Summary
Challenges:
- International user base requires multi-regulation/framework data privacy compliance
- Maintaining great user experience and not disrupting gameplay
- Protecting ad revenue
Goals:
- Ongoing compliance with the GDPR, CCPA, and other relevant regulations and frameworks as the company grows
- Ensuring no restrictions on the company’s ability serve Google ads in-game
- Compliance with Transparency & Consent Framework requirements
Results:
- Customized consent banner for 10 mobile apps, enabling ongoing privacy compliance
- Transparency and frictionless user experience for gamers that builds trust
- TCF v2.2 compliance to enable the company to continue unrestricted serving of in-game ads
The Company
MAG Interactive is a dynamic Stockholm-based mobile game developer that entertains millions of gamers worldwide. They have 15 live apps, including flagship games QuizDuel and strategic gameplay Word Domination.
The challenges
MAG was facing significant challenges adapting to complex data privacy regulations, like the GDPR and CCPA. So they turned to the Google-certified Usercentrics Consent Management Platform (CMP) to achieve and maintain data privacy compliance.
With over 100 million downloads between just their two flagship games, and more than a million daily active players, MAG needed a CMP solution to help them gain consent for data collection and ad targeting — without disrupting gameplay or ad revenue.
What were the key priorities and goals for this project?
Google-certified CMP
Managing player consent for data collection and ad targeting to ensure MAG could serve Google ads in its games without limitations, and meet regulatory and business requirements.
High player-opt-in rates
As MAG’s business is reliant on ad revenue, it was important to keep the player opt-in rate as high as possible, while continuing to deliver great user experience.
Pär Hedelund, Ad Monetization Manager, MAG Interactive, explains, “The primary goal was to adapt to the new Google requirements, including the need to comply with the TCF. Working with a Google-certified CMP and generating a TC-string enabled us to ensure we could serve Google ads in our games without limitations being imposed due to these changes.”
Why MAG Interactive chose Usercentrics
There were multiple reasons why MAG Interactive decided to work with Usercentrics, however it was primarily because of our good reputation among app publishers.
Hedelund said, “Naturally we wanted to achieve our goals with a CMP platform that offered everything in terms of integration, support (technical and other), and flexibility in customization and settings. Plus, we wanted to be able to oversee the whole process efficiently and clearly, both with settings and eventually results from player prompts and interactions. We got that with Usercentrics CMP.”
Another factor was Usercentrics’s clear and accessible documentation that’s readily available and not behind walls. It makes it easy for MAG’s gaming developers to understand and implement the tool and run test trials before full integration.
Finally, MAG Interactive liked how the Usercentrics App CMP continually adapts to new regulations, helping to achieve long-term compliance with the GDPR, CCPA, and other global data privacy regulations and frameworks.
What we achieved
Customized consent banner for 10 mobile apps
The aim of the project was to manage player consent for data collection and ad targeting, which MAG did successfully with Usercentrics’s consent banners.
Keeping the customizations to a minimum, the consent banners conveyed the required messaging and the impression they wanted to make well, with minimal friction for the players.
IAB TCF v2.2 compliance
Another goal was adapting to the new Google requirements for publishers and complying with IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework version 2.2 (TCF v2.2). With Usercentrics CMP, MAG can continue to serve ads in their games without limitations, e.g. on personalization features.
Test and learn environment
MAG’s team has praised the ability to continuously make changes, create drafts, and quickly test in a virtual environment, which has proven to be very useful, providing them reassurance before publishing and enabling faster optimization. They’ve also enjoyed how our CMP platform enables them to control setting rules for when and under what conditions the CMP UI is prompted.
Happy developers
Feedback from MAG’s developers working with Usercentrics’s CMP platform has been positive. They’re happy it’s a CMP solution designed for mobile apps by app engineers, rather than inheriting CMP features adapted from the website world. Ultimately, integration has gone smoothly and gave them what they needed.
How did we do? A final word from our valued client
“Naturally we wanted the user consent experience to be as frictionless as possible, while conveying information clearly, which is why we chose Usercentrics App CMP with Unity,” said Hedelund.
Reflecting on the project, Hedelund expressed that onboarding was quick, and working with our team has been easy and straightforward, finding our people to be “kind, interested, and helpful”.
MAG Interactive’s partnership with Usercentrics CMP has been a success. They are handling player consent and maintaining regulatory compliance without disrupting gameplay while optimizing ad revenue.