Limbic Software ran a three-day banner-ad campaign within applications for the iPhone and iPod touch across AdMob?s network, driving close to 15,000 downloads of its TowerMadness mobile game.

TowerMadness Zero, a 3D tower defense strategy game in which users defend their flock of sheep from attacking aliens, was once the No. 1 ranked application in the Strategy Games category, but after a period of time the mobile game?s position in the rankings began to decline. As an AdMob publisher earning revenue from advertising, Limbic Software decided to run a campaign to promote their own application with the goal of reaching the Top 10 in the Strategy Games category.

?TowerMadness is enjoyed by strategy and puzzle game fans of all ages, but we found the Zero version to be especially popular among males aged 18-34,? said Arash Keshmirian, cofounder/ CEO of Limbic Software, Palo Alto, CA. ?The AdMob campaign focused on iPod touch and iPhone users, and also our demographic in particular.

?AdMob advised Limbic on how to avoid over-targeting while strategically advertising within other free apps,? he said. ?Limbic chose Admob over other mobile ad networks due to the reach of their network and the real-time targeting and tracking features unique to their platform.?

Limbic Software is an independent game development house founded in 2008. It released its debut title, TowerMadness, in June 2009.

TowerMadness Zero is a free, fully-featured ad-supported version of the strategy game TowerMadness, which costs $2.99.

MobileMadness
Limbic Software took advantage of AdMob text link ads that, when tapped, sent the user to the TowerMadness Zero page in the App Store.

To boost the mobile game?s ranking, Limbic Software ran ads across the 3,000-plus games and applications in AdMob?s network in a three-day burst campaign Jan. 1-3 aimed at driving the maximum number of downloads possible in a short period of time.

Over the course of the campaign, the AdMob network delivered the most impressions within the applications in the Entertainment channel.

AdMob targeted ads separately to iPhone and iPod touch users in order to compare the performance of these two different user groups and to optimize the campaign accordingly. 

Results
The mobile ad campaign boosted ranking of TowerMadness in the Strategy Games category from No. 38 to No. 9, achieving Limbic?s goal of reaching the Top 10.

TowerMadness entered the Top 100 in the Games category and reached a peak rank of No. 73.

The AdMob campaign drove more than 14,600 application downloads.

The TowerMadness Zero campaign initially targeted a broad demographic encompassing all iPod Touch and iPhone users in the United States.

The iPod touch-targeted campaign averages a cost-per-download of $0.87. Because of the low CPD, AdMob optimized the ad buy mid-campaign to target primarily iPod touch devices.

By tuning multiple ad copy variations, Limbic generated 80 percent of their campaign's downloads on iPod touch devices at half the cost per download compared to iPhone.

?AdMob's real-time targeting capabilities allowed Limbic to optimize their campaign by focusing more heavily on iPod touch devices when AdMob's analytics proved mobile ads for their game to be most effective on that segment,? Mr. Keshmirian said.