India is an intresting market. There are 400 million people online of which 300 million are on smartphones. By 2020, this is expected to go up to 650 million.

The in-thing in 2016 was the native advertising. Advertisers would like to be where the consumers are. Native advertising is doppleganger — the ads blend into the editorial matter. In 2017, the in-app advertisirs replaced the native advertising. The online time is spent on 11 apps. That led to appvertising. In-app ads offer immersive experiences, and has become a mass medium of 2017. It ranges from a six-second video to an augmented reality game. It targets the users based on first party data. Predictive analysis enables to customise the audiences and deliver compelling in-feed content. There is an element of location specific messages. It increases engagement and develops an on-the-go and organic audience. In-app ads target the audience at the right moment. The users are in the frame of mind to explore, engage and discover. It can nurture conversions and leads. It promotes repeat engagement. Many ads are interactive, and appear durig relevant moments.

The challenge is a lack of rich media inventory. It is harder to discover which users have already seen the ad in the absence of cookies. There should be additional efforts for retargeting.

In-app ads are relatively more expensive to develop than those for the mobile web. However, the net return is always higher as it avoids the waste on generalised and untargeted audience.