"House Ads" vs AdDuplex

Microsoft has recently released what it calls "house ads" these are a way to promote one of your apps from within another.

This might sound very similar to what's possible with AdDuplex* so let's look at the similarities and differences between the two.

House Ads are a way of having PubCenter show ads for your other apps if it doesn't have any paid ads to show.

AdDuplex is a cross promotion network that allows you to show ads for other apps and in exchange they show ads for yours.

So, you see, there's similarity in that they both allow you to show ads for your apps.

Let's look into the similarities and differences in a bit more detail though.

Similarities

• Both are free for developers to use and integrate
• Both support integration with Ad Mediator and AdRotator
• Both work well as a fall-back for when no paid ads to display
• Either could be used on their own to just show non-paid ads
• Both must have a network connection to be able to serve ads.

Differences

• House Ads only works with PubCenter - some people don't like this
• House Ads is a Microsoft product - some people take comfort in this (knowing it's from a big company). AdDuplex is independent and grew out of the community.
• House Ads Provides a mediation capability without having to use a mediation/rotation tool.
• House Ads are capped (at 5) per user per day so users won’t experience "ad fatigue" from seeing the same ad repeatedly - AdDuplex doesn't need this as it has a wide variety (1000's) of apps to show ads for
• House Ads can only be used by accounts that have multiple published apps. AdDuplex can be used even if you only have one app in store/
• House Ads are only available in limited markets (http://advertising.microsoft.com/en/blogpost/129472/microsoft-advertising-blog/announcing-new-capabilities-for-developers-to-promote-their-windows-and-windows-phone-apps) - AdDuplex can be used anywhere.
• House Ads may be prioritized over paid ads from other ad providers - AdDuplex gives you greater control over this (via Ad Mediator or AdRotator)

So, which should you use?

Simple. Use whatever is best for you, your circumstances and your apps.

My personal opinion:

If House Ads are available to you, then, if you’re already using PubCenter as part of your monetization solution with an existing successful apps and you’re about to launch something new that will appeal to the users of your existing app then House Ads are a good tool to use while your new app is still gaining traction.

For all other scenarios and as a final fall-back in addition to using House Ads in the above scenario, you should always include AdDuplex as part of a multiple ad provider strategy.

* Disclaimer: I'm an advocate forAdDuplex which means that I'm paid (a small amount) to talk about them - but all opinions are my own. Don't be fooled though. I believed and talked about them in a positive way before I became an advocate. That's one of the reasons I became one. If you question my objectivity I'd love to hear why.