Vietnam Mobile App Advertising & Monetization Report (2017)

2017
REPORT
An Advertising Company
Under Appota Group
Vietnam Mobile App
Advertising & Monetization

Part 00
SUMMARY
2017 – A year in Vietnam mobile ads review
Part 01
VIETNAM MOBILE MARKET OVERVIEW
Vietnam digital & mobile overview
Vietnam OS market share
Global & Vietnam mobile app market
Part 02
VIETNAM MOBILE ADVERTISING & APP MONETIZATION
Mobile ads spending: Vietnam & Southeast Asian countries
In-app ads
Mobile app marketing – UA insights
Mobile app monetization insights
Vietnam in-app ads revenue
Part 03
HIGHLIGHTS
2017 Yearbook of Mobile & Mobile Ads - Vietnam
Experts’ Evaluation
Mobile & In-App Ads Trends for 2018
Table Of Content

Summary
2017 was another successful year for Vietnamese mobile ads industry.
With big growth in smartphone adoption, Vietnamese Internet users have a tendency to move online
activities towards mobile devices and mobile apps, especially. Mobile ads, thus, attracted advertisers’
attention and received higher ads budget.
In 2017, mobile app ﬁeld of Vietnam, one of the fastest growing market in APAC region, received lot of
support and investment from big technology corporations, which resulted in considerable changes and
total upgrade to Vietnamese mobile ads landscape.
Adsota’s Vietnam mobile ads & mobile app monetization report 2017 presents mobile ads key insights
and trends in Vietnam of the whole year 2017. Happy reading!
Adsota Team
VIETNAM MOBILE ADS
& MOBILE APP MONETIZATION REPORT
2017

01VIETNAMMobile Market Overview

Vietnam Digital Overview
Source: We are social, Google, Nielsen, VNTA (2017)
2G 3G 4G2G 3G 4G
Subscriptions
75.1M
Subscriptions Subscriptions
44.9M 7M
Population
95.6M
(2017)
Internet Users
67%
(of total population)
Mobile Web Traffic
24%
Tablet Web Traffic
3%
Laptop & Desktop
Web Traffic
73%
(Based on each device’s share of web pages served to web browsers)

Vietnam Mobile Overview
Source: We are social, Google, Nielsen, VNTA (2017)
Population
95.6M
(2017)
Mobile Users
73%
Smartphone Users
42%
Primate Cities
84%
Secondary Cities
71%
Rural Area
68%
Social Mobile Users
50M
Social Mobile Users
52%
(Percentage of Smartphone users/Total Mobile Phone Users in each type of human settlement)

Source: Google Barometer (2017),
Note: surveyed-based statistics, n= 1,000
Vietnam Smartphone Users Behavior
According to Google Barometer survey in 2017, searching,
visiting social networks, playing game, watching online video
and shopping were top 5 weekly activities among Vietnamese
smartphone users.
Watching online video and visiting social networks were the
most 2 popular weekly activities done by Vietnamese
smartphone users, with almost 80% of those surveyed agreed.
Searching came third with 66%, followed by playing games
(36%) and shopping (18%).0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Shopping
Online Video
Gaming
Social Networking
Searching
Weekly Smartphone Activities of Vietnamese Users
Searching
SocialNetworking
Gaming
Watching Video
Shopping

Source: Stat Counter
Note: Based on each operating system’s share of all global mobile web requests at the end of every year
Vietnam – Mobile & Tablet OS Share
As can be seen from mobile web request on each operation system over the last 3 years in Vietnam, Android’s been the most popular platform
on mobile, while tablet’s been dominated by iOS.
At the end of 2017, Android reportedly captured nearly 2/3 of total mobile OS market, and iOS accounted for about 30%.
On the contrary, almost 80% of tablet market share was constituted by iOS, leaving a small share of roughly 20% for Android and a very tiny share
for other operation systems.
0%20%40%60%80%100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
2015
2016
2017
ANDROID iOS Others

Source: AppBrain, Statista (2017)
Global Mobile App Market Overview
Until the end of 2017, Google Play remained the world’s biggest app store with more than 3.5 million active mobile apps. Apple Store came second
with 3 million. Same as previous years, in 2017, a majority of apps on both app stores were free (94% on Google Play, 88% on Apple Store).
Capturing 12% of total app number in 2017, paid apps had better chance on Apple Store than Google Play (6%).
Over the past years, Game has been the most popular category with the highest downloads on both app stores. Communication, productivity and
personalization category of app were recorded to be downloaded more on Android than iOS platform. And, iOS Users cared more about ﬁnance,
travel and education.
APPLE STORE
3M+(Number of active apps, 2017)
88%
Free
12%
Paid
GOOGLE PLAY
3.5M+(Number of active apps, 2017)
Free
94%
Paid
6%
Top Popular App Category, By Downloads
APPLE STORE
3M+(Number of active apps, 2017)
88%
Free
12%
Paid
    
Game Tools/Utilities Entertainment Communication Photo, Video
Social Productivity Music, Audio m-Commerce Personalization
    
    
Game Entertainment Photo, Video Tools Social
m-Commerce Finance Lifestyle Travel Education
    

Most Popular App CategoriesIn Vietnam,
by Monthly Downloads and Installs
Game
Social
Messaging,
Communication
Media
Entertainment
Music, Audio Search
Book, Comic,
Magazine
News, Weather
Education
Shopping
m-Commerce
69%
68%
66%
63%
62% 62%
59%
Source: Google (2017)
Note: Surveyed-based, Question: How often do you install new app of each category?
Vietnam Mobile App Market
In 2017, sharing the same mobile trend around the world,
in Vietnam, Game was the most popular app categories,
with the highest installs and downloads per month.
According to 2017 survey on install and download frequency of each category, in Vietnam, among new
apps downloaded and installed each month, game came ﬁrst with 69% of those surveyed, closely
followed by Social (68%) and Messaging & Communication (66%).
Other categories getting into top 10 included Media & Entertainment; Music & Audio; Search; Book,
Comic & Magazine; News Weather; Education and Shopping & m-Commerce.
58%
57%
55%

02VIETNAMMobile Advertising &
App Monetization

Source: eMarketer, iab (2017)
Southeast Asia Mobile Ads Spending
Mobile ads spending in Southeast Asian countries ranged from 78
million to 194 million USD in 2017.
Singapore lead the area with the highest mobile ads spending, which
also captured the biggest share of total digital ads spending.
Vietnam had the smallest mobile ads market among those countries.
In 2017, about 78 million USD was spent on mobile ads, accounting
for 36.6% of total Vietnam digital ads spending.
Percentage of Total Digital Ads Spending
Note: Mobile Ads Spending on mobile phones, tablets & other internet-connected devices,
excluding MMS, P2P messaging-based ads

Source: eMarketer, iab (2017)
Vietnam Mobile Ads Spending
Percentageof Total Digital Ads Spending
Note: Mobile Ads Spending on mobile phones, tablets & other internet-connected devices,
excluding MMS, P2P messaging-based ads
Mobile ads is on the rise, and will continue to play
a more signiﬁcant role in the future of Vietnamese
digital ads industry.
Vietnam mobile ads spending increased from
17.2 million USD (13.1% of total digital ads
spending) to 78.7 million USD (36.6% of total ads
spending) during the period between 2015 and
2017.
It’s forecasted that mobile ads spending in
Vietnam would keep growing gradually to 220
million USD, and capture a bigger share (68%) of
total digital ads spending in 2020.
$-
$50.0
$100.0
$150.0
$200.0
$250.0
$300.0
$350.0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
13.1%
22.5%
36.6%
55.3%
67.4%
68%
Mil.

Source: Smaato (2017)
In-App vs. Mobile Web Ads Spending
Along with the development of mobile industry
and mobile ads, the growing inﬂuence of mobile
in-app ads over the last 4 years is obvious.
Globally, in-app ads spending share increased
impressively from 66% (2014) to 96% (2017).
Mobile web ads spending’s left with substantially
diminishing share, from 34% (2014) to only 4%
(2017).
Mobile Web Ads Spending
Global
IN-APP
Ads
Spending
Share
66%
73%
80%
96%
2014 2015 2016 2017

In-app Ads Request Y/Y Growth Asia-Paciﬁc, 2016 - 2017
With in-app ads spending share rise from 80% to 96%
globally, in comparison with mobile web ads spending,
the period from 2016 to 2017 witnessed a global growth
in in-app ads request.
APAC is the market with the highest in-app ads request
year-over-year growth.
Within this area, the biggest growth went to Japan
(+147%), South Korea (+105%), and Singapore (+96%).
Vietnam and other Southeast Asian
developing mobile markets like Thailand, Indonesia,
Philippines were recorded an increase of 50-70%.
+147%
+105%
+96%
>75%
50 - 75%
<15%
NA
30 - 50%
15-30%
Japan
South
Korea
Singapore
>75%
50 - 75%
<15%
NA
30 - 50%
15-30%
Japan
South
Korea
Singapore
+147%
+105%
+96%

Source: AdColony (2017)
Mobile App Marketing UA Insights
A majority of app marketing budget was
spent on video and display ads.
Video ads, including full-screen, social,
in-feed received about 57% of budget.
24% of total UA budget was spent on
display ads, including social, banner,
interstitial and rich media display.
App Marketing Budget Allocation
57%
Video Ads
24%
Display Ads
1%
8%
21%
27%
OthersIn-feedSocialFull-screen
8%
7% 7%
2%
Social Banner Interstitial Rich
media
2%2%2%2%2%
4%5%
OthersOﬀer wallsInﬂuencerFree app
networks
Cross
promo
Native adsPlayables

Note: Surveyed-based
Video (including social, in-feed, playable) were rated by
global mobile marketers as the most effective channels to
drive app installs.
Social display, voted by roughly 40% of those surveyed,
were also considered an effective install-driving channel.
However, other types of display ads (banner, interstitials)
weren’t viewed as useful method to acquire users.
About 2/3 of mobile marketer joining the survey thought
KOLs campaigns, cross promotion could play particular
role in their UA campaign.
UA Channels Ranking, by Effectiveness
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Offer walls
Insterstial display
Free app networks
Cross promotion
Influencer campaigns
Native ads
Playable video
In-feed video
Social display
Video

Note: Surveyed-based
Both gaming and non-gaming app marketers
relied heavily on CPI (Cost-Per-Install) model to
acquire users, with 100% of surveyed mobile
marketers’ vote.
CPA (Cost-Per-Action) contributed more to
non-gaming than gaming app.
On the contrary, CPL (Cos-Per-Lead) model’s
more useful to games than non-gaming app
UA campaign.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
CPI CPA CPM CPC CPE CPCV CPL
Gaming app Non-gaming app
UA Model Eﬀectiveness
Games vs. Non-gaming Apps

Note: Surveyed-based, Ranking based on the importance of each indicator in evaluating app user quality
Retention was the indicator that mobile marketers in APAC and EMEA relied on the most to evaluate users quality. In North America, the most
important indicator was in-app purchase; and, retention came second.
In these 3 areas, other trustworthy user quality criterions were tutorial completion, session time and positive review.
Different from EMEA and North America, in APAC, user sending invitation’s hardly considered as a factor to appraise value of app users.
User Quality Indicator Ranking, by Region
North AmericaEurope, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA)Asia - Pacific (APAC)
Retention In-App Purchase
Tutorial
Completion
Session Time Positive Review Invitation Sent Social Login
User Quality Indicator Ranking, by Region
North AmericaEurope, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA)Asia - Pacific (APAC)
Retention In-App Purchase
Tutorial
Completion
Session Time Positive Review Invitation Sent Social Login

Source: Chartboost (2018)
Note (1) Game App CPI, Note (2) Norway wasn’t included in global top CPI on iOS platform.
CPI Statistics
Global Top CPI

Source: Chartboost (2018)
Note: Game App CPI
CPI Statistics
Singapore lead Southeast Asia (SEA) in CPI ($1.37 on
Google Play, $1.67 on Apple Store).
Excluding Singapore, CPI in Southeast Asian countries
ranged from $0.2 to $0.4 and from $0.3 to $0.9 on
Google Play and iTunes, respectively.
Surprisingly, top 3 most potential and fastest growing
mobile markets of SEA (Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam)
were recorded with the lowest CPI on both Android and
iOS platform.

56%
39%
5%
Others In-App
Purchase
Video Ads
Display Ads
Native Ads
31%
20%
5%
Paid Installs
Subscriptions
m
Mobile App Monetization Model: Gaming vs. Non-Gaming App
More than half of total mobile revenue were generated
through in-app mobile ads, including video (31%), display
(20%) and native (5%).
39% of revenue came from in-app purchase.
Other sources like paid installs, subscription, m-commerce
and affiliate contributed very insignificant share.
56%
39%
5%
Others In-App
Purchase
2%
1%
1%
1%
Paid Installs
Subscriptions
m-Commerce
Affiliate
31%
20%
5%
Video Ads
Display Ads
Native Ads

Source: Newzoo, AdColony (2017)
Mobile App Monetization Model: Gaming vs. Non-Gaming App
In 2017, 82% of worldwide app revenue was generated through gaming apps, leaving a small share of 18% to non-gaming ones.
In gaming apps, in-app purchase & m-commerce contributed the biggest earnings share (43%), followed by video ads (31%) and display ads
(19%). In non-gaming apps, the biggest revenue share was from video ads (39%); display ads and IAP & m-commerce came behind with 30% and
21% respectively.
Native ads account for 10% of app revenue in non-gaming apps, but only 2% in games.

$-
$0.10
$0.20
$0.30
$0.40
$0.50
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Android
AdMob Smaato Facebook Google DFP
$0.00
$0.10
$0.20
$0.30
$0.40
$0.50
iOS
Source: AppotaX, Appodeal (2017)
Note: Comparison might not be relevant due to diﬀerence of ads platform
Vietnam Mobile App Ads Revenue
eCPM Statistics - Ads Format: Banner
$-
$0.10
$0.20
$0.30
$0.40
$0.50
Android
AdMob Smaato Facebook Google DFP
$0.00
$0.10
$0.20
$0.30
$0.40
$0.50
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
iOS

$-
$1.00
$2.00
$3.00
$4.00
Android
AdMob Facebook Chartboost Google DFP
$-
$1.00
$2.00
$3.00
$4.00
iOS
eCPM Statistics - Ads Format: Interstitial
$-
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
$3.00
Android
AdMob Facebook inMobi Chartboost Google DFP
$-
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
$3.00
$3.50
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun J
iOS
$-
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
$3.00
Jan
Android

$-
$1.00
$2.00
$3.00
$4.00
Android
$-
$1.00
$2.00
$3.00
$4.00
iOS
Vungle Unity Ads AdColony Chartboost
eCPM Statistics - Ads Format: Rewarded Video
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
$-
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
$3.00
iOS
Vungle Unity Ads AdColony Chartboost

$-
$1.00
$2.00
$3.00
$4.00
iOS
$-
$1.00
$2.00
$3.00
$4.00
Android
Vungle Unity Ads AdColony
eCPM Statistics - Ads Format: Video
$-
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
$3.00
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
iOS
$-
$0.50
$1.00
$1.50
$2.00
$2.50
$3.00
Android
Vungle Unity Ads AdColony

03HIGHLIGHTS
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Highlight 1: 2017 Yearbook of Mobile & Mobile Ads - Vietnam
Vietnam Telecom Innovation: 4G and beyond
2017 experienced a big change in telecom, with users moving
forwards to 4G from 3G. The growth of the 4G services upgraded IT
infrastructure and added more value to mobile phone ecosystem
of Vietnam.
Smartphone Battle Apple celebrated 10th anniversary
with iPhone X. Google Acquired HTC, marking a substantial
expansion of Google's hardware efforts.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Revolution
2017 was a year of AI, with the rise of device
connection, big data, machine learning, etc.
Cryptocurrency Conquest
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin BTC,
Ethereum ETH, Ripple XRP, Cardano
ADA, etc. shook the world of finance
and technology.
Cyber Attack In 2017, Vietnam suffered from more
than 10,000 cyber attacks (VNCERT). Vietnam was also
one of 20 most damaged victims of WannaCry attack
(May 2017)
Conflict between advertisers and
social media publishers Firms,
advertisers in Vietnam were called on to stop
advertising on Facebook and YouTube due to
toxic anti-government information.
Rise of Vietnamese Smartphone Brand
Smartphone under Vietnamese brand name like
Viettel, BKAV and Asanzo made incredible remarks, in
2017, in affordable and affordable premium
smartphone segment.
Programmatic Ads Innovation Google Ad
Exchange For Publishers was introduced in Vietnam for
the first time, providing the bigger app monetization
opportunity for Vietnamese publishers.
The first Vietnamese Tech Startup to undertake
IPO in USA VNG Corp signed memorandum to list on The
US’ second largest stock exchange, Nasdaq.

Entertainment, music and photo & video categories of app have always
had significant roles on Vietnamese smartphone activities over the last
years. This fact will certainly remain the same in 2018. Based on
statistics and positive perspective towards heath-care, in 2018, health
& fitness apps, especially ones integrated with artificial intelligence, will
attract more attention from users.
In 2017, AR may not be trendy in Vietnam yet despite supportive
technologies from Google and Apple, like ARKit or ARCore.
Mobile App Development Evaluation
Artificial intellectual (AI) like chatbot can be made full use of to
increase user engagement in effective and customized way.
Highlight 2: Experts’ Evaluation
Guest Experts
Mr. LE HAI ANH
CMO – HD APPS
Mr. MAI CHAN CHINH
Co-Founder – Eco Mobile Team
Mr. DAM TRONG DUC
Co-Founder – Bazooka Team
Mr. TRAN MANH HUNG
Co-Founder – Onesoft Team

In 2018, numerous Vietnamese app developers are confidently going
to aim for big markets like North America, EU and Japan, etc., where
payment, sharing-service type apps, in particular, are in high demand.
Artificial intellectual (AI) like chatbot can be made full use of to
increase user engagement in effective and customized way.
Though there are chances for in-app purchase monetization model,
Vietnamese publishers still depend mostly on in-app ads.
Publishing Trends Evaluation:
Globalization – Localization – Personalization
Monetization Trends Evaluation
Highlight 2: Experts’ Evaluation
Guest Experts
Mr. LE HAI ANH
CMO – HD APPS
Mr. MAI CHAN CHINH
Co-Founder – Eco Mobile Team
Mr. DAM TRONG DUC
Co-Founder – Bazooka Team
Mr. TRAN MANH HUNG
Co-Founder – Onesoft Team

Highlight 3: Mobile & In-App Ads Trends for 2018
Mobile Video Ads
Video was in high demand with high in-app ads request during 2017. This ads format also
received positive review from both advertisers and publishers. Video will singularly contribute to
mobile ads success in 2018.
ePrivacy Directive (Cookie Law)
ITP (Intelligent Tracking Prevention), ad blockers or data protection regulation will be
huge challenges for mobile & in-app ads industry in 2018, requiring action from
programmatic ads strategists to adapt to the situation .
Rising eCPMs
The growth in smart devices adoption and time spent in mobile apps encourages advertisers to
invest more in app platform, which generates higher in-app revenue (eCPM). Global eCPM’s
forecasted to increase about 4% month-over-month throughout 2018.
Rewarded ads
As a value-exchanged solution, rewarded ads oﬀers advantages of UX friendliness
and high revenue for app publishers, and beneﬁts of full ads engagement for
advertisers, at the same time. The rise of rewarded ads in 2018 is predictable.

Publisher
Social Platform
Carriers
Media Events
Infrastructure
Advertising
& Marketing
Foreign Publishers Mobile Payment Live Streaming
Platform
Vietnam Mobile Ecosystem

Video-Oriented Ad Network
Ad Network Ad Mediation Demand-Side
Platform (DSPs)
Supply-Side
Platform (SSPs)
Ad Exchange Measure & Analytics
Vietnam Programmatic Mobile Ads Ecosystem

Adsota, as the official partner of
Google and Facebook in Vietnam, pro-
vides advertisers with effective solution
to achieve high return-on-investment
including driving high-quality users and
boosting sales performance & brand
awareness for businesses.
On the aspect of app monetization,
Adsota, the official partner of Google
Ad Exchange, proudly helps mobile
publishers in Vietnam and South East
Asia maximize in-app ads revenue.
ABOUT ADSOTA
cpi
User Acquisiton
[CPI/CPA, Burst-top, Adsota
network, ASO]
Traffic Monetization
[Official Partner with
Google in Ad Exchange]
http://adx.appota.com
Integrated Marketing
Campaign
[Media Coverage/Viral
Clip/KOLs/Community]
Lead Generation Service
[The First & Only Facebook Gaming
Agency in Vietnam]

CONTACT US
HEAD OFFICE: Building 11 (LE Building), Alley
71, Lang Ha St., Ba Dinh Dist., Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: (+84) 435 191 618
Hotline (For Advertisers): (+84) 911 983 189
Hotline (For Publishers): (+84) 168 999 1490
Email: sale@adsota.com
Fanpage: facebook.com/adsota
Twitter: twitter.com/Adsota
Website: adsota.com

Vietnam Mobile App Advertising & Monetization Report (2017)

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