How to Set Up AppLovin MAX Bidding

Publishers who enable AppLovin MAX bidding for the first time see 10-15% increase in eCPM in 30 days. Because adding a new bidding partner increases competition and hence higher bidding.

Traditional setups usually work on a waterfall model, where ad networks are called one after another in a predefined order. This system is not very efficient. Networks lower in the waterfall may actually be willing to pay more for an impression, but they never get the opportunity because they were lower down the order.

If you’re unfamiliar with how auctions compare to traditional setups, read our article on In-app bidding vs Waterfall.

AppLovin Max brings something different from this, instead of a sequence priority, all demand partners join a real time unified auction. Every network gets to bid individually and simultaneously and for obvious reasons the highest bid wins right away. This sort of approach defines the true importance of each impression rather than relying on estimation in eCPM rankings.

Most publishers have multiple demand partners and relevant traffic, this usually leads to more competition, better price discovery and also a stronger monetization along with all that.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the complete process, from verifying SDK compatibility to configuring networks, testing performance, and optimizing floors after launch. By the end, you’ll have a clear framework for enabling MAX bidding safely while maintaining a hybrid waterfall backup to protect fill rate.

What is AppLovin MAX?

AppLovin MAX is a mediation platform for mobile app advertising.

1. It’s software that sits between your mobile app and ad networks
2. “Mediation” means it manages multiple ad networks for you from one dashboard
3. It’s made by AppLovin (a mobile advertising company)

Without MAX, you’d need to:

• Sign up with each ad network separately
• Install each SDK separately
• Check 10 different dashboards for revenue reports
• Manually decide which network shows ads when

With MAX, you:

• Integrate ONE SDK
• Manage everything from ONE dashboard
• Let MAX automatically pick the best-paying network

How AppLovin MAX Bidding Works (Step-By-Step)

1. User triggers ad request. A user reaches a placement (banner, interstitial, rewarded).
2. MAX sends auction request: The SDK sends the request to the MAX mediation server.
3. Demand partners submit bids: All bidding-enabled networks submit real-time bids for the impression.
4. Highest bid wins the auction: MAX compares bids and selects the highest bidder.
5. Ad is served to the user: If no bid meets the configured floor price, MAX moves to the waterfall fallback networks.

When Should You Use AppLovin MAX Bidding?

A general benchmark for Apps with (50K-100K+ DAU) typically have enough impression volume for bidding to produce meaningful eCPM improvements.

MAX bidding is worth implementing if your app has:

• (50K-100K+ DAU) or steady daily impression volume
• 3+ active demand partners to create auction competition
• Traffic across multiple geographies
• A working mediation setup already in place

Smaller apps may still benefit from a hybrid model where bidding-enabled networks compete first while the traditional waterfall remains as backup.

Prerequisites: What You Need Before Starting

Technical Requirements

• AppLovin MAX SDK version 11.0.0 or higher integrated
• AppLovin MAX account active with mediation enabled
• App live and generating at least 50K daily impressions
• Mediation adapter versions up to date

Note: If your SDK version is outdated, update it before proceeding with bidding configuration.

Demand Partner Requirements

At minimum you will need to configure 2-3 bidding-enabled demand partners.

There are certain common networks that support MAX bidding include:

• Meta Audience Network
• Google AdMob (Bidding)
• Unity Ads
• Vungle
• Chartboost
• ironSource (via MAX integration)

Additionally, also ensure:

• Your accounts with each network are active
• All required API credentials, app IDs, and placement IDs are available

Access Requirements

• Admin access to the AppLovin MAX dashboard
• Developer access to app codebase (if SDK updates needed)
• Access to analytics platform for performance monitoring

Baseline Metrics to Record

This is a critical step, you need to record the below mentioned metrics before enabling bidding. Without baseline data, you cannot accurately measure impact.

• eCPM by ad format (banner, interstitial, rewarded)
• Fill rate by geography
• Latency benchmarks (ad load time)
• Revenue per DAU

Step 1: Verify SDK Compatibility

Before you start anything, system check is essential so you need to confirm that your AppLovin MAX SDK and mediation adapters are fully compatible. For obvious reasons the older SDK versions or outdated adapters can prevent networks from participating properly in the auction.

Check Your Current SDK Version

To verify which MAX SDK version is currently integrated:

• Log in to the AppLovin MAX dashboard
• Navigate to Settings → SDK Integration
• Locate the ‘SDK Version’ field

Required: Ensure your app is running a recent AppLovin MAX SDK version (11.x or higher recommended) to guarantee compatibility with bidding integrations. 

Updating the SDK if it’s not the latest version available, always helps.

If your app is using an older version of the MAX SDK:

• Follow the official AppLovin SDK update guide
• Perform the update in a staging or development environment first
• Run internal QA tests to ensure ads load correctly
• Deploy the update to production once testing is complete

Verify Mediation Adapter Versions

Each demand partner relies on a mediation adapter. To check adapter versions:

• Go to MAX Dashboard → Mediation → Network Adapters
• Review the installed adapters for each integrated network
• Update any adapters marked as outdated

This matters because keeping adapters updated ensures bidding-enabled networks can properly submit bids and participate in the auction.

Step 2: Enable Bidding-Compatible Demand Partners

Once your SDK and adapters are all verified and good to go, the next step is enabling bidding for demand partners inside the MAX mediation dashboard.

Recommended starting point is usually 3-4 bidding-enabled networks. This creates healthy competition without adding unnecessary latency.

How to Add a Network in MAX

To add a demand partner to your MAX mediation stack:

• Log in to the AppLovin MAX Dashboard
• Navigate to Mediation → Manage → Network
• Click ‘Add Network’
• Select the network from the dropdown list
• Enter the required API credentials (App ID, placement IDs, or account tokens)
• Enable the ‘Bidding’ toggle for that network
• Optionally configure network-specific eCPM floors
• Save the configuration

This is also one of the most critical steps, the bidding toggle is essential. Without enabling it, the network will only participate in the traditional waterfall instead of the unified auction.

A demonstrative mock dashboard image is used here for easier understanding.

Configuration Tips

When enabling bidding partners, you will also need to scale gradually:

• Start with 3-4 networks to maintain low latency
• Add additional networks after monitoring auction performance
• Prioritize partners that perform well in your top geographic regions

This approach maintains fast ad load times while maximizing auction competition.

Step 3: Configure Ad Unit Settings for Bidding

Once your bidding networks are enabled, configure bidding for each ad unit. MAX applies bidding per placement, so every ad format such as banners, interstitials, and rewarded ads needs its own setup.

Navigate to Your Ad Units

• Open the MAX Dashboard
• Navigate to Ad Units
• Select the ad unit you want to configure (Banner, Interstitial, or Rewarded Video)

Enable Bidding for the Ad Unit

Inside the ad unit configuration, locate the ‘Enable Bidding’ option and toggle it ON. This activates the unified auction, allowing all bidding-enabled demand partners to submit real-time bids when the ad request is triggered.

Set Global eCPM Floors

Now we configure the global eCPM floor, which sets the minimum acceptable bid for that placement.

An ideal conservative start would be to set the floor at around 60-80% of your current average eCPM.

Example:

• Current average eCPM: $5.00
• Recommended starting floor: $3.50-$4.00

It has an important impact as floors filter out very low-value bids. However, setting floors too high can reduce fill rate, so starting conservatively and adjusting after monitoring performance would be a safer bet as this is an auction.

Configure Timeout Settings

We often say time is money, and it absolutely fits here. Bidding auctions rely on networks submitting bids within a defined time window. This is controlled through the bidding timeout setting.

Recommended timeout: 3000-5000 ms depending on ad format

Typical industry ranges:

This creates a balance:

• Lower timeout → Faster ad loads but potentially fewer bids
• Higher timeout → More networks can participate but may increase latency

Enable Parallel Requests

MAX sends bid requests to all demand partners at the same time. This lets multiple networks compete for the same impression in a unified auction.

Repeat for Each Ad Format

Finally, repeat this configuration process for all ad formats used in your app:

• Banner
• Interstitial
• Rewarded Video
• Native Ads (if implemented)

Each ad format performs differently, so it’s best to configure them individually to control floors and bidding settings more precisely.

Step 4: Set Up Waterfall Backup (Hybrid Model)

Even with MAX bidding, most publishers keep a waterfall backup. It fills impressions when bidding demand is low or when bids fall below the floor.

Why a Hybrid Setup Matters

There are several practical reasons why hybrid mediation is still widely used:

• Not all ad networks support bidding
• Fill rate can drop if the auction fails to meet the minimum floor
• It provides a fallback path when real-time bids are too low or unavailable

By combining bidding with the traditional waterfall, publishers capture the benefits of real-time competition while maintaining stable fill rates.

How to Structure the Waterfall Backup

A hybrid mediation setup usually follows a tiered structure:

Tier 1 : Bidding Networks

All bidding-enabled partners compete in the unified auction. This happens automatically when bidding is enabled for the ad unit.

Tier 2 : Non-Bidding Networks

If the auction does not produce a winning bid above the floor, MAX moves to traditional waterfall networks ranked by historical eCPM.

Tier 3 : Backfill Demand

Lower-tier networks or backfill partners are placed at the bottom to ensure impressions are filled even when demand is limited.

Configure the Waterfall in MAX

To add Waterfall partners:

• Open the MAX Dashboard
• Navigate to Mediation → Manage
• Select the ad unit you are configuring
• Scroll to the Waterfall section
• Add non-bidding networks in ranked order
• Set eCPM floors for each tier

Example Hybrid Setup:

• Bidding Auction: Meta Audience Network, Google AdMob, Vungle compete in real-time
• Waterfall Tier 1: Network X with a $4.00 eCPM floor
• Waterfall Tier 2: Network Y with a $2.50 eCPM floor
• Waterfall Tier 3: Backfill partner at $0.10 eCPM floor

Floor Strategy for Hybrid Setups

A key rule to follow is that waterfall floors should always be set lower than the bidding floor.

This guarantees:

• Bidding networks always receive the first chance to compete
• The waterfall only activates when bidding fails to meet the minimum threshold

With this setup, publishers can capture higher bids from real-time auctions while maintaining stable fill rates.

Step 5: Test Before Full Rollout

The testing period typically runs for 7-14 days, depending on your operations. Before rolling MAX bidding out to all traffic, test the setup carefully. Running a controlled test helps confirm everything is working properly and shows whether bidding improves revenue or not.

Why Testing Matters

Skipping the testing phase is definitely not a good idea and can introduce unnecessary risk. A proper validation process helps you:

• Avoid revenue disruption caused by configuration mistakes
• Identify setup issues early (incorrect credentials, adapter mismatches)
• Confirm that bidding is producing measurable improvements
• Provide baseline data needed to make confident rollout decisions

Use MAX Test Mode

Start by confirming the bidding integration works correctly using MAX’s built-in test tools:

• Navigate to MAX Dashboard → Settings → Test Mode
• Enable test ads for your device
• Trigger ad impressions within your app
• Review the logs to confirm the bidding auction is running

At this stage, revenue isn’t the focus. The goal is to confirm that demand partners are responding and that the SDK is working as expected.

Run an A/B Test

Once the basic integration is validated, run a controlled A/B test comparing bidding against your existing waterfall setup.

Typical testing setup:

• 50% of traffic → MAX bidding enabled
• 50% of traffic → Existing waterfall-only setup

An ideal duration to run the experiment is at least 7-14 days to collect enough data for reliable trends.

Metrics to Monitor During the Test

During the experiment, monitor the following metrics closely:

• eCPM by ad format
• Fill rate by geographic region
• Latency or ad load time
• Revenue per DAU
• User retention (to ensure monetization changes don’t affect user experience)

How to Analyze the Results

After the test period ends, export the data from MAX Analytics and compare the two cohorts. Focus on the performance differences between the bidding group and the waterfall group.

As a general guideline, each variant should have at least 10,000 impressions for a reliable comparison.

Decision Criteria

Based on the results, you can decide how to proceed:

• If eCPM increases by more than 5% while fill rate remains stable → bidding is performing well and can be rolled out
• If eCPM stays similar but fill rate improves → continue testing and adjust floor settings
• If eCPM drops → investigate potential configuration issues before expanding the rollout

A disciplined testing phase ensures that when you eventually scale bidding across all traffic, it’s done with confidence and clear performance data.

Step 6: Roll Out to Full Traffic

Once your A/B test confirms that bidding is performing well, the next step is rolling it out across your entire traffic base. However, it’s best to expand gradually rather than switching everything at once.

Gradual Rollout Strategy

A typical rollout schedule looks like this:

• Day 1-3: Enable bidding for 25% of traffic
• Day 4-7: Increase to 50% of traffic
• Day 8-10: Expand to 75% of traffic
• Day 11 onward: Move to 100% bidding coverage

This phased approach allows your mediation system and demand partners to adjust to the new auction environment while giving you time to monitor performance.

Metrics to Monitor During Rollout

As bidding expands across more traffic, closely monitor:

• Real-time eCPM trends in the MAX dashboard
• Fill rate by country or region
• Error rates or SDK warnings
• User feedback or retention changes that might indicate latency issues

Prepare a Rollback Plan

Even with careful testing, it’s important to have a rollback strategy ready:

• If eCPM drops more than 10%, pause the rollout and investigate
• If fill rate decreases significantly, review floor prices or adjust the waterfall configuration
• Keep the waterfall backup active throughout the rollout period to protect revenue stability

A controlled rollout combined with continuous monitoring ensures that MAX bidding is deployed safely and effectively.

Major Networks Supporting AppLovin MAX Bidding

Tip:

Running 3-5 active bidding partners typically produces the healthiest auction competition.

Why this helps:

• Google loves comparison tables
• Improves search snippet chances
• Helps publishers quickly evaluate partners

Common Setup Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

1. Setting Floors Too High

Problem:
If the global floor price is too high, many bids will be rejected. When that happens, the system falls back to the waterfall more often than expected.

Solution:
Start with floors around 60-80% of your current average eCPM, then raise them gradually once bidding activity stabilizes.

How to spot it:
Low bid participation in analytics and frequent fallback to waterfall networks.

2. Not Enabling the Bidding Toggle on Networks

Problem:
If bidding isn’t enabled for a network, it will only run through the traditional waterfall instead of participating in the unified auction.

Solution:
Make sure the “Enable Bidding” toggle is turned on for every demand partner that supports bidding.

How to spot it:
The network shows up in waterfall reports instead of bidding reports in MAX Analytics.

3. Timeout Set Too Low

Problem:
If the timeout is too short, some networks won’t have enough time to submit their bids before the auction closes.

Solution:
Set the bidding timeout to 3000-5000 milliseconds (3-5 seconds) so networks have enough time to respond.

How to spot it:
Low bid density and frequent timeout warnings in the MAX logs.

4. Skipping the Waterfall Backup

Problem:
If bidding is enabled without a fallback waterfall, fill rates can drop when the auction doesn’t return a bid above the floor price.

Solution:
Set up a 2-3 tier waterfall below the bidding layer to fill impressions when the auction can’t.

How to spot it:
A noticeable increase in unfilled impressions after enabling bidding.

5. Not Testing Before Full Rollout

Problem:
Enabling bidding across all traffic at once can lead to sudden revenue drops if there are setup or configuration issues.

Solution:
Run an A/B test comparing bidding with your existing waterfall setup before rolling it out more broadly.

How to spot it:
A sudden and unexplained drop in revenue right after enabling bidding.

6. Adding Too Many Networks at Once

Problem:
Adding too many demand partners at the same time can increase latency and slow down ad load times.

Solution:
Start with 3-4 bidding networks, then add more partners gradually once performance becomes stable.

How to spot it:
Ad load times rising above three seconds or increasing latency in performance reports.

7. Ignoring Geo-Specific Performance

Problem:
Bidding may perform well in high-demand regions like the United States but underperform in Tier-2 or Tier-3 markets.

Solution:
Use geo-specific floor prices or keep a waterfall backup in regions where bidding demand is weaker.

How to spot it:
Noticeable eCPM drops in non-US or lower-demand regions.

Quick Reference: Common Mistakes eCPM 

What to Monitor After Setup

Enabling MAX bidding is only the first step. The real gains come from monitoring performance and making small adjustments over time.

Daily Metrics (First 30 Days)

During the first month, check performance daily to identify any early issues:

• eCPM by ad format and geography
• Fill rate changes across placements
• Bid participation rate (how many networks are submitting bids)
• Revenue compared to the previous period

These indicators help confirm that bidding is producing healthy competition and improving monetization.

Weekly Metrics

After the initial rollout stabilizes, shift to a weekly review of deeper auction signals:

• Bid density trends (average bids per impression)
• Win rate by network to see which partners dominate auctions
• Floor price effectiveness and whether floors need adjustment
• Latency impact on ad load times

Weekly reviews are useful for spotting patterns that daily snapshots might miss.

Monthly Metrics

Longer-term monitoring should focus on business-level impact:

• Overall revenue lift after enabling bidding
• User retention stability to ensure ads aren’t harming experience
• Lifetime value (LTV) trends
• Demand partner performance rankings

These insights help determine whether bidding is delivering sustained monetization improvements.

Where to Find the Data

Most of these insights are available directly in the MAX dashboard: MAX Dashboard → Analytics → Bidding Performance

From there you can:

• Compare Bidding vs Waterfall performance
• Analyze network win rates
• Export CSV reports for deeper analysis

Red Flags to Watch

Even when bidding initially improves performance, certain signals may indicate problems that require adjustment:

• eCPM declining after the initial lift
• Fill rate dropping below 90%
• A single network winning more than 80% of auctions (low competition)
• Ad latency increasing beyond 3 seconds

Monitoring these signals consistently ensures your MAX setup continues delivering stable auctions, strong competition, and sustained revenue growth.

Optimization After Setup

Once MAX bidding is stable, the next step is ongoing optimization. Auctions change over time as demand partners adjust bids, new networks join and advertiser demand shifts during the year.

Regular monitoring helps improve ad revenue. Our mobile ad revenue optimization guide covers additional strategies publishers can use.

Floor Price Strategy

Floor prices control the minimum value an impression can sell for, so managing them carefully is essential.

When to increase floors:

• Bid density is consistently high (3+ bids per impression)
• Winning bids exceed the current floor by 20% or more
• Fill rate remains above 95%

When to decrease floors:

• Fill rate falls below 90%
• Bid participation becomes low
• Waterfall networks start filling more impressions than bidding

How to adjust floors:

• Change floors in 5-10% increments
• Run each change for 3-5 days before adjusting again
• Monitor the impact on both eCPM and fill rate

Gradual adjustments prevent sudden revenue fluctuations.

Adding More Demand Partners

More bidders can increase auction competition, but only if they add meaningful demand.

Best practices:

• Add one network at a time
• Monitor any latency impact after adding a partner
• Confirm the new network increases bid density
• Remove networks with less than 5% win rate after 30 days

This keeps the auction competitive without slowing down ad loading.

Geo-Specific Optimization

Performance often varies by region. To improve efficiency:

• Use higher floors in Tier 1 markets (US, UK, Canada, Australia)
• Apply lower floors in Tier 2 and Tier 3 geos
• Enable or disable bidding by country based on performance

Note: In some lower-demand regions, a hybrid approach with waterfall fallback may still perform better.

Format-Specific Tuning

Different ad formats behave differently in auctions, so floors should reflect format performance:

• Rewarded video usually supports higher floors (strong advertiser demand)
• Banner ads often require lower floors to maintain fill rate
• Interstitial ads typically fall between the two

Monitoring performance by format ensures each placement is optimized individually.

Seasonal Adjustments

Advertiser demand fluctuates throughout the year. Floor prices should adapt accordingly:

• Increase floors during Q4, when advertiser budgets peak
• Lower floors slightly in Q1-Q2, if fill rates drop
• Watch for spikes around major holidays and large marketing events

Adjusting floors seasonally helps capture higher bids during peak demand while keeping fill rates steady during slower months.

Advanced: When to Use 100% Bidding vs Hybrid

Not every app should rely entirely on bidding. Some apps still perform better with a hybrid setup that includes a waterfall fallback.

When 100% Bidding Makes Sense

Running a fully bidding-based setup works best when your app has strong auction competition. Consider moving to 100% bidding if:

• Your app has 500K+ daily active users
• You have 3+ bidding-enabled demand partners
• Advertiser demand is strong across your primary geographies
• Fill rate remains above 98% using bidding alone

In these cases, the auction usually produces enough competition to consistently deliver high bids without needing waterfall fallback.

When a Hybrid Setup Works Better

Many publishers benefit from a hybrid mediation structure. 

A hybrid setup is usually better if:

• Your app has less than 200K DAU
• Only a few demand partners support bidding
• Revenue comes mainly from Tier 2 or Tier 3 markets
• You run direct deals or prioritized network relationships

The waterfall layer ensures impressions are still monetized even when the auction does not produce a competitive bid.

The Key Trade-Off

The decision ultimately comes down to yield versus stability:

• 100% bidding can deliver maximum yield, but relies heavily on strong bid density
• Hybrid mediation provides a safety net, protecting fill rate and ensuring impressions are rarely left unfilled

For many apps, the most effective approach is to start with a hybrid model and gradually increase reliance on bidding as demand partner coverage and auction competition improve.

Expected Revenue Impact After Enabling MAX Bidding

When implemented correctly, MAX bidding can improve monetization efficiency by increasing competition between demand partners.

Typical improvements reported by publishers include:

However, results depend on:

• Traffic volume
• Demand partner coverage
• Geographic distribution
• Floor price strategy
  

Publishers with high traffic and multiple bidders generally see the largest revenue lift.

Need Help Optimizing Your MAX Setup?

Managing bidding auctions, floor adjustments, and network performance manually can become time-consuming as your app scales.

UndrAds helps publishers automate MAX bidding optimization by monitoring auctions and adjusting floor prices in real time. It tracks bid density, analyzes network performance, and helps keep your mediation setup optimized.

To see how much additional revenue your app could generate, start with a free monetization audit.

Get a free UndrAds monetization audit at undrads.com