This month, we cover two topics: a new way to add advertising inventory and a closer look at how monetisation performance compares between mobile web and native apps.
First, Relevant Yield Product Owner and partner for Relevant Digital, Ronny Linder, introduces Dynamic Placement Insertion, a new feature that automatically inserts additional ad placements within existing content environments. It enables publishers to unlock new revenue opportunities without hardcoding new ad placements, site changes, or extensive development work.
Then Alex Fawcett, Head of Customer Success, examines mobile monetisation performance using data collected through Relevant Yield across both mobile web and native app environments. The findings reinforce a broader industry trend: performance is often driven less by the platform itself and more by competition, transparency, optimisation and execution.
The common theme is clear: the biggest growth opportunities often come from greater visibility, stronger control and making better use of available technology.
At Relevant Digital, we are constantly looking for ways to help publishers increase ad revenue while reducing operational complexity. One of the latest additions to Relevant Yield is Dynamic Placement Insertion, a feature that automatically inserts ad placements into existing content environments without requiring new hardcoded placements or extensive development work.
Using configurable rules, publishers can define where and how placements should be inserted, while Relevant Yield automatically identifies suitable locations. This makes it possible to unlock additional monetisation opportunities across articles, content feeds, comment sections and other content-heavy environments without modifying page templates.
The feature has proven particularly effective on mobile web, where additional high-quality inventory can often be created while maintaining a positive user experience. Combined with Relevant Yield's reporting and analytics capabilities, publishers can quickly evaluate performance and optimise their setup based on real data.
One of the first publishers to deploy Dynamic Placement Insertion was Verkkouutiset.fi as part of a broader technology renewal completed in spring 2026.
"We carried out a comprehensive technological renewal of the Verkkouutiset.fi news service in spring 2026. For ad inventory optimisation, we continued to rely on the technology developed by our long-term strategic partner, Relevant Digital. Our experience shows that a modern AI-powered advertising architecture can halve the technical workload while nearly tripling the results (+174% revenue growth). Dynamic Placement Insertion has played an important role in helping us unlock additional monetisation opportunities." - Timo Mäkinen, Verkkouutiset
Dynamic Placement Insertion is included in Relevant Yield´s HB Manager and HB Analytics modules at no additional cost. The new feature will be available soon after the next release. To learn more or enable the feature, contact us.
- Ronny Linder - CPO, Partner and Member of Several IAB Tech Lab Task Forces
One question publishers often ask is whether mobile web or native apps generate better advertising revenue. While the industry often frames this as a platform debate, our experience suggests the answer is rarely that simple.
Using data collected through Relevant Yield across multiple publishers and environments, we found that mobile web outperformed native apps on average across several key monetisation metrics, including fill rate, win rate, and eCPM. However, the variation between publishers, operating systems and implementations was significant, making it clear that platform choice alone does not determine success.
Competition Matters More Than Platform Choice
What stood out most was that revenue performance was often driven by factors beyond the platform itself. Demand competition, auction efficiency, fill rates, viewability, and optimisation practices frequently had a greater impact than the impression's origin (browser or app).
This is particularly relevant as server-side monetisation continues to mature. Relevant Digital has been working with server-side solutions across both mobile web and native app environments since 2020, and we have seen how capabilities that improve competition, optimisation, and transparency have gradually narrowed the gap between different environments. In recent years, publishers have gained access to many of the same features in-app that have long been available on the web. As technologies such as Prebid Mobile and server-side infrastructure continue to evolve, the discussion is increasingly shifting away from platform limitations and towards execution quality, transparency, and control.
The analysis also highlighted that more demand does not automatically translate into more revenue. High bid rates and high demand volumes only create value when auctions are competitive, and inventory is configured efficiently. Publishers need visibility into what is happening across their monetisation stack, not just access to more bidders.
A Holistic View Drives Better Results
That is why the strongest revenue growth often comes from combining a holistic view of performance with continuous testing and optimisation. Whether inventory is monetised through mobile web or native apps, publishers who can measure, compare and optimise across environments are generally in a stronger position than those focused solely on platform choice.
The takeaway is simple: mobile monetisation should not be viewed as a web-versus-apps issue. The biggest opportunities often come from improving competition, increasing transparency, and continuously optimising performance across environments. Publishers with a holistic view of their monetisation are generally better positioned to convert available demand into revenue, regardless of whether inventory is monetised through mobile web or native apps.
- Alexander Fawcett - Head of Customer Success & Member of Prebid's Mobile PMC