• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, March 2, 2015

At the Game Developers Conference on Monday, Google’s AdMob, a mobile ad platform, announced it is bringing native ads to the platform in “limited beta.” Among early users are Atari -- operators of RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile -- and CocoPPA in Japan.

“We’re happy to be partnering with Google and be the first games company to take part in the native ads beta,” stated Todd Shallbetter, chief operating officer at Atari.

AdMob also made multiple other updates to its platform in a bid to become more “audience aware.” Among those updates is an “audience builder” tool that allows marketers to create audiences based on how people use particular apps.

“For example, you could create an Audience List that defines those users who have not used your app in 14 days. Import that list into Google AdWords, and you can show ads to this list to re-engage users while they’re in other apps, or across the Web,” writes AdMob in a blog post.

Keeping the focus on audiences, AdMob has added analytics reports to help app developers understand in-game player behavior.

With extra data on audience behavior available to marketers, AdMob is also rolling out what it calls “in-app purchase house ads.” The company says its a new format that will allow developers to advertise in-app purchases only to users that are likely to buy.

“For all you other users -- those unlikely to spend -- AdMob can show them a regular ad,” AdMob writes in a blog post. This format is also in beta but is expected to be widely available “in the next few weeks."