Monetize your apps

The Universal Windows Platform and the Windows Store provide a variety of ways to make money from your apps.
Display ads in your apps
Display ads from Microsoft

Increase your revenue by using the Microsoft Store Engagement and Monetization SDK to display banner ads and video interstitial ads from Microsoft.

Use ad mediation to display banner ads from multiple ad networks

Maximize your ad fill rates and your revenue by using the Microsoft Store Engagement and Monetization SDK to display banner ads from multiple ad networks via ad mediation.

Use SDKs from other ad networks in your UWP apps

Increase your revenue by displaying video ads from Vungle or banner ads from AdDuplex or Smaato in your Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps.

Choose pricing strategies for your apps and in-app features
Paid apps

Charge a price for your app up front, including the option to set per-market prices.

Free trials

Provide a free trial version of your app and entice customers to buy your app by excluding some features.

In-app purchases

Offer products and features that your customers can buy from within your app.

Making money through advertising in your apps

The Universal Windows Platform and the Windows Store make it easy for you to make money through paid downloads, in-app purchases, and ads. This video introduces these features and quickly shows you how to add ads to your apps.

What’s new in monetization

Microsoft Store Engagement and Monetization SDK

This SDK provides the libraries and tools that you need to display ads in your apps, run experiments with A/B testing, and add customer feedback links into your apps. This SDK replaces the Microsoft Universal Ad Client SDK, and it will evolve over time to include new engagement and monetization features.

Affiliate ads

If your app is already configured to display banner ads from Microsoft, you can increase your ad fill rate and revenue by showing Microsoft affiliate ads in your app for products in the Store. When users click the ads and buy products within a given attribution window, you earn revenue on each purchase.

Experiment through A/B testing

Run A/B tests in your apps to measure the effectiveness of feature changes (or variations) on some customers before you enable the changes for everyone. Use the Microsoft Store Engagement and Monetization SDK to instrument your app for A/B testing. Use Dev Center to create and manage A/B tests, and to switch your audience to winning variations without republishing your app.

Windows and Store trends

Whether you are considering building or porting an app for Windows or you already have apps in the Windows Store, you need insight into the Windows device and Windows Store ecosystems to help you to determine what types of apps to build and where to focus your development efforts. We publish a variety of monthly reports that give you the data you need to make these decisions.

Learn more

Monetization analytics

The unified Windows Dev Center dashboard provides the monetization data for your apps that you need to optimize your revenue.

Microsoft Affiliate Program

Earn commissions by linking to Microsoft products from your app, blog, web page or other communications. You can link to apps, games, music, and movies sold on the Windows Store, or hardware, accessories, and other goods sold on the Microsoft Store.

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