AppLovin Exchange (ALX) vs. Smaato

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
AppLovin Exchange (ALX)
Score 7.2 out of 10
N/A
AppLovin is a mobile advertising optimization platform from the company of the same name headquartered in California.N/A
Smaato
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Smaato is a supply-side publisher platform (SSP) from the Verve Group since the 2021 acquisition.N/A
Pricing
AppLovin Exchange (ALX)Smaato
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AppLovin Exchange (ALX)Smaato
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AppLovin Exchange (ALX)Smaato
Considered Both Products
AppLovin Exchange (ALX)
Chose AppLovin Exchange (ALX)
AppLovin has focused and put resources into the gaming vertical. They have found a niche space where they can dominate the marken and they have been investing in it to become the market leaders. Contrary to other ad tech players that want to be in every market, they have …
Chose AppLovin Exchange (ALX)
AppLovin is more focused on high impact formats instead of other exchanges that are more focused on banners and standard sizes. Also, their fraud controls are much more strict, which is a great advantage.
Smaato

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
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AppLovin Exchange (ALX)Smaato
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User Ratings
AppLovin Exchange (ALX)Smaato
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(4 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
6.8
(2 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
AppLovin Exchange (ALX)Smaato
Likelihood to Recommend
AppLovin
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.
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Verve Group
Smaato is very well suited for user acquisition and retargeting companies. Their overlap in terms of audiences and publishers with other exchanges is very limited, which makes it a great alternative when you need to scale a campaign and want to maintain your frequency cap. They work very well in branding campaigns as well as performance campaigns.
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Pros
AppLovin
  • ROI
  • Growth
  • Monetization
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Verve Group
  • Fill - the ad requests we send to Smaato have seen a great requests-to-impression ration.
  • Revenue - We've seen a lift in overall revenue thanks to the high CPM bids we get from Smaato.
  • Payments are always on time and they have a responsive financial team that is helpful in answering any questions.
  • Customer service - They are very fast to respond to any issues. The set up was streamlined thanks to their professional customer service.
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Cons
AppLovin
  • Their support is very slow.
  • Inventory prices can be a bit high.
  • They need better anti-fraud controls.
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Verve Group
  • Inventory can be a bit pricey in competitive markets like the US.
  • Reporting dashboard is limited, needs work.
  • They don't offer a lof of transparency about margins over media cost.
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Usability
AppLovin
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.
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Verve Group
Smaato has a UI where you can control your line items on the traffic you want to receive. That is a key unique selling point that other SSPs don't offer. Most of the items that you will need like reporting can be done on a self serve manner and that is a big plus, specifically for changes that need to happen really fast and you don't need to deal with account managers that may take some time to answer emails.
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Support Rating
AppLovin
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
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Verve Group
Smaato's account management team is very professional. They are quite fast in terms of customer support, which is very helpful. One item that stands out is that they are willing to understand what you need for each campaign and what is the best way to move forward. They don't just jump quickly into trying to upsell more of Smaato's products (audiences, data) like other SSPs do.
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Alternatives Considered
AppLovin
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.
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Verve Group
With over 20 demand partners in our stack, Smaato is in the top 5
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Return on Investment
AppLovin
  • It has had a positive impact on my business objectives
  • It has helped me grow exponentially
  • It has provided a way for me to expand my business
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Verve Group
  • Increased overall revenue
  • Strong demand pool
  • Easy reporting
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ScreenShots