Monetisation and the use of programmatic buying are some of the main priorities for developers in 2015, according to a survey by mobile ad marketplace Millennial Media.

The majority of developers polled (85 per cent) said they generate revenue from their apps, up 12 percentage points on a year ago.

Of these, 82 per cent use in-app advertising, compared with 73 per cent a year ago. An increasing proportion are also generating revenue through in-app purchases (40 per cent compared to 33 per cent a year earlier).

Paid app downloads have declined as a monetisation method, however — falling to 34 per cent from 45 per cent in 2013.

An increasing proportion of developers now make their inventory available to programmatic channels, in which data is used to inform the automated buying and selling of ads.

Around 69 per cent of respondents said they now do this, although a year-earlier comparison was not given. In general, this approach resulted in an increase in revenue.

It also emerged that video ads are becoming more commonplace, with 33 per cent of respondents saying they allow these kinds of ads to run in their products, up from 28 per cent a year ago. Native ads are used by 16 per cent of respondents.

More established ad types remained popular, however. Banner ads were used by 91 per cent of respondents in 2014, with 67 per cent using interstitials.

“Our developer and publisher partners are recognising the vast opportunities in supporting additional ad formats – such as video and native – and making inventory available through programmatic channels,” said Matt Gillis, president of platform at Millennial Media.

The company’s poll of developers and publishers also found that respondents are looking to ramp-up their efforts by designing for several operating systems and devices, including tablets.