How Treeplla Grew LTV by 9.8% with AI-Powered Ad Monetization Experiments

Introduction

You’ve probably heard of Cat Snack Bar, the quirky little idle game where cats run their own restaurant empire. With its pastel visuals, cozy soundtrack, and endlessly adorable animations, it’s no surprise the game has pulled in over 40 million downloads worldwide.

Treeplla is the casual game studio behind it. This nimble, tight-knit team knows how to move fast. They’ve mastered the art of rapid iteration, especially when it comes to fine-tuning gameplay and pushing out content updates.

But when it came to monetization, specifically ad monetization, they hit a wall. Manual A/B testing wasn’t just a time suck. It became a bottleneck that slowed everything else down.

We spoke with Treeplla CEO San Heo about how the team used Airflux, an AI-powered monetization testing engine, to turn a frustrating bottleneck into a scalable and self-sustaining growth engine.

Treeplla’s Ad Monetization Strategy: What Was Working (and What Wasn’t)

Let’s be clear. Treeplla wasn’t winging it when it came to ad monetization. They had a solid setup. Users were segmented by country, purchase behavior, and in-game progression, with ad exposure tailored to each group.

For high-value players, those who had made purchases, played longer sessions, or returned often, the team showed premium ad placements with higher eCPM potential.

It wasn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. The team was smart about who saw what and when.

And it worked. In those segments, eCPM jumped by 20 to 30 times. A single impression from the right user could outperform an entire session from an average one.

Treeplla’s Ad Monetization Limits: High Complexity, Low Scalability

Still, Treeplla ran into a challenge that’ll sound so familiar to a lot of studios. Keeping tests live, and managing them at scale, created too much overhead.

Player behavior kept shifting, so high-value users didn’t stay high-value for long. There was no easy way to keep targeting rules up to date. And premium ad demand was inconsistent. Sometimes the inventory just wasn’t there.

They also held off on placing interstitials early in the session, worried it would disrupt the player experience and hurt overall revenue. In high-paying regions, they tested it anyway. But even within the same country, user behavior was so fragmented they were never fully sure it was the right call.

The strategy made sense. But the process didn’t scale.

• Every test required a new build, QA, and store review, adding 2~3 weeks

• Splitting traffic made it hard to hit significance, especially with limited volume

• Each test pulled in PMs, devs, and analysts who were already stretched thin.

Eventually, the team had to ask what every fast-moving team runs into:
Ad Monetization drives the business, but can we really afford to do it manually and slow everything down?

Enter Airflux: AI-Powered Testing on Autopilot

That’s when Treeplla brought in Airflux. Airflux wasn’t just another monetization tool. It fundamentally changed how ad monetization testing worked.

Instead of relying on manual setup and execution, Airflux ran experiments automatically, feeding real-time player data into a continuous learning loop that allowed it to adapt, optimize, and improve on its own. 

What Treeplla Tested with Airflux

• Game: Cat Snack Bar

• Segment: Stages 1–7 (early game)

• Region: Korea, US, Japan

• Variable: Interstitial ad shown with 50% probability in areas that previously had no ads

Once the initial setup was complete, Airflux took over. It began learning in real time, factoring in country, OS, playtime, spend behavior, and more to adjust ad policies weekly.

Treeplla didn’t have to touch a thing. The experiments just… kept running.

What Changed in Just 4 Weeks

Now, let’s talk results. Here’s what changed in a single month:

And that’s not all.

• Retention held steady: Even with new interstitials, user retention stayed solid. In some early-stage cohorts, Airflux test groups even outperformed the control group.

• IAPs went up too: Airflux was optimizing for ads, but the strategic timing of interstitials nudged more users toward ad removal bundles and paid offers.

The Real Win: Ad Experiments Stopped Getting in the Way

What mattered more than the numbers? The biggest change wasn’t the revenue. It was the fact that testing no longer slowed the team down.

• Ad monetization experiments now run quietly in the background

• Content updates move forward without waiting on test results

• The team stays focused on gameplay, not spreadsheets

Before Airflux, testing felt like a trade-off. “Do we delay this update for one more experiment?” After Airflux it just runs. Quietly. Reliably. And the team builds better content, faster..

Beyond Interstitials: What’s Next for Treeplla & Airflux

For Treeplla, getting interstitial monetization right with Airflux was a turning point. It worked so well that they’re now rolling it out to other titles in their portfolio beyond Cat Snack Bar.

And they’re already thinking bigger with Airflux. The team is now exploring how the same AI-powered testing engine could go beyond ads and support other parts of their monetization strategy.

• Automated IAP bundle testing: Experiments on price points, bundle composition, and layout variations

• Promo timing recommendations: Optimal sale windows based on region, seasonality, or user behavior patterns

These are the kinds of systems Treeplla is building in collaboration with Airflux, bringing the same level of automation and efficiency to IAPs that they’ve already achieved with ads.

Because at the end of the day, Treeplla doesn’t want to become a monetization lab. They want to stay a game studio that builds fun, sticky, lovable games.

Treeplla’s approach is simple: let AI handle the monetization math. As CEO San Heo puts it, "We want to design the fun and let Airflux turn that fun into revenue."

With Airflux, Treeplla believes they can test faster, scale smarter, and grow bigger

Wrapping Up: When Ad Monetization Runs Itself

Treeplla’s Cat Snack Bar story shows what’s possible when a fast-moving game team pairs creative iteration with automated monetization.

By combining their build speed with Airflux’s continuous testing engine, they were able to:

• Break free from the drag of manual A/B testing

• Keep content updates moving on schedule

• Increase revenue without sacrificing player experience

Airflux isn’t just another one-off monetization tool. It’s part of the infrastructure.
Airflux helps lean teams operate like top-tier publishers by running experiments at scale without adding overhead.

The mobile game market is moving faster than ever. Player expectations are higher than ever. And if you’re not testing consistently and learning quickly, you’re already a step behind. 

Now is the time to rethink how monetization fits into your pipeline.
Because testing never stops.
You just don’t have to be the one doing it manually anymore.

Ready to automate your monetization experiments like Treeplla?
[Start Your Free Consultation]

Don't forget to play Treeplla games available on iOS & Android!

• DDDiger: A casual idle digger where cute characters mine their way to riches (iOS, Android)

• Lucky Heroes!: A lighthearted auto battle RPG with charming pixel art  (iOS, Android)

• Cat Magic School: A magical idle sim where cats run their own spell shop (iOS, Android)

They’re just as fun and quirky as Cat Snack Bar and definitely worth a spot on your home screen!