The way that mini-apps bridge Web2 and Web3 is a fascinating aspect of the platform, says Vadim.
In a strategic effort to enhance monetization opportunities within the Telegram ecosystem, TON has been working with Adsgram, a dedicated advertising platform tailored for Telegram.
Adsgram emerged from its founder Vadim Sterlin's firsthand challenges in monetizing his Fanton game, highlighting a broader issue faced by the GameFi community on Telegram and the TON network.
As a seasoned Adtech product manager, Sterlin highlighted earlier this year in the Adsgram community the scarcity of effective tools for publishers to generate revenue through advertising, underscoring the urgent need for innovative solutions in this space.
Benzinga recently caught up with Sterlin, the CEO and founder of Adsgram. Here's an excerpt from the interaction.
What factors contributed to Adsgram attracting over 550 mini apps in just six months?
The market required a simple, clear, and scalable solution for monetizing mini-apps, and we were the first to deliver something to meet this growing demand. Our team has a wealth of experience in developing mini-apps, having built one of TON ecosystem's most popular mini-apps in the form of Fanton fantasy football. This gave us unique insights into what developers actually need, and enabled us to refine and optimize the platform for an experience that is as user-friendly as possible. This set us apart from our competitors and helped us to attract many mini-apps to Adsgram during the early stages of our project.
Monetizing Telegram mini-apps has historically been challenging. Individual applications often struggle to connect with advertisers, especially when they're looking to engage larger players in the advertising market. Adsgram filled this gap in the market by offering a unified and seamless solution to help mini apps find new audiences and grow their products.
How does Adsgram tailor advertising specifically for Telegram mini apps compared to traditional ad platforms?
The way that mini-apps bridge Web2 and Web3 is a fascinating aspect of the platform. This position at the intersection of these two worlds opens up exciting opportunities to implement strategies that bridge these two ecosystems. Initially, users were primarily drawn to ads for the rewards they offered in terms of user acquisition. Traffic characteristics and working funnels had to be adjusted, and users had to be educated on how to interact with the new model that we are looking to popularise. Over time, advertisers and users have adapted, creating a mutually beneficial system.
The hallmark of advertising in mini-apps is its simplicity. We intentionally set strict limits on the size of banners and video clips to ensure that any user, on any device, can easily view and engage with the advertising content. A recent innovation we've introduced is the ability for developers to target users by wallet. In addition to traditional targeting options, such as location, language, platform, and premium accounts, focusing on wallet activity grants a deeper understanding of user behaviour in the Web3 space - this allows advertisers to identify the most financially active and crypto-savvy users within the Telegram ecosystem.
What makes Adsgram attractive to large mobile applications and service providers as advertising partners?
The traffic generated through Telegram Mini Apps (TMA) is not only highly cost-effective but also exceptionally transaction oriented. This is particularly evident when looking at cryptocurrency, where many of the most successful recent projects have leveraged blockchain and airdrop technologies to drive engagement. What sets Adsgram apart is its ability to tap into Telegram's vast audience, which is now close to exceeding one billion users.
How did you identify the need for a dedicated advertising platform within the Telegram mini apps ecosystem?
In 2024, several applications experienced rapid growth, including Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and Blum. However, all of them relied on inefficient, manual ad sales. This sparked our interest in automating ad sales and building an open, transparent advertising marketplace for Telegram mini-apps. To bring this vision to life, we collaborated with TON Foundation, who believed in our idea and supported the development of Adsgram.
What new features or enhancements can we expect from Adsgram as the mini app space continues to grow?
We recently introduced additional targeting options for VPN and wallet users. Further enhancing targeting accuracy and precision will remain a key focus as Adsgram evolves. The market is evolving rapidly, bringing with it new demands for advertising. In response, we've already expanded our platform with several new advertising formats. In the future, we plan to introduce task functionality for our partners. This functionality will help to engage users with our advertising even further, with both the application hosting ads and the user earning crypto rewards for engaging with our product. These tasks will undergo manual moderation, ensuring quality and providing our partners with even more opportunities to earn.
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