Which of the ad network plug-ins are taking 5% revenue from developers? We know Applovin takes 5%, but what other plug-ins do this, and are there plans to update all ad plugins to take a share?
Facebook Audience Network, Applovin, Chartboost and AdColony.
Most plugins will not utilize this model.
Rob
I hope in the future that Corona will offer some form of flat-fee option for plug-ins for developers who wish to purchase the usage outright, even on a monthly basis.
I don’t know of any other SDK’s that take a % of income from ad revenue, I think a flat fee model is needed as an alternative option.
I’m small fish myself, so in the grand scheme this probably doesn’t affect me much vs subscriptions/purchasing SDKS, but 5% would be a bit much for larger companies.
Yeah for hobbyists, it’s not an issue, 5% is peanuts. But for larger companies that use ads and rely on them for a huge library of games, it’s a big cut of their revenue.
Corona can simply solve this by offering a paid version of Corona FREE and not take a % of the plug-in revenue. Charge $99 or $199 a month for a paid version of Corona SDK.
It’s a very simple solution - there are companies that are willing to pay for this. I have already spoken with several that would want this tier.
The reason why I suggest having a paid version of Corona SDK is because Enterprise isn’t always the best solution for companies. it’s more costly development time, more cumbersome, and we have to host and develop our own plug-ins.
Corona can solve this by simply adding another tier, charging a monthly fee for it, and letting developers (big companies) have access to the plug-ins for free, or even charge for those (a flat fee too)
The way the Corona tiers are set up now is sufficient, but it’s missing a toe. It needs that tier to encompass all businesses, otherwise you are literally shutting out big companies that could benefit from that added tier.
I’m investigating using Corona for my company. Right now, with our Unity products we earn about $1000 a day in ad revenue. So I’m supposed to give Corona $50 a day? $1500 a month!?!?! Or my alternative is to hire a programmer to manage all the plugins and deal with enterprise? Not interested plain and simple. If those are my only options I’m staying with Unity.
Note that Corona Enterprise has moved to the above referenced model as well, so hiring a separate dev wouldn’t allow you to sidestep this model either.
So wait - are you saying that even with Corona Enterprise, not only are developers paying for the license, but are also required to give 5% of their ad revenue too? Where on the license page does it say this by the way, I have yet to see that posted.
Wow, this is indeed a very slippery slope that Corona is traveling down. Not a great idea IMO.
And this is precisely the reason why many developers were worried about the Corona model going totally FREE - this is pretty much what I feared all along.
We understand the need to earn revenue, but putting people in a box plan like this, and expecting everyone to go along with it is not a great plan IMO.
If this doesn’t change then we will be forced to relocate to a new SDK, more than likely Unity as it will save us money in the long-run.
Ridiculous. That’s just not acceptable for devs with high ad revenue.
A very poor decision on Corona’s end - I can’t even believe this is happening. What was a great SDK, and very open and flexible has now become a dictator SDK. Not a good thing at all.
It also makes me nervous about Corona’s longevity if such a drastic move is being made.
+1 for adding a tier for bigger devs. I’d gladly pay a couple hundred a month to get rid of the 5%. The 5% becomes a ton of revenue and makes Corona absolutely not worth it if you make a decent amount of ad revenue.
I’ve already exhausted the conversation with them, and they are not budging on it.
Remember, they can change the terms of the ad plugins at anytime they wish, so 5% may be what is taken now, but that could all change on their whim, without notice.
This is their method of survival now, and that is what makes me so nervous about staying with the platform. We are migrating to Unity in 30 days.
@JBean, if you’re talking about Corona Simulator builds and using our ad plugins, the 5% only applies to four out of 20 ad plugins. The other 16 are not included in this revenue sharing model. You have plenty of ways to monetize your app without participating in revenue sharing.
If you’re talking about Corona Enterprise, we are asking Enterprise users to use our ad plugins instead of their own. If they do, they monetize just like Simulator subscribers, where 16 of the 20 plugins are totally free to use. If the Enterprise subscriber wants to use an ad-partner we don’t have a plugin for, then we are negotiating with them with regards to these non-supported plugins.
We think Corona is great. We hope you think it’s great too and that if you want to have the product grow, improve support, add new features, etc. helping us be successful when you’re successful makes sense.
@Rob: While I appreciate your input, the news I have heard on the ad plug-ins is very different from the story you are giving me.
From what I heard, Corona SDK has deals with the other 16 plug-ins that don’t take 5% revenue share up front, but they have backend deals which take revenue based on a gross amount, which ultimately come out of the developer’s pockets.
So in essence, ALL ad plugins are taking revenue, but the ones that take 5% are on the front end (Applovin, Chartboost, AdColony etc.) The other ones are on the back end. (Eg: Mediabrix, and all the other 16 monetization plug-ins) Correct me if I am wrong on that, or please elaborate if I stand corrected. I spoke to Kegan who informed me of this today, but again, I could be totally misunderstanding the information given.
Additionally, I was told by a rep that I am to cease use of the Fuse plug-in with very little notice, as I had just found out this news yesterday and was not informed via email about this big change. I was told if I was to continue using this plug-in after the 30 day notice, that I would be forced to give them 5% of our ad revenue. And this is not on NEW apps, they want 5% of our ad revenue on our old apps as well. Hearing this news was VERY disheartening to say the least.
I feel that Corona has instantly become a dictatorship. What used to be a very open and flexible platform is now dictated by corporates who’s bottom line is to earn income, without any regard to it’s legacy users. There is literally no negotiating any of the terms with them. The sad thing is, most of us have been around before any new management came along. We are talking about over 6 years of legacy users with this SDK. Very loyal ones at that.
Furthermore, I want Corona to succeed. I have always wanted that. I have supported Corona and used your SDK since 2010, always purchased the Pro license, and when Pro went free, purchased the Enterprise license just to support all of you, even though I never used it one time. I have invested so much, and our company has grown immensely thanks to having Corona SDK over prior years.
But I feel that Corona SDK is really headed down the worst path possible.
I think by not offering a flat rate tier for plug-ins and more options for large businesses, you are simply pricing yourself out of the market. No large company in their right mind would accept those terms. Hobbyists? Yes. Large companies making significant ad revenue would not. There are other alternatives out there. No other SDK siphons ad revenue as a means to survive, and that alone is enough for me to walk away to a new SDK.
Is this a decision we wanted to make? Nope, this is the worst time of year to be shuffling around and preparing to move, as we are taking 4 engineers along with us, but I will not accept these terms, and I am really disappointed in the way this was all handled, in such short notice too. Very disheartening to say the least.
You guys have all been great, and none of this is your fault, & we understand a company’s need to stay afloat. But there are better ways of handling a situation like this, and I feel this has been very poorly managed.
I really appreciate the support Corona has given us over the years, but we will simply not pay an exorbitant amount of money to stay with an SDK when there are other much cheaper, and comparably awesome alternatives.
I can concur JBean statement that all ad networks share developers revenue with Corona SDK based on private chats. Front end or back end is simply a different implementation model for some of the SDKs (probably those that were not able or willing to support the back end model). Problem is, you do not even know how much you pay from your revenues in the back end model which makes it even worse. It existed also during the paid pro licensing period.
so far we relied mostly on IAP for our business model, but recently we ship more apps using ads revenue model. we will have to reconsider the platform as well.
@rune7: What ad networks were taking developer’s ad revenue on the back-end during the paid pro licensing period? I am very interested in this info, namely because I don’t recall anything like this being disclosed, if only in fine print in the TOS. I also know several developers that were not even aware of this, because as soon as news surfaced that revenue was going to be siphoned, they bailed and so did their clients.
Something like that should be disclosed very up front and in the open to all devs if any revenue is being taken from the front or back end.
@Rob Miracle: Can you please clarify which ad network plug-ins took revenue from the backend before the new TOS update?
Can you specify what period of time? The TOS for Enterprise that we announced starting October 1, 2016 or the end of the Pro subscription when we made Corona SDK free?
Rob
@Rob Miracle: Before the new terms announced Oct 1, 2016 - when Corona was either a paid or free subscription plan (According to a member above, backend revenue was taken from certain ad plug-ins even when Corona SDK was paid)