PubNative, a native advertising platform for mobile apps, is to benefit from a seven-digit seed funding boost courtesy of mobile games marketer AppLift.
PerformanceIN understands that the funds will used to develop PubNative’s technology, which is said to feature a busy roadmap with several new releases planned for the next few months, and drive international expansion.
Claiming to be the first supply-side platform that can be accessed through an application programming interface (API) has meant that PubNative does away with the need for software development kits by publishers.
API availability
Over 20 assets are available to developers so they can effectively engage with users, including app name, icon, screenshots and rating, as well as custom images, image sizes and description texts available in more than 10 languages.
With these assets, Ionut Ciobotaru, managing director and co-founder of PubNative, hopes publishers can create a genuine native ad experience that will not detract from the main app.
“Native advertising should never compromise the user experience. PubNative offers publishers the building blocks to construct beautiful native ad units that fit the designs they have worked so hard to create,” Ciobotaru said.
“All the while, our technology makes sure that publishers benefit from our eCPM optimisation algorithm which uses machine-learning and predictive behavioral analytics to show the best-performing ads to a specific user.”
Direct partnerships
The PubNative Exchange offers access to over 300 app advertisers from verticals such as gaming, dating, travel and e-commerce. Publisher can also use the platform to make direct deals with advertisers or cross-promote their own apps.
Applift’s co-founder and CEO, Kaya Taner, said there had been a “clear shift” in the direction of native ads and wanted to improve the experience of its own client base by investing in PubNative.
“PubNative is a great opportunity for us to invest our excess cash and support an already proven team and a cutting-edge product for native ads which will truly benefit our mobile games advertisers,” concluded Taner.