What are mobile game ads?
Every mobile game ad has two ends. The advertiser, a game studio's user acquisition (UA) team, pays to show the ad and win installs. The publisher, usually another game, shows the ad to its players and earns from it. Same ad, two jobs.
This guide is about the advertiser side of mobile game advertising: the creative formats a UA team makes and where they run. If you're monetizing your own game with ads, your mediation platform's documentation is the place to start, for example Google's AdMob ad formats.
Mobile game ad formats
The format is what the ad is. These are the ones UA teams make for games:
| Format | What it is |
|---|---|
| Video | A short gameplay or story clip that ends on an end card with the install button. The format every network accepts. |
| Playable ad | A short, interactive version of the game that people play before installing. An HTML5 file, 5 MB on most networks. |
| Interactive end card | A short playable shown when a video ad ends, in place of a static install screen. |
| Video playable | Footage from a video ad made interactive, with tap moments, choices and branches. |
| Static image and banner | An image shown full screen, as a banner along the top or bottom of the screen, or as a medium rectangle (MREC). |
| Native | An ad assembled to match the look of the app it appears in, from parts like an icon, a title, an image or a video. |
For games, video and playables carry most of the weight, because they show the game being played. Images and banners are cheap to make and useful for reach, but they can't show a mechanic.
Placements: where in the app an ad appears
The placement is where and when the ad is shown. One format can run in several placements.
- Interstitial: full screen at a natural break in another app, such as the end of a level. Runs video, playables and images.
- Rewarded: the player chooses to watch or play an ad in exchange for something in the app they're using, like extra lives or in-game currency. They opt in, so they're paying attention.
- Rewarded interstitial: a full-screen ad at a natural break that also gives a reward, without the player asking for it first.
- Banner and MREC: a strip or rectangle that stays on screen while the app is in use.
- Native: placed within the app's own content, styled to match it.
- App open: shown when someone opens or returns to an app, over its loading screen.
- In-feed: on social platforms, between posts or videos in the feed. On TikTok, a playable starts as a video and a button invites the viewer to play it.
Google lists these placements in its AdMob ad format guide, and Unity describes rewarded, interstitial, playable and banner formats on its ad formats page. Playables run mostly in interstitial and rewarded placements, and after video as end cards.
Where mobile game ads run
| In-app ad networks | Show ads inside other apps, mostly other games: AppLovin, Unity, Liftoff, Moloco, Mintegral and Chartboost. This is where most game installs are bought, and where playables and end cards get the most room. |
|---|---|
| Social and search platforms | App install campaigns on Meta, Google, TikTok and Snapchat. All four take video and playables. |
| Retargeting | Adikteev shows rich media ads to people who already have the game, to bring lapsed players back. |
Each network has its own rules for interactive formats: file size, single HTML or ZIP, and the function the install button calls (mraid.open() on MRAID networks, FbPlayableAd.onCTAClick() on Meta, and others). A playable needs a separate build for each network it runs on. Our playable ad specs by network compare them side by side.
Which format to make first
From building more than 7,000 playables for game studios and agencies, the order that tends to work:
- Start with video. Every network takes it, and it's the quickest way to find out which hook and theme get attention.
- Add an interactive end card to the video that works. Same impressions, plus a few seconds of play before the install button.
- Build a playable around the strongest hook. In interstitial and rewarded placements the player has the whole screen and a reason to touch it, which is where a playable earns its place.
- Make variants. Change the hook, difficulty, theme and end card, and let the numbers pick the winner. The first version is rarely the best.
Mobile game ad examples
The best way to understand the interactive formats is to try them. Our playable ad examples are seven live playables you can play in the browser, from a 3D farm to mahjong, each with notes on what makes it work. To see how one is put together, read how to make a playable ad.
Common questions
What are mobile game ads?
Ads that game studios run to get people to install their game. They're shown inside other apps, mostly other games, and in social feeds, and they end with an install button that opens the App Store or Google Play.
What are the main types of mobile game ads?
Video ads, playable ads, interactive end cards, video playables, static images and banners, and native ads. Most UA teams lean on video and playables, because those are the formats that show the game being played.
Where do mobile game ads run?
On in-app ad networks such as AppLovin, Unity, Liftoff, Moloco, Mintegral and Chartboost, which show ads inside other apps, and on platforms such as Meta, Google, TikTok and Snapchat. Adikteev is used to retarget people who already installed.
Should a mobile game run playable ads or video ads?
Usually both. Video is the format every network takes and the quickest to make. A playable lets people try the mechanic before they install, and an interactive end card adds play to the end of a video that already works. Test them against each other and let the results decide.
How big can a mobile game ad be?
For playable ads, 5 MB on most networks, with every asset packed inside the file. Each network has its own packaging rules, so a playable needs a separate build for each network it runs on.
Who makes mobile game ads?
Studios' in-house creative teams, agencies, and specialist studios. Bolt Playables builds the playable formats: full custom playables, video playables and interactive end cards, with a separate build for each network.