windows8What happened to the ads in those ad-supported Windows 8 apps?

That’s the question being asked by many developers of Windows 8 apps, who say they’ve seen significant declines in ad revenue as available advertising slots have increasingly gone unfilled by Microsoft’s pubCenter in-app advertising system — indicating low demand from advertisers. The problem has been a common target of complaints in the pubCenter support forum for several weeks.

As reported by ITworld this week, the ad spots in the past have frequently been filled by ads for Microsoft products, including Bing, but the company appears to have pulled back on some of its own in-house advertising inside Windows 8 apps.

Here’s the full statement from Microsoft on this topic.

Microsoft is committed to building strong monetization options for all Windows 8 developers and that includes delivering a vibrant ad supported app ecosystem. We have seen tremendous response to the launch of the App Network on Windows 8 both from advertisers and developers. As you know advertising is a seasonal business and its normal that there will be peaks and valleys. During the month of April, there were reports of low fill rates from some developers, this was within the expected norm of campaigns ending and new campaigns ramping. Ads continued to be served in the month of April.

That said, we are constantly making improvements for developers using our Advertising Platform and are always looking at ways to ensure that we can smooth out the natural peak & valleys associated with the advertising business. We welcome the feedback and thank our developers for being patient.

Also, to protect the user experience when no ad is served, we recommend implementing the solutions referenced in this blog on ad control error handling.

The company points to case studies on advertising in Windows 8 apps including Top Gear News, Shazam and others. Checking the Top Gear app in Windows 8 this morning, I was served ads for brands including Jeep, Vidal Sassoon and Zulily.

PreviouslyMicrosoft’s hits and misses: Insights from a prolific maker of Windows 8 apps

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