{"id":14041,"date":"2026-07-10T09:31:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T09:31:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playgama.com\/blog\/?p=14041"},"modified":"2026-07-10T11:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T11:13:07","slug":"how-kbh-games-levelled-up-its-monetization-with-playgama-ad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playgama.com\/blog\/main\/how-kbh-games-levelled-up-its-monetization-with-playgama-ad\/","title":{"rendered":"How KBH Games Levelled Up Its Monetization with Playgama Ad"},"content":{"rendered":"

50% Higher CPMs and a New Revenue Stream: The KBH Games and Playgama Ad Case Study\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When your site\u2019s CPM drops by more than 50% overnight, you have two choices: shut things down, or upgrade your ad stack. For KBH Games<\/a>, a web gaming portal with 2 million monthly active users, the answer was clear but not easy, since the next monetization partner had to meet a wide range of requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll briefly overview how KBH Games moved beyond a decade and a half of basic monetization solutions, switched to Playgama Ad, and began seeing meaningful revenue growth without compromising the player experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet KBH Games<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

KBH Games is one of the web\u2019s established free-to-play web game portals \u2014 a destination for casual browser gaming that has quietly built a loyal audience across the globe, primarily in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Problem: 15 Years with a Single Ad Solution While AdTech Raced Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For most of its life, KBH Games ran on a single, basic monetization solution, left essentially unchanged for 15 years \u2014 no header bidding, no yield optimization, just one minimalist setup powered by Google AdSense. That\u2019s an eternity in a fast-paced field like adtech, where everything is constantly evolving.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a long time, that was enough. US CPMs in the $1.50\u2013$2.00 range kept the lights on and the site running smoothly. But heading into 2025, something shifted on the demand side, and CPMs collapsed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt was no longer sustainable to even keep the site up and running at this CPM, so I had no choice but to look for alternatives.\u201d \u2014 Viktor Huang, founder of KBH Games.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Discovering AdTech Solution for Web Game Portals \u2014 Playgama Ad<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Playgama Ad is a monetization solution built specifically for the web gaming ecosystem. For KBH Games, it offered higher CPMs from the start<\/strong> because from now on many ad networks and demand sources have been competing for its ad inventory through one real-time auction, ultimately delivering significantly higher rates. Another factor behind the income growth was the introduction of video ads to the portal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the common fears around changing monetization infrastructure for a web game portal is the integration burden \u2014 the weeks of back-and-forth, the technical headaches, the risk of breaking something that\u2019s already working. With Playgama Ad, the team walks every partner through the launch and optimization of their new monetization setup, so a problem like this simply doesn\u2019t arise.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt was smooth and easy, and took about one week.\u201d \u2014 Viktor Huang, founder of KBH Games.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Results: What Actually Changed<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
CPMs and overall income went up \u2014 meaningfully<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

For US visitors \u2014 the most valuable segment of KBH Games\u2019 audience \u2014 CPMs on banner ads increased by 50% compared to the AdSense baseline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cMany publishers, who run their own web game portals, focus on increasing banner revenue through more frequent refreshes and additional ad requests per user. While those are worth testing, we always start with the fundamentals: support multiple ad sizes (including native) to maximize fill and add more demand partners to create a competitive auction and drive CPMs up.\u201d \u2014 Valeria Svistunova, Head of Monetization at Playgama<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Beyond banners, video ads opened the door to demand that banner-only setups can\u2019t tap into and unlocked a whole new revenue stream. Introducing pre-roll ads as a new placement for the portal proved especially impactful \u2014 across the games where it was added, it delivered an additional 50\u201375% uplift in total revenue on its own.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And today\u2019s results aren\u2019t the upper limit either: KBH Games can keep experimenting and optimizing their ad logic, trying different placements and new, unlocked ad formats \u2014 there\u2019s still room to grow.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The desired volume of ad frequency + changes in ad quality<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Most optimization conversations push in one direction: more placements, more formats, more interruptions. For a site like KBH Games \u2014 where the value proposition is an enjoyable, low-friction gaming experience \u2014 such an approach can quickly disrupt the balance if applied aggressively.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe biggest positive is that the Playgama Ad team never pushed me to add as many ads as possible. KBH Games\u2019 goal is to provide the best experience for the players while still using ad support to keep the site up and operational. Because of that, we prefer to keep monetization as minimal and non-intrusive as we can.\u201d \u2014 Viktor Huang, founder of KBH Games.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the volume, the quality of ads being served also went up because of the premium demand sources<\/strong>. Higher-quality creatives mean a better experience for players \u2014 and for KBH Games, which has always put the player experience first, that\u2019s a valuable addition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Takeaway and What\u2019s Next for KBH Games<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

The ad stack isn\u2019t something you set up once and forget \u2014 it\u2019s an ongoing process. The portals that win long-term are the ones that keep testing new practices, exploring new formats, and refining their setup as the market shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With those long-needed changes, the upside is the fun part. From here, KBH Games can keep tuning its ad logic toward whatever serves players best \u2014 there\u2019s still more to unlock in both placements and formats. And as the game portal experiments, Playgama Ad will be there to help it find what works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Playgama Ad<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Playgama Ad provides monetization infrastructure purpose-built for web game portals and HTML5 game developers. Through a hybrid ad stack combining premium demand and smart ad logic, it helps publishers grow revenue while keeping players engaged. Publishers get full transparency through regular reporting and a team that works to their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key features:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n