Playable Ads vs Rewarded Videos

Our two favourite gaming industry ad formats are playable ads and rewarded videos. The advertising techniques used in the gaming industry help build brand awareness in advertising channels where competition is high.

For that reason, choosing the right ad format is crucial. It can help you differentiate your brand from the rest of the competition and reach specific audiences. Below, you will find our two favourites and why they are important to use. 

Playables

A playable ad is an interactive format that allows users to enjoy core app features in a limited selection (usually between 15 sec to 1 minute) of ad placements. This format gives the users a perfect opportunity for a brief gameplay experience. 

So, why do playables work? Playable ads are inherently more engaging, especially when targeted at mobile players. Using playable ad campaigns that effectively demonstrate what users could expect from the entire game or app is more likely to reach qualified audiences. This, in turn, would ideally increase ROAS (return on ad spending) and user retention.

But of course, certain steps must be taken to ensure the best possible impression to the user. First, display only the essential and most appealing elements of your game. Remember, keep the game mechanics simple, so the user fully understands it and spends more time playing. Finally, combine your essential elements with rich media, animations, and sound effects. Here’s an example of a playable from Angry Birds:

Rewarded Videos 

Even though playable ads generally have a higher CTR than video ads, video ads (in this case, rewarded videos) are also a solid ad option.

But what are rewarded videos? When users watch rewarded video ads, they receive a bonus/prize in return. It could be any in-game bonus like coins, extra lives, points, etc. One positive aspect of rewarded videos is that the player willingly watches the videos. This gives the user the incentive to go through the video to get the “prize” at the end. 

One important point with ad creatives is that users can get bombarded with back-to-back videos. This, understandably, disrupts the gameplay, ultimately ending in player frustration. However, with rewarded videos, 76% of players find rewarded videos the least disruptive out of all ad formats.

Like any ad creative, you need to utilize the reward placement where the user could need it the most. One of the most effective placements (there are more than 5 ways of utilizing RV) is the “get one more life/spin/coin”. No user wants to quit playing a game they have recently started to enjoy, so showing the alternative to either quit (hell no!) or watch a video to continue the game is the best option.

To Summarise

Those are our two gaming industry ad formats, and it is safe to say that not every ad creative will work for all games. There are 477,877+ mobile gaming apps available for Android. So with that in mind, the ad formats you choose for your game depend on the type of game you have and your revenue method.

In addition, it is important to test out banners, interstitials (statics), offer walls, and native (if possible). The important part is to consider the most efficient way to maximize monetisation and provide your players with the best game experience.