Admob vs. Mobclix Round 2 – Getting Paid

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The Race is on!

This month I passed the payment threshold for both Admob and Mobclix for my Android app Droid Secret Tips.  Now, that threshold is 5x higher for Mobclix over Admob, but the thing I’m looking for from both is actual payment.  Call me a cynic, but it’s all funny money until I see some payout.  Also note that the higher revenue I’m seeing from Mobclix is responsible for why both reached payout thresholds at the same time.

BTW you might also want to read my previous post on Admob and Mobclix revenue.

Update: Mobclix went into bankruptcy, and had lots of trouble paying developers before that.  Their technology has been acquired by Telefonica, and the new platform is called Axonix.  A review for that network may be coming, but you can poke around here now to find good choices to use instead of Mobclix.

Further Update: Axonix is MIA now, another casualty in the ad network landscape.

Payout Requirements for Mobclix and Admob

Admob:

  • We begin processing payments for a month’s earnings one month after the calendar month in which they are earned. There is generally a processing time of approximately one week, but you receive an email notifying you when payment processing begins.
  • However, if your total payable earnings are less than $20 at the end of a month (or $100 for international wire payments), AdMob rolls your earnings over to the following month.

Mobclix:

  • Your first payment comes at approximately 75 days after end of first month. Thereafter, Mobclix pays on a net 60 basis. In the dashboard you will soon be able to view your invoices. Minimum earnings for a payment to be dispersed is USD$100. Until then your account will accrue until you reach USD$100. If you don’t reach USD$100 in balance over a period of 180 days your earnings will convert to advertising credits equal to the dollar amount that has been accrued. This credit will expire 180 days after the conversion date.

Note that I accrued my payout threshold in two months, so I wasn’t worried about the convert-to-ad-credit issue for Mobclix.  If you are worried about that, you might want to check out some of my other posts, and work to increase your revenue.

I am unsure if the 75 day (rather than 60 day) wait applies for Mobclix, since I met the threshold after the second month, not the first. (UPDATE: the 75 day wait applies for your first payment no matter what.  Then add a few days beyond that.  See here for an updated explanation).

I think for both of these that processing will occur automatically.  Update – yes, payments are automatically sent.

Also of note – you can’t transfer Admob earnings into ad credits unless your unpaid balance is over $50.  So, until you reach $20 it’s all funny money.

I don’t believe that the payout thresholds are any different for iPhone developers, but my experience has only been with Android so far.

Time Expectations

My current best case expectations are:

  1. Admob will begin payment processing around May 15, 2011. [confirmed – see below]
  2. Mobclix will begin payment processing around June 1, 2011. [Update – June 21st]

I could be wrong on both counts, and from what I’ve see there can be lots of delays in this field.  I will certainly be updating this blog when I receive my first payments.

What’s Next

When Mobclix pays me, I intend to move more of my ad displays over to Mobclix.  I may not move all, however, because there are a few good features about Admob

  • House ads are far superior – they can be text or banner, you can see all of the stats such as CTR, displays, and clicks.
  • Geo stats can be very helpful in learning what your demographic is (although Google’s recent Statistics addition to the Android Developer Console may make that much less important).

If you’ve been getting (or trying to get) payouts please share your story below!

Update 2011-5-12 – I see the payment from Admob in my PayPal account today – just shy of the 6 week mark as they promised.  Very cool.  The time for Admob to process to PayPal was less than the “Up to two weeks” that they indicate it might take for the money to appear in PayPal, but I’m still not sure why it takes that long.  When I pay someone it seems to transfer instantly…

Update 2011-6-21 – PayPal received an e-check from Mobclix today.  Payment will take a few days to process.  Payment was not as high as I expected, but it was a decent portion of the total.

Update 2011-7-2 – Armed with a little more information, I know exactly why my MobClix payout was the value that it was.  Check out my explanation.

Update 2012-8 – MobClix is still good, but it isn’t my current favorite among ad networks and I have moved most of my ad traffic elsewhere.  I’ve done a lot more research, and now the Android Ad Nework Primer is out.  Take a look now – it contains all of my recommendations for ad networks to use with your Android apps.

Final Update – Mobclix is defunct, and their assets were sold off.  See note at the top

Posted in Android permalink

About ProjectJourneyman

I am a software engineer that escaped the cubicle world at a large company to go solo with Android app development. My attention to detail and quality applies both to my apps and to my research on how to make money with Android. Now that I have the freedom to work on my own projects, I am documenting my efforts in the hopes that it will help other current or aspiring independent Android developers get the income they desire.

Comments

Admob vs. Mobclix Round 2 – Getting Paid — 12 Comments

  1. Good luck, getting paid on time by MobClix.. You need to give them a call multiple times. You wont see invoices until after you give them a call. Once you see the invoice with the 25% of your actual earnings for that month (3 months prior earnings) you will then still have to call them to get paid that month. I seriously recommend AdMob, but Google has too much power. They may close your account one day for some unrealistic reason if your monthly earnings go above certain threshold.

    • Yes – it arrived just shy of 6 weeks from the end of the month where I met the minimum. So, as promised. I haven’t posted the details yet, but Admob did indeed win the race (as expected per their terms).

  3. So have you been paid by MobClix yet? It’s been a couple more months, and I’m RIGHT NOW trying to decide whether to put MobClix in.

    You say elsewhere that you expect MobClix to pay you in June. Well, we’re running out of June. Any luck?

  4. Hi,

    When did you sign up for mobclix? I did it in march. So should I be getting march and april payments in june like you?

    • If you reached the $100 threshold in the first month, then yes. I actually joined in February, but didn’t hit that threshold until the end of March. The payment cycle doesn’t start until you reach $100, and for me it was about 82 days and a support ticket after that before I got the money. If you haven’t heard anything and expect to, I suggest submitting a help ticket.

  6. Nope Mobclix is not getting better for payment. If this isn’t a transfer failure they are experiencing, well it’s some other problem.

    I have beeb using the 2 services for over a year now and I am slowly switching everything back to Admob as they do pay you month on month. So my advise to all the fellow dev, even if they do have a higher eCPM stay away from Mobclix if you don’t want your money to be virtual!