Interstitial Ads: What Are They, How Do They Work & Who Is Offering Them?

Interstitial Ads is the most common type of ads that is used nowadays in mobile apps & games. But what are they, how do they work and how can you use them?

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All you need to know about Interstitial Ads

There are several types of mobile advertising formats, and Interstitial are one of the most profitable. Ready to dive deep into the world of interstitial ads? Let’s go!

Interstitial Ads Example

What are they?

Interstitial ads are interactive full-screen ads that are covering the whole app or game interface, contrarily to pop-ups, native or banners that only cover part of the screen. As they cover the full app interface, they are considered more effective than other types of ads.

When seeing an interstitial ad, users only have two options: to click on it to get to the destination or to close it to go back to the app / game.

They are supposed to appear on the screen at a natural transition of the app or game. If it’s not the case, Google applies some restrictions (we will see them later in the article).

Interstitial ads can be displayed in different formats: it can be static (image), but it can also be a rich media (such as a video, for example). When it is a static image, the interstitial ad can be closed directly while most of the time, when it is a video, users need to wait 5 minutes to see the cross and be able to close it. They can also be “playable ads“: Ads that allow users to test a game before downloading.

What do Interstitial Ads offer?

Interstitial Ads is one of the most popular monetization strategy in the world of mobile apps and games. If some users are using ad blockers to avoid them, it is still one of the most efficient ways to promote a mobile app or game. The larger the size of the advert, the more impressions it has on users, which usually implies a higher CTR and thus, a higher CvR.

Related | Top 28 Mobile Ad Networks

In the end, they are a win-win for advertisers who need to promote their product and for developers who need to monetize their mobile apps or games to earn some money.

App / Game Monetization Interstitial Ads

What are the rules?

Google penalizes developers that use interstitial ads they consider to be intrusive. In general, what they want to avoid is:

  • Interstitial ads that do not appear during a natural transition, but while the user is browsing or in the middle of a task at hand (for example, clicking while playing a game or buying a product).
  • Interstitial ads right after opening the app.
  • Interstitial ads repeating after each user’s action.
  • Interstitial ads one after another.

These restrictions do not apply to cookie usages and age restriction interstitials when they are required.

How to use interstitial ads?

To create them, there are various platforms you can use, such as Google AdMob, Facebook Ads, Mopub, AppLovin… and much more of them. These platforms provide developers with an SDK (Software Kit Development) with all the information to add this format.

Google Admob

Interstitial ads are recommended for linear apps, where the ad should appear between different stages of the app. For other kinds of apps, it might be a better idea to go for another type of ad, such as a banner.

Videos

Interstitial ads – In short

In the end, interstitial ads are a great way for mobile apps and games to promote and advertise themselves, on the one hand, or to monetize, on the other hand, by hosting them. It is one of the most efficient advertising ways and it usually brings great results, if used in the right way.

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