AppLovin is particularly well suited for gaming campaigns where it is really hard to reach users and you need formats like the rewarded video to keep users engaged with your ad. I would not recommend it for branding campaigns as their formats are more performance-focused and the inventory is expensive so unless you are trying to reach the desired CPA, it would not be worth it to pay that much for ad placement.
Vungle works well for branding and performance as video is a high impact format that and that has good CTRs and CVRs. However, for advertisers without a lot of budget, Vungle may not be a good option as the CPMs on the exchange are very high. For branding there are alternatives that have a more developed product, where video can be targeted near content the user may like, like Teads.
AppLovin has been a great partner for us. We have used them through our DSP and gotten great results with them. Their focus is on monetizing publishers' inventory and they could put more resources into their standalone service as an SSP to make sure DSPs can consider them strategic partners for the long term.
I would say is a standard video SSP. The reporting dashboard is well designed and easy to use and throttling options are standard. They seem to be confident about their inventory and they don't really evolve their product and add new betas or create audiences or do anything out of the ordinary.
AppLovin's support team is their weakest point. They are not very responsive and they tend to provide solutions that do not fix the problem. It seems like they will only be proactive if you are a very big client and by doing that they are preventing the rest of the client base from increasing spend on their platform and growing their accounts
Their support team is a bit slow. You have to re-send your email questions constantly because the first email never gets a reply. Their core business is still the ad network which does not involve a lot of human interaction so they are still working on how to evolve their account management team to be an exchange.
Of all of the competitors above, AppLovin is the one that is more focused on gaming and that has a better pool of users in terms of conversion rate. While PubMatic and Magnate offer better solutions for CTV, AppLovin is better than InMobi and MoPub regarding in-app formats and inventory.
Vungle stands out as the only video only exchange. It is their main selling point and they have carved out a nice niche that differentiates them from the rest of SSPs. Their main competition, in my opinion, is Teads, which has focused the product more towards branding in order to monetize better for its publishers by getting higher bids.
