Five popular ad formats for mobile games
                     Five popular ad formats for mobile games
John Z
Writes on ad server solutions, involved with Adspeed 
advertising platform & Ad server software.
Mobile game ads are advertisements that display inside games when 
people play those apps on their mobile phones and tablets. Gaming 
apps have one of the highest installs and engagements in app stores. 
This popularity makes gaming ads very important for both game 
publishers and advertisers. Most game publishers monetize their games 
with in-app advertising and in-app purchases. For the most effective ad 
serving in mobile games, ads should be high quality, just enough and 
placed at strategic locations. We will discuss multiple advertising options 
that are suitable for gaming ad serving.
Banner ads
Banner ads are still the most popular one for several reasons. First, it’s one of the first ad 
formats on the market, many years before mobile apps even got popular. It became the 
standard for many years and is still very popular. Second, it is simple to understand, buy, 
and sell for publishers, advertisers, agencies, ad servers, ad networks, ad exchanges and 
all other ad vendors along the supply chain. Third, it’s flexible and can be served in many 
places. An in-game banner ad is typically a simple teaser that encourages viewers to click 
on it to learn more about the offer or open the install page of the advertised app. One 
consideration is to make sure the ad placement does not interfere with the user 
experience. Often the bottom or top of the screen is an acceptable location.
Interstitial ads
Interstitial ads, also known as splash ads, transitional ads, are served 
when a user opens the app or moves from one page to another. The ad 
is often an image or video that takes up the whole device’s screen. This 
is great to capture the user’s attention but at the same time, it can be 
distracting. The ad should always have an option to skip or close so the 
user can control their own experience. Interstitial ads are most suitable 
for games that have natural breaks between episodes or levels as users 
are more likely to take their mind off the game temporarily during these 
breaks and might even welcome a little distraction or something that 
can enhance their game-playing experience.
Rewarded ads
Speaking of enhancing the player experience, ads can also be rewards. 
This is useful and popular with games because players are willing to 
exchange their time and attention for in-game items that help with their 
gameplay. These items could be coins, points, extras, bonuses or event-
specific items. To make it more attractive and interesting, you can give 
them multiple choices. With this approach, the viewers do not have a 
negative perception of the rewarded ads and other in-game ads in 
general.
In-game ad placement
Specific product placement can be embedded during the game 
development or dynamically served in real-time while the users are 
playing. The latter approach is more desirable because it is flexible and 
opens up more ad inventory than just a single static ad placement. 
Players get to see different and more refreshing ads. For dynamic ad 
serving, a mobile ad server is needed because each player might see a 
different advertisement depending on the ad targeting criteria like geo-
targeting, ad pricing, or campaign scheduling. It is still important to be 
selective about the ads because high-quality and relevant ads that 
connect to the game play at that particular moment in the game will 
make the ads more organic and natural.
Playable ads
There are many casual gamers that enjoy playing multiple games and 
not dedicate themselves to a single game. They are willing to explore 
new games. That is a great opportunity for other game publishers. 
Playable game ads are very interactive. It might begin with a quick video 
of an actual game play and encourage viewers to give it a try. If the 
viewer clicks on the ad, they can play a demo version without 
registration or payment. If they like the game, they can choose to 
download and install it onto their device. For this ad type, the 
conversion funnel is optimized, quick and often very effective.
About Adspeed
AdSpeed ad server is a reliable & powerful ad serving and ad 
management solution that serves your ads, tracks impressions & clicks 
and reports ad statistics in real-time. Driven by the latest ad serving 
technologies, the goal of Adspeed adserver is to provide a reliable 
platform that can help in executing online advertising strategy more 
efficiently. 
Thank you for spending your precious time in reading this article.