Interstitial ads guideline

1. Interstitial ads display when the app features a natural pause in the user experience, such as between game levels. Interstitial ads should not appear suddenly and should not interfere with the app's normal user flow, such as by appearing while the app is loading, while the user is exiting the app, or during the course of game play.

2. Interstitial ads should not display worded incentives such as ""Watch the ad to gain gold coins or lives"".

Interstitial Ads Playbook

As mobile usage continues to surge, users are moving past the annoying pop-ups of the web age. The mobile-first mindset has inspired a variety of innovative ad experiences, one of the most popular being interstitial ads.

What are interstitial ads?

Interstitial ads display across the user interface, providing an immersive viewing experience. They usually appear at natural breaks or transition points in an app to minimize interruption. In general, they last 10–30 seconds and can be skipped after 5 seconds.

What do interstitial ads bring to the table?

Natural integration

Interstitial ads generally appear after the user has just finished one set of operations and before they start the next. For example, an interstitial video ad might appear in a game just after a user completes a level, or in a learning app after a user masters a module. This method avoids interrupting user flow, in turn boosting conversion rates.

Maximal monetization

Interstitial ads are a way to reach the fraction of users who don't engage with rewarded video ads. As a result, these ads get more impressions. In addition, interstitial ads yield better eCPM than their static image counterparts. Calculating revenue as impressions × eCPM / 1000, more impressions and higher eCPM spells higher revenue.

Suitability for various types of apps

Interstitial ads can be shown in portrait or landscape mode. And without the special requirements of other formats such as rewarded video ads and native ads, a wider range of app types can be involved and integration is easier.

Best practices for using interstitial ads

To get the most out of interstitial ads, keep these recommendations in mind as you plan out placements.

Minimize accidental clicks through careful placement

Interstitial ads should not appear suddenly or interfere with the app's normal user flow. To help prevent users from tapping an ad accidentally, avoid showing interstitial ads while the app is loading, while the user is exiting the app, or during the course of game play.

Set a pre-loading time to ensure the best impression rate

For a better user experience, ads should be pre-loaded and cached locally so they can be displayed without needing to load in real time.

Do note that it can be risky to pre-load ads too early on. If the ad doesn't end up displaying or the user doesn't end up viewing the ad, the impression rate will suffer. For instance, if an ad placement appears when a game level is completed, pre-loading should not start until after the user has started the level.