Every few months you hear news about the success of new ad formats, such as App Open, Audio ads, Immersive/In-Game Ads and similar. Despite the hype, these formats have not achieved the widespread adoption of staples like rewarded video, interstitial and banner ads. So, what’s holding them back?

It’s a bit unfair to group all these formats together since they serve different purposes. Still, after seeing them tested across different portfolios, they tend to suffer from the similar problems: technical friction, poor user experience, and lackluster performance.

Technical Friction

The further your tech stack is from “standard”, the harder it becomes to integrate new formats. Each format has its own quirks and getting it to work smoothly often takes more time than planned. An experienced developer can add a rewarded video or a banner in a day or two, while some non-standard integrations take weeks to get right. At that point, the cost can outweigh the potential revenue gains.

Poor User Experience

Formats like App Open or Audio Ads can be frustrating to users. Nobody likes being hit with an ad before they’ve even seen the main menu, or having a voice start talking over their gameplay. Immersive ads are much better in terms of UX, but only if they fit your gameplay, which limits them to a few genres. If you’re going to use a disruptive format, closely track retention and user feedback to make sure that the revenue uplift is worth it.

Lackluster performance

Even when they work technically, most of these formats underperform against standard ones. They often struggle getting any fill outside the Tier 1 (or even just US). App Open doesn’t have fill issues, but their eCPMs can be up to x9 lower than regular interstitials, which limits their potential.

From my experience, a few tips that can help with experimenting and utilizing new formats:

1. Don’t believe the sales pitch. The promises will actually sound reasonable, but often won’t be delivered. Protect yourself by getting a solid contract that makes sure that at least your development effort will be repaid.

2. If a format risks harming the user experience make sure it pays well. For intrusive formats like App Open or Audio Ads, experiment with high price floors. You’ll sacrifice fill but only showing ads at high prices will help balance revenue and churn risk.

3. Use the opportunity to promote ad-free purchase. Exposure to intrusive formats can create conversion pressure. Pair it with discounts and targeted “No Ads” offers to maximize conversions.

4. User segmentation is key in getting the most out of new formats. Intrusive formats can be a great way to get the most value out of the users who are likely to churn anyway.

You might get the impression that my view of new ad formats is quite negative. On the contrary, in the right niche, they can be great. I’ve seen them bring in 10%-30% of total ad revenue, when they find the right fit.

But are they the future of ad monetization? Definitely not.

When something truly works universally, it gets mass adopted fast. None of these formats clear that bar.

With top-grossing games moving away from ads or never using them in the first place, it’s hard to argue that piling on more ad formats is the future of admon.

What we need is more control. Better ways to optimize existing ads and tools to improve the ad experience. Delivering that will be the next big thing in admon, not another interstitial in disguise.