How the Subway Surfers Game Handles User Privacy - Janos Perei (SYBO Games)

Catherine Perloff is the platforms reporter at Adweek, an American publication covering news related to the brand marketing ecosystem. In this episode, Catherine gives us the latest news on what’s happening within the murkiness of cookie depreciation and the advertising industry’s no-ID world. She also discusses emerging trends from AI-powered media buying to retail media and more.At Adweek, Catherine focuses on how media buyers and brands spend their marketing budgets, what channels are most effective for them, and what struggles they encounter in buying the best media to reach the right audience. She also covers how publishers monetize effectively with digital marketing tools. Questions Catherine answered in this episode:What does ‘platforms’ mean from the perspective of a marketing reporter?What's the feedback from the industry on Meta’s AI-powered Advantage+?Besides the impacts of privacy, what other trends do you foresee happening this year?How do you stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the marketing space?Timestamp:0:52 Catherine’s background4:39 Unpacking the platforms7:33 ATT’s impact on Meta for advertisers11:00 The scoop on Meta’s AI-powered Advantage+13:46 What’s happening in the no-ID world15:45 The future of AI-driven media buying17:10 Retail media and connected TV21:25 ID bridging: shady business?25:44 ResourcesQuotes:(7:39-7:59) “I think that there was a mindset that you could build a whole business on Meta, like that would be your main channel – and after ATT, I think a lot of businesses, especially DTC brands, realized they had to diversify.”(15:01-15:20) “The purveyors of premium inventory are always going to say that high-quality inventory will be performative. I don’t think that’s true, but it’s definitely harder to prove. It’s often said that if you can’t track it, it’s branding.”(16:47-17:07) “AI is being used for creativity in the advertising space. Is generative AI going to replace creative agencies? Is it going to replace copywriters? It poses a real existential threat to media agencies if more of the technology is doing the decision-making.” Mentioned in this Episode:Catherine Perloff’s LinkedInEmail: [email protected] (X): @catherineperlo1Adweek

Janos Perei is the Head of Growth for SYBO Games, the mobile game developer responsible for Subway Surfers, one of the most downloaded mobile games on the planet. In this episode, you’ll learn how SYBO is navigating privacy regulations in the U.S. and Europe and the importance of working cross-functionally with your teams. Before joining SYBO, Janos worked for Voodoo and Socialpoint. Questions Janos Answered in this Episode:How is SYBO approaching user data privacy?What data points do you still rely on in performance marketing related to user privacy?How do you communicate your privacy policy to your users?How do you come together internally to discuss the business’s approach to privacy regulations?How are you using some of that data to inform your decisions without operating in a grey area?Timestamp:1:10 Janos Perei’s background3:28 SYBO’s approach to privacy5:24 Communicating consent with users9:22 Setting up our internal teams around privacy13:08 Short-term pains for long-term gainsQuotes:(3:42-3:56) “As human beings, we value our privacy – so we also value the chance to safeguard and decide how our users’ data is used. Coming from this mindset has been our guiding principle from the very beginning.”(6:08-6:25) “We try to put compliance first –  so if a user doesn’t consent, we might not even initialize certain SDK systems and certain technical tracking infrastructure, to make sure we can safeguard the privacy of the user from the get-go.”Mentioned in this Episode:Janos Perei’s LinkedInSYBO Games

Gokce Oguz is the co-founder of Playable Factory, a Turkey-based company creating playable ads for gaming studios and brands with apps. Patrick interviews Gokce to learn all about playable ads for gaming studios and brands with apps. Find out what types of games or brands playables work best for, which types perform the best, when to iterate on your ads, and what the future of AI holds for creatives in mobile marketing. Questions Gokce answered in this episode:What types of gaming studios are using playable ads? And is there a distinction between the types of playables being used and the subcategories of the gaming studios?What makes a playable ad perform well, or not?How much should advertisers be iterating on their playable ads?Is there a difference between gaming studios and non-gaming studios when using these creative assets?What’s your viewpoint on the future of AI and creatives in mobile marketing?Timestamp:1:59 What does Playable Factory do3:43 Who uses playable ads6:12 What contributes to a well-performing playable ad9:07 When to iterate on playables10:40 Using playable ads for gaming apps vs non-gaming apps13:01 The future of AI and creatives in mobile marketingQuotes:(3:45-4:00) “Mostly casual game publishers and hyper-casual game publishers are using playable ads, but for publishers that have more mid-core games or role-playing type of games, it’s a little bit harder to use them.”(4:08-4:20) “The brands and apps running campaigns in SDK Networks are the ones mostly using playable ads because they are performing the best in those ad networks.”Mentioned in this Episode:Gokce Oguz’s LinkedInPlayable Factory

Günay is the co-founder of Gamelight, a user acquisition platform for app developers and a game and app recommendation platform for users. Gamelight’s success can be attributed to its powerful AI algorithm. Learn how UA managers are leveraging tech to pair users with mobile games that they’ll love.Questions Günay Answered in this Episode:How does Gamelight work?What technology are you leveraging to run your platform?Has Gamelight had this technology from the start?What is your background and how did you come to start Gamelight?What have you learned from building this AI algorithm?How does that change the role of a UA manager?What have you seen that works really well for the games that advertise on your platform?How do you convince games to advertise on your platform?How do you acquire users to your recommendation platform?What do you see coming ahead in the industry?Timestamp:1:53 What is Gamelight?3:27 The AI technology behind Gamelight6:58 Günay’s story9:18 What we’ve learned from building our AI algorithm11:23 The role of the UA manager15:27 What draws publishers to advertise our platform?17:23 How our recommendation platform works21:38 How I become a mobile gamer24:52 What’s aheadQuotes:(5:08-5:27) “We let the algorithm decide because it’s way more granular and can analyze more data points than a human. This is how it brings much better UA results for our advertisers because it can pick every single user that could be the best fit for them instead of taking average gender or age for users.”(13:04-13:13) “[Humans] are more creative. They can have better ideas on what to do and how to plan UA campaigns in a more strategic way.”Mentioned in this Episode:Günay Aliyeva’s LinkedInGamelight

As part of our Women in Mobile series celebrating Women’s History Month, Maria Lannon from Remerge talks to Lana Dubinskiy, an AI product advisor and a co-founder of Women and AI. Women and AI is an initiative highlighting women working in the field of artificial intelligence and providing relevant industry news. It was created so that women could help each other shine within this male-dominated sector of the tech industry.Questions Lana answered in this episode:How did you end up in product advertising? Did you have a mentor?Did you ever feel intimidated to speak up?How have you been able to get other women to join?Are there certain resources that you gravitate towards that have helped you?How do you prioritize your day to stay on top of things? How do you prioritize your “you” time?What is the best piece of advice you’ve received? And what is the worst?Timestamp:2:27 Lana’s background4:02 Getting into male-dominated professions5:57 Data points: How to speak with confidence7:18 The creation of Women and AI9:00 Get involved with Women and AI11:40 Growing is uncomfortable14:40 Staying on top of AI news18:25 Compartmentalizing clients as a consultant21:46  Work-life balance24:52 The worst and best adviceQuotes:(4:26-4:36) “I see a lot of people get to a certain level and they feel like they just want to be on top of the mountain by themselves. I think it’s so important, as women, to give back to our community and mentor other women.”(8:00-8:23) “We went to conferences and there were only a few women there. We could have spoken at the conference – we had more knowledge than the presenters there. So it was very disheartening. We felt like this is something we can do: We can highlight other women. We can show boss ladies, CEOs, that are working in the AI space, dominating it, and really making an impact.”Mentioned in this Episode:Lana Dubinskiy’s LinkedInWomen and AIWomen and AI Podcast

It’s difficult to find female talent in the tech industry, and it’s a real problem. Apptivate’s Women in Mobile series is back this March to celebrate Women’s History Month and to discuss how to close the gender gap in our industry. In this episode, Maria chats with Laura Schwarz, Airship's Senior Director of Sales for EMEA, who joined a handful of other female tech leaders in launching a program that invites young girls and boys to learn about different jobs within tech companies. To date, the NOW+NEXT program has reached over 6,000 young girls throughout the UK with plans to expand to the U.S.Questions Laura Answered in this Episode:What led you to where you are in your career today?How do we encourage women to break into our industry?What has excited or inspired some of the girls who’ve gone through our internship?Can you tell us about your career story and also introduce Airship to our listeners?What makes you excited to be working in your current role?Do you have any advice for our listeners?Timestamp:1:10 Laura’s background5:10 The effect of “bro culture”6:50 Women are still underrepresented in tech8:09 Introducing tech careers to girls14:30 NOW+NEXT16:10 We won’t want men “out of the room”18:12 What helps get young people excited about tech careers?21:42 About Airship and Laura’s role26:55 The forefront of innovation29:28 Career advice for young listenersQuotes:(8:40-9:03) “I get 50 applications from male candidates and one female. How is that? Where are the women applying for jobs? This is a real problem, and we have to find a solution to that.”(15:15-15:30) “I think that’s what a lot of women in different areas of business and research are doing – they’re paving the way and they’re always asking, ‘What’s next?’ We’re not satisfied with the status quo.”Mentioned in this Episode:Laura Schwarz’s LinkedInNOW+NEXT Program

Sometimes e-commerce apps will notice changes in user behavior that correlate to the time of year. What can app marketers do to incentivize their users to take action during these periods? Find out in this episode of Apptivate’s e-commerce series, featuring Seif Hassan, the Senior Performance Marketing Manager for the inbound unit at Momox. Momox is a Berlin-based “recommerce” company that buys and resells used books and media. Previous to working at Momox, Seif led user acquisition efforts for apps across global markets, including Phiture, Quandoo, and Wego.com.Questions Seif Answered in this Episode:Tell us about Momox.What’s your role at Momox?How do you manage acquisition for both the inbound and outbound sides of your marketplace?How do you incentivize people to sell their belongings on your app?Where are you looking to expand?How do you evaluate the media channels that you’re working with to support acquisition or retention as you expand to new countries?Are you experimenting with AI?Do you have any predictions for our industry in 2024?Timestamp:0:47 About Momox1:37 Seif’s role at Momox3:42 Marketplace seasonality7:15 Incentivizing users with bonuses in their checkout cart7:51 Expansion as a strategy to overcome seasonality barriers11:52 Experimenting with tone of voice with AI13:00 Looking aheadQuotes:(8:20-8:34) “Expansion is one of the ways in which we try to conquer this seasonality problem. It also helps with acquiring books in different languages and expanding our inventory, and therefore, our customer base.”(11.48-12.16) “We have experimented with AI for some of the ad texts for the tone of voice that we are using in order to see how can we try a different communication approach, and AI comes in very handy, especially if you have limited capacity or limited resources to produce as many creatives as possible.”Mentioned in this Episode:Seif Hassan’s LinkedInMomox

Do you remember the original “opt-in” for ads on cell phones? It began over 20 years ago. The mobile marketing industry has been on quite the ride over the past two decades, and covering its twists and turns along the way was David Murphy, the editorial director and co-founder of Mobile Marketing Magazine. Join David alongside Maria Lannon from Remerge for some perspective on mobile marketing’s biggest moments. David Murphy co-founded Mobile Marketing Magazine in 2005 and has been its editorial director for 18 years until recently. David is also the co-founder of Masterclassing. David now enjoys freelance writing from his home just outside of London. Questions David Answered in this Episode:How were you able to stay on top of trends in mobile marketing when you began your career?What were the big changes you saw in the mobile marketing industry since its beginning?Do you think we’ll see a change in the willingness of users to opt-in?When you look back at the last 18 years, what stands out to you?Where do you see the industry going?Timestamp:1:07 David’s background3:30 Taking the pulse of a new tech5:03 The early days of mobile marketing15:32 Mobile’s location-based advertising evolution17:57 Will app owners value being tracked and opt-in?22:55 What’s stood out in the last two decades31:13 Where the industry is goingQuotes:(31:13-31:14) “I think the privacy juggernaut is unstoppable.” (34:21-34:45) “As a general commentary on this space, you just don’t know what you don’t know–you never know what’s around the corner. There’s always somebody trying to come up with a new way of leveraging this very personal relationship people have with their phones to a) provide some utility to the owner of that phone, and b) make some money out of it themselves.”Mentioned in this Episode:David MurphyMobile Marketing MagazineMasterclassing

Staying on top of Apple and Google’s ongoing policy changes to app tracking and user privacy is a business imperative for advertisers and essential for the future of the mobile marketing industry. It’s also been Allison Schiff’s job. As a journalist, she has covered privacy topics in the marketing technology field for over a decade. In this episode, Allison shares her views on how the mobile advertising industry received Apple’s ATT framework, what Apple is doing now, and how Google has approached the Android Privacy Sandbox rollout. Catch up on the last few years of mobile privacy, and find out how to prepare for what’s ahead.Allison Schiff is the managing editor of AdExchanger, a leading source for news, analysis, and events dedicated to the data-driven marketing technology industry. As a journalist in the space, Allison primarily covers privacy topics, measurement, attribution, and retail media. She is also the host of the AdExchanger podcast, AdExchanger Talks.Questions Allison Answered in this Episode:How do you stay informed on policy changes with privacy? Why is this shift in privacy happening?What is Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework? And how does it work?Have you heard any theories about Apple changing the way they are rolling out ATT and doing measurement?How would you describe Google Privacy Sandbox? And what does it set out to achieve?What are your recommendations for app marketers to stay up-to-date on all these privacy changes? What should advertisers expect and prepare for?How would you explain the last ten years of privacy in adtech to a 5-year-old?What do you think is going to be the buzzword or hottest topic of 2024?Timestamp:1:28 Allison’s background7:20 Staying on top of privacy changes10:00 ATT & the industry’s adaptive response13:27 Recap: Apple’s ATT rollout19:48 Apple begins soliciting feedback from adtech26:06 Android Privacy Sandbox APIs30:12 How advertisers can prepare for privacy changes37:15 The most important buzzword for advertisers in 2024Quotes:(5:43-5:58) “Privacy is absolutely essential to our coverage now. It comes up daily. Even stories that I’m writing or that my colleagues are writing that aren’t ostensibly about privacy, you really have to address it anyway.”(26:46) “The main APIs being worked on [by Android Privacy Sandbox], or maybe incubated is the right word, are topics, protected audience, which used to be Fledge, and there’s an attribution API, and those are all mobile app versions of the APIs that are also in the Chrome Privacy Sandbox. So, topics for basic targeting without cross-app identifiers, protected audience for remarketing, and the attribution APIs are obviously for attribution. And then there’s this other API that’s unique to Android, which is SDK run time.”(32:56-33:06) “The best question that I ever ask when I’m interviewing someone is to explain whatever it is as if I’m five. Even if I think I know, I learn every time.” Mentioned in this episode:Allison Schiff’s LinkedInAdExchangerAdExchanger Talks

Lana Dubinskiy is an app product advisor and full-time consultant specializing in helping brands leverage AI and machine learning to optimize their workflows and increase revenue. In this episode, Lana breaks down how e-commerce brands can improve the customers’ shopping experience in their app using AI, and how to get started with the AI journey!Questions Lana answered in this episode:What types of organizations have you assisted in the past?How do e-commerce brands get started with using AI and machine learning to enhance the customer experience?What are you looking for when reviewing an app’s data to develop target goals for your clients?How personalized can you get with AI?How long does it take to start and launch an AI marketing initiative?How do you advise on measuring the impact of AI on a business?What eCommerce brands are using AI well?What are three pieces of advice you have for mobile marketers interested in getting started with their AI journey?Timestamp:1:07 Lana’s background3:08 Getting started with AI and machine learning4:14 Crafting data-driven goals for improving customer experiences5:50 Getting personal with AI8:38 What’s the quality of your data?10:30 The holy grail of measurement11:55 Why Amazon kills the AI game14:52 Three takeaways for starting your AI journeyQuotes:(4:45-5:08) “We can use AI to personalize a user’s experience before they even search for anything. From the moment they land on the marketplace page, it’s already customized to what you know about the customer. That makes a big difference. You want them to have a certain connection and make them feel like this place will have what they’re looking for the moment they get there.”(8:49-8:57) “A lot of companies are forced to become data-driven once they start using AI because your output will only be as good as your input.”Mentioned in this Episode:Lana Dubinskiy’s LinkedInEmail: [email protected]’s website