Past Sessions

• Event: MAU Vegas 25
• Date: Thursday, May 22, 2025
• Speakers: Heath Schindler, Strategic Partner Manager, Audience Network , Meta
• Estimated read time: 6 minutes

Quick Read Summary

In app advertising is no longer a secondary monetization lever, it is becoming the default way many apps turn scale into durable revenue, especially when only a small share of users ever pays.

Mobile app ad spend is projected to keep growing, and Heath Schindler argues the real strategic shift is not simply adding ads, it is designing an ad system that respects user experience while unlocking higher value demand.

Meta Audience Network is positioned as a way to extend demand from Meta advertisers into third party apps, with multiple ad formats, controls, and support for bidding based monetization.

The practical opportunity is to treat monetization and acquisition as one loop, where ad revenue funds growth, and value based targeting finds users who are likely to engage with ads, not just install.

Ads are becoming the revenue backstop for most apps

If you build mobile products long enough, you eventually face the same constraint, most users will not pay. Schindler frames it bluntly, typically only about 5 percent of users make purchases, which leaves the other 95 percent as value that is either captured through ads, or left on the table.

That is why the strongest monetization strategies are drifting toward what he calls a hybrid approach, combining in app purchases with in app ads. The point is not to replace subscriptions or purchases, it is to diversify revenue so your business is not hostage to a single conversion path.

Schindler also ties this to consumer expectations. Ad supported models have become normal across streaming video and music, and he argues users will tolerate ads when there is a clear value exchange, cheaper access, more content, or free utility in return. For mobile leaders, the implication is straightforward, ads are no longer a compromise, they are a design choice that needs to be made intentionally.

What Meta Audience Network is really selling, demand, relevance, and control

Meta Audience Network is described as an extension of ads from Facebook and Instagram advertisers into third party mobile apps, with the goal of monetizing through personalized and relevant ad experiences. In practice, the product promise rests on three pillars.

First is demand at scale. Schindler points to the breadth of advertisers on Meta, ranging from large enterprises to local small and medium businesses, and positions that variety as the foundation for consistent fill and competitive pricing.

Second is relevance. He describes the Meta ads model as being driven by user interactions and engagements with brands, and he links relevance directly to monetization outcomes like CPM performance.

“What matters to us is delivering the right ad at the right time to the right person.” Heath Schindler, Strategic Partner Manager, Audience Network, Meta

Third is control. He highlights that publishers get insights and controls to manage the types of ads delivered and to optimize ad revenue. This matters because the monetization ceiling in ad supported apps is often set by trust, intrusive experiences might lift short term impressions, but they can reduce retention and long term lifetime value.

A useful way to pressure test any demand partner is to ask one question, does this partner help you increase revenue without forcing you to degrade your product experience. Schindler repeatedly returns to “clean and non intrusive” as a product principle, which is as much a retention strategy as it is an ad strategy.

Formats win revenue, but experience protects retention

Audience Network is positioned as offering multiple formats, including native ads that can be customized to fit the look and feel of the app, rewarded video and interstitial ads that he calls the most engaging and highest performing units, plus banner and medium rectangle units that are easy to deploy and scale.

For most monetization leaders, the key is not which formats exist, it is how you deploy them across the user journey. A simple decision filter is to match format to user intent.

• Use native placements where you want continuity with the surrounding content
• Use rewarded video when there is a clear, user chosen value exchange
• Use interstitials with discipline, they can monetize well, but they can also break flow if overused

The subtext in Schindler’s framing is that ad monetization is an experience design problem. If your ad stack does not feel coherent, your revenue gains are fragile.

Bidding is the operating system for modern in app monetization

Schindler makes a point that Audience Network helped move parts of the ecosystem toward mobile app bidding, where multiple demand partners compete in the same environment for the same impression. The strategic value here is competition, bidding can maximize fill and performance because partners must win on price and quality in real time, rather than relying on static waterfalls.

He also emphasises compatibility, integrations exist with major mediation platforms, and there is an option for publishers with in house mediation. This matters because implementation cost is often the hidden blocker for testing new demand sources, if adding a partner requires reworking your stack, it rarely happens.

Schindler cites proof points to support adoption, including that over 15,000 apps have integrated the Audience Network SDK, and he references strategic publishers in gaming and non gaming, specifically Activision and Duolingo, as examples of brands that value global demand, advertiser diversity, and multiple formats.

Roadmap updates that target match rate, engagement, and iOS monetization

The most actionable part of Schindler’s talk is how product changes map to revenue drivers.

Expanded user matching is designed to increase match rate, and therefore revenue, by delivering ads not only to users with a Facebook profile, but also to users who only have an Instagram profile. That is a direct attempt to widen addressability within Meta’s ecosystem.

Format improvements aim to lift engagement. Schindler describes a simplified ad experience inspired by Meta’s own surfaces, plus testing reels like swipeable vertical video, where users swipe through content and ads appear with a forced viewing period, most likely five seconds, and a loop until the user continues.

He also flags ongoing machine learning model updates to rank ads better, with the stated outcome of higher return for advertisers and stronger CPMs for publishers.

On iOS, he says Meta is improving monetization and expanding access to a diverse set of global advertisers in a privacy centric way, with more to come in the second half. He does not specify the exact mechanics, but the intent is clear, reduce iOS friction, expand demand, protect privacy constraints.

To access these updates, he recommends updating to the latest SDK version he names as 6.20, which he says was released that week.

The real growth play is connecting monetization revenue to acquisition strategy

Many teams treat monetization and user acquisition as separate departments with separate metrics. Schindler argues they should be treated as one system. Publishers monetise with ads, then reinvest that revenue into user acquisition across Meta’s family of apps, and potentially Audience Network, to acquire more users and grow the business.

He supports the scale narrative by citing more than 3.3 billion people using Meta apps daily, and almost half the world’s population using Meta apps. Whether or not a reader uses those numbers as planning assumptions, the broader message is that distribution is not the constraint, efficiency is.

The most concrete product tie in is an in app ads return on ad spend solution on Android, designed to help advertisers find high value ad monetized users. Schindler positions it as a response to market demand, and says it is easy to set up, with standard ad impression events sent via a mobile measurement partner, Facebook SDK, or “app cap,” and he adds that multiple value based campaigns can be set up, which he calls especially important for hybrid apps.

If you are running a hybrid monetization model, this is the strategic unlock. You can acquire based on downstream ad value, not just installs or early events, and you can tune campaigns by user value profiles rather than relying on a single blended outcome.

A practical decision checklist for monetization leaders

Before you integrate any new ad stack component, it helps to align the team on what “success” should mean.

Ask three questions:

1. Will this improve effective CPM without sacrificing retention and session depth
2. Do we have the measurement in place to understand revenue by placement and cohort
3. Can we reinvest incremental ad revenue into acquisition in a way that increases lifetime value, not just volume

If you cannot answer these clearly, the risk is not that ads will fail, it is that you will be unable to tell whether ads are succeeding, or quietly eroding the product while revenue looks healthy in the short term.

Conclusion

In app ads are moving from optional to foundational because they monetise the majority of users who will never pay, and the market is normalising ad supported value exchanges across digital experiences.

Meta Audience Network is presented as a way to tap scaled advertiser demand, run across multiple formats, benefit from bidding dynamics, and improve match rate and engagement through ongoing product updates. The larger strategy is to close the loop between monetization and acquisition, using ad revenue to fund growth and using value based targeting to find users who will generate ad value over time.

Speaker

Heath Schindler, Strategic Partner Manager, Audience Network, Meta.  An established professional with 15 plus years in the technology and online advertising space, with a track record in business development, exceeding sales, and driving product adoption to generate incremental revenue. Detail oriented and effective at building strategic relationships across verticals and devices, with an ability to pivot with business needs and grow relationships across products and platforms.