What is a rewarded ad?

An opt-in video ad that the player chooses to watch in exchange for an in-game reward such as extra lives, currency or a second chance.

Where should rewarded ads be placed in a game?

At moments of need or bonus: on the fail screen to continue, on the win screen to double rewards, to skip timers, for free chests and for offline earnings multipliers.

How many rewarded ads should a player see per day?

Set a daily cap per player and limits per placement. The right number depends on the genre, and it should be tested against retention.

Do rewarded ads reduce in-app purchases?

Not when balanced well. Most players never pay, ads earn from them, and sampling items through ads can lead some players to buy.

What rules apply to rewarded ads?

They must be opt-in, the reward must be disclosed beforehand and delivered on completion, accidental clicks must not be encouraged, and children's apps face stricter limits.

Rewarded Ads Design: Placements Players Choose

The short answer

Place rewarded ads where the player already wants something: a second chance after failing, a doubled reward after winning, a skipped wait, a free chest. State the reward before the ad, make it worth thirty seconds, cap how often it can be used and never lock normal progress behind watching. Done this way, rewarded ads raise revenue and often retention too.

Why rewarded ads are different

Interstitials and banners interrupt. Rewarded ads are a trade the player chooses. Because they are opted into and watched to the end, advertisers pay more for them than for most other formats, and players rate games that use them well more kindly than games full of forced ads. The design question is where to offer the trade.

Placements that perform

Placement	Offer	When it appears
Continue or revive	Keep going after failing	On the fail screen, once per attempt
Double reward	Twice the coins from a level	On the win screen
Extra moves, time or lives	A small boost to finish	Near failure in puzzle games
Free chest or spin	A random reward	In the lobby, on a timer
Skip the wait	Finish a build or refill energy	When a timer blocks the player
Offline earnings multiplier	Double what was earned while away	On return in idle games
Try before you buy	Use a premium character or weapon for one run	Before a level
Daily bonus boost	Bigger daily reward	On claim
Hint	Reveal a move or answer	When the player is stuck

The best placements share three traits. The player has a clear want, the reward satisfies it immediately and the offer does not interrupt play.

Sizing the reward

Worth the time. A thirty-second ad for a trivial amount teaches players to ignore the button.
Not too large. If ads give more than purchases feel worth, nobody buys.
Proportional to progress. A fixed coin amount becomes meaningless later. Scale rewards with level or use multipliers.
Certain. State exactly what the player will get. Random rewards after a rewarded ad feel like a trick unless the range is shown.

Think of an ad view as a small payment and price it within the economy. As a rough frame, compare the revenue you earn from one view with the cash price of the same reward in your shop, and keep the ad clearly less generous per unit of real value while still feeling good. See game economy design.

Frequency and caps

Limit each placement, such as one revive per attempt.
Set a daily cap per player so ads do not flood the economy, and show a countdown when the cap is reached.
Use cooldowns on lobby placements.
Check that an ad is loaded before showing the button. An offer that fails to play is worse than no offer.

Caps also protect ad quality, since networks pay less for the tenth view of the day than for the first.

Rewarded ads and purchases

A common fear is that ads cannibalise purchases. In practice most players never pay, and rewarded ads earn from them. For players who might pay, ads can act as a sample: they try a booster through an ad, see its value and later buy a pack. To keep both working:

Sell things ads cannot give, such as permanent upgrades, exclusive items or larger bundles.
Offer a paid ad-skip product that grants rewards without watching.
Segment. Show fewer ad offers to regular payers and more to non-payers.

See ads vs in-app purchases and in-app purchase implementation.

Policy rules

Ad networks set rules for rewarded placements, and breaking them can suspend your account. Common requirements:

The ad must be clearly opt-in, started by the player.
The reward must be disclosed before the player chooses to watch.
The reward must be delivered when the network signals completion.
No encouraging clicks on the ad, and no placing buttons where accidental clicks happen.
Follow the rules for apps directed at children, which restrict ad types and data use. See rules for kids games.

Read the current policy of each network you use, and of the stores.

Technical integration

Use mediation so several networks compete for each impression. See ad mediation for mobile games.
Preload the next ad as soon as one finishes.
Grant the reward on the completion callback, not when the ad opens.
Handle no fill gracefully: hide or grey out the button, or offer an alternative.
Pause audio and gameplay while the ad plays, and resume correctly.
Consider server-side reward verification for valuable rewards to block fake completions.
Respect consent choices for personalised advertising.
Keep ad kits updated, since networks stop serving old versions.

Engine-specific notes are in Unreal Engine mobile monetization.

Metrics

Metric	Meaning
Engagement rate	Share of daily players who watch at least one rewarded ad
Views per engaged user	How often they come back to the offer
Views per daily active user	Overall ad volume
eCPM	Revenue per thousand impressions, by network and country
Ad revenue per daily active user	The number that matters for income
Fill rate	How often an ad was available when requested
Retention and purchase conversion	Guardrails. They must not fall

Track each placement separately, as described in game analytics events to track. Overall income is explained with other measures in mobile game KPIs.

Testing

A/B test one change at a time: reward size, placement position, cap, button wording. Judge by revenue per player and by retention together. A change that lifts ad revenue this week and lowers day-7 retention is a loss.

By genre

Hyper-casual and hybrid-casual: revive, double reward and skins. Ads are the main income. See hyper-casual vs hybrid-casual.
Puzzle: extra moves, hints and lives. See match-3 game development cost.
Idle and tycoon: offline multipliers, timed boosts and skips. See idle game development cost.
Mid-core: free chests and timer skips alongside purchases.

Common mistakes

Forcing rewarded ads, which makes them interstitials with extra steps.
Rewards too small to notice.
No cap, so the economy inflates.
Showing the button when no ad is loaded.
Granting the reward before completion, or failing to grant it after.
Placing offers mid-action where they interrupt.
Measuring revenue alone.

Getting help

We design placements, integrate mediation and run tests for Unity and Unreal games. Packages are on the offer page, and our page on how to earn from games compares revenue models.

Sources: Google AdMob: Rewarded ads for Android · Google AdMob: Rewarded ads for Unity · AppLovin MAX documentation. Checked November 11, 2026.

Rewarded ads design: placements players actually choose