Nordic Adtech Case Study: FotMob’s Prince Francis

We sat down with Prince Francis, Ad Technology and Revenue Optimisation Lead at Norwegian football platform FotMob, to discuss their partnership with Netric, and the importance of combining local knowledge and proactive customer service with world-leading technology.

Welcome Prince. Tell us a little about FotMob.

Prince Francis: The idea for the company started in 2004, when CEO and cofounder Christer Nordvik wanted an easy way to remotely follow football scores. So last year, we celebrated 20 years as a 30-strong team, mostly based in Bergen, Norway. Our focus is on providing the most recent football updates around the globe - match schedules, results, league tables and the latest news about transfers, coaches, player injuries and so on.  

We’re predominantly an app-based company, but we do also have an interactive website, and we cover more than 500 leagues around the world. Fans come from the US, UK and Europe, as well as Asia, and we’re proud to have amassed a 4.9 average rating across 800,000+ user reviews. 

What’s your role at FotMob?

PF: I joined FotMob in June last year. My main responsibilities are around the programmatic monetisation of the app, as well as the website. We are now building our programmatic ad stack, hence we started working with Index Exchange - through the Netric team in the Nordics. We are very much on a growth trajectory, reflected in the fact we were recently selected as Editors' Choice on the Google Play Store.

What does Netric bring to the table? 

PF: If you want to monetise your app inventory, then Netric (powered by Index Exchange) is the partner you need. Index is a must-have as far as SSPs go - and since we are based in Norway, being able to tap into the regional expertise of the Netric team on a daily basis has been invaluable. 

As we see it, we are benefiting from the global technology and reach of Index Exchange, but we can work with a team that knows our market, and can help navigate issues, provide support with local processes such as invoicing, and understand regional nuance. What's more, the Netric team has been highly responsive and proactive, sharing relevant regional developments and addressing any questions we might have with speed and meaningful action when needed.

What specific issues has Netric supported on?

PF: Sometimes we have actors coming into the picture who serve bad ads - we see this sometimes within the betting and dating space. Even though they are blocked on our app, they can occasionally slip through due to incorrect categorisation (such as calling themselves a media company!) or similar factors.

We already have vetted direct partnerships with some betting brands, with whom we have exclusivity, and so we need to be able to identify other betting firms who try to advertise on the site. And the problem with dating ads is not only limited relevance, but that they can be inappropriate. Netric has always been extremely proactive in dealing with these challenges. They are geared up to help make our campaigns as safe as possible and prevent ad fraud.

Beyond just ad quality, Netric has been invaluable with billing queries, troubleshooting drops in response rates, and quickly resolving setup issues. They don’t just say ‘we’re looking into it’ - they act.

Effective and efficient monetisation is key to a successful partnership. How is performance looking so far?

PF: When I joined the company, we had a fairly basic setup using Google’s Open Bidding, but we quickly realised that to scale effectively - especially as some SSPs don’t work all that well with Google - we needed to expand and diversify. That’s where Netric came into its own.

We have two types of inventory. One is display, the regular banner ad that you see on the app; and the other is video. For display, a little over 5% of the revenue share already comes via Netric, which is a great result. For video, we have integrated Netric through Open Bidding, and it’s performing really well. In fact, we have seen almost a double-digit revenue share. 

Overall, across Open Bidding, Nimbus and TAM integrations, Netric is helping drive an additional $2k in daily ad revenue. And year on year, the partnership has helped drive a circa 220% increase in ad revenue.  

Ready to realise the full potential of your inventory? Speak with our experts at netricsales.com/contact today to see how we can help you propel your ad revenue.