Mobile gaming ads today

A closer look at ad quality

As users increasingly dedicate more time-share to mobile gaming, app publishers are responding by ramping up their monetization efforts—often through increased in-app advertising (IAA). While advertisers and publishers strive to provide an experience for gamers that enables both growth and retention, a trend toward prioritizing short-term results has led to a rise in disruptive ad features—including obscure close buttons, non-functional ad controls, and forced redirects that redirect gamers to app stores or landing pages instead of closing the ad as the gamer intended or allowing gamers to play the game within a playable ad.

Disruptive ad features are often designed to force users to engage with an ad by keeping users in the ad and/or taking them to the app store or landing page when a user does not intend to navigate or click through. While disruptive ad features may temporarily boost short-term ROAS by driving ad engagement (i.e. clicks), they erode user trust, decrease user retention, and hamper brand perception. This dynamic, for app publishers focused on cultivating a loyal and engaged user base, gradually undermines app user growth and hinders achieving sustainable ROAS and monetization (IAA, IAP).

Deloitte and Google AdMob conducted a global study to measure how gamers behave in response to different ad experiences and how they impact user outcomes (e.g., user retention, engagement, churn, quitting, etc). We ran a global survey of 7,000 participants who were vetted gamers, using a combination of memory recall questions and reactions to mock ad scenarios designed to show both ad experiences with and without disruptive ad features.

To complement this survey, Deloitte also conducted a multi-day global diary study with 50 participants who were vetted gamers across the same five countries to capture natural gamer sentiment and interactions with real, in-market ad experiences. This qualitative method validated survey findings and provided deeper rationale for reactions to certain ad qualities.

What we found

This study focused on user outcomes as a result of disruptive ad features on three full-screen format types - rewarded ads, interstitial ads, and playable ads. The ad experiences tested included ad features that can change the user experience where users are forced to redirect from the app to an external app store or page even though the user’s intention is to close or skip the ad. These features include:

• Obscure close “X” buttons that redirect gamers to app stores or landing pages rather than closing the ad
• Non-functional ad controls that mimic gameplay but redirect gamers to app stores or landing pages instead of allowing the gamer to interact with the playable game within the ad
• Forced redirects that redirect gamers to app stores or landing pages without any explicit user interaction

The study findings are clear: disruptive ad features such as the examples above hurt user experience (i.e., increased negative feelings while gaming, shorter session durations, higher rates of quitting) and contribute toward negative brand perception, driving churn.

The opportunity

The same survey data reveals that high-quality ad design not only prevents churn; it can actively boost engagement, retention, and brand perception.

Gamers told us what makes for a high quality ad experience. At the top of the list are:

• Ad functionality that works as expected with no deceptive ad placement or forced interactions or forced redirects
• 50% of gamers rank skip features as a top feature that can make a longer ad experience more acceptable
• Rewards that provide gamers an incentive to engage with ads as a fair value exchange

When ads are designed with the gamer experience in mind:

• 72% of gamers who see high-quality ad experiences continue playing the game
• 20% of gamers report playing a game more often when ads are consistently high quality
• Over two-thirds (+37%) of heavy gamers, high spenders would play a game more often after a high quality ad experience than casual gamers, lower spenders (+24%)

This means more gamers will stay if app publishers prioritize high quality ad experiences. App publishers that prioritize high quality ad experiences can strengthen active users (daily, monthly) and drive more ad engagement and IAP (in-app purchases).

To learn more about the impact high-quality ads can have on increasing retention and unlocking new growth, download our full report.