, designed to slot in easily without impacting game performance, meaning you only need to add it in once. This means your ads can be updated with a simple push, just like with a regular game patch, instead of needing to update the version of the game itself every time.
Compare this to having to hard-code in the ads every single time you’d like to update your game with an ad, especially for more complicated ad placements beyond simple billboards! As a result, using an SDK provides great time-to-value on both installing and maintaining compared to hard coding.
2. Take your pick of brands from just one ad placement
With using an SDK, it’s possible to show multiple different ads on a single placement within your game. However, this isn’t possible with hard-coded ads, which limit you to just one ad for one brand as a “one-ad-for-all”.
Ubisoft Nadeo featured multiple different ad placements in TrackMania for Vodafone DE's campaign.
This makes your ad revenue much more scalable — by being able to showcase more than one brand at any one time, you have the ability and capacity to partner with more brands, advertise more for a broader range of companies, and vitally, scale your ad revenue within your games.
3. Variety is the spice of life for your players
Nobody likes seeing the same ads over and over again, right? The same goes for ads in games.
Imagine playing a rally racer, you’re winning the race, the tension is mounting, and as you round the final corner towards the finish line… It’s the same old ad? Again? Yawn. It makes it even worse when it’s hard-coded, takes ages to update, and you’ve often had to use a made-up brand to create proper immersion in the game.
But why not cut yourself some slack and have SDK technology do the hard work for you? Create immersion with ads from real brands, earn yourself some extra revenue from it, and it will switch things up to keep it fresh giving your players some variety. That’s SDK integrated ads for you!
4. Stay flexible! Choose ad locations and channels to improve viewability
What use are ads if they’re not being seen by the people playing your games? Using an SDK means that you not only have more flexibility over the ad placements’ design — what locations and channels you’d like to use for your ads (considering viewability and user experience) — but you’ll also be able to optimize your ad placements to get the best possible results.
The same can’t be said for hard-coded ads, which are much more rigid in terms of where they’re placed, and can often take a lot longer to switch out and optimize compared to their SDK counterparts.
5. Greater support in gaming engines
Popular game engines like Unity and Unreal, as well as many other custom engines, support SDK technology, and are a perfect way to make life easier for game developers. Anzu’s SDK for in-game advertising is no different, and slots in just like any other SDK. This allows developers to improve their ad placement configuration in a really easy way, including ad format and ratio, refresh rate, content restrictions, and more.
This means that no matter what game engine your game is built with, you’re much more in control of the advertising content that goes into your game, so you can remain fully in the driver’s seat for your ads (and resulting revenue!).
Want to get started on your Anzu journey into in-game advertising? Already started but want to get the most out of your ads? Drop us a line or email us at info@anzu.io.
