Ad units

ironSource enables app developers to monetize their apps through mobile app advertising in the form of banner ads, interstitial ads, rewarded video ads, and offerwalls. The ads are integrated directly into the app experience and may complement the in-app economy to ensure a non-disruptive user experience and increased engagement. Ads are served from top network advertisers, and partners are paid each time their users interact with any of the ads in their app. 

To monetize your app, create a mix of ad units to build a solid monetization strategy. Choose your ad units from ironSource’s comprehensive portfolio of ad formats.

Interstitial 

An interstitial ad is a full-screen static, video or interactive (playable) ad unit that offers users the option to exit and skip. They engage users with rich content at natural pauses in the app’s flow, ensuring minimum disruption to user experience while maximizing user engagement and revenue. 

This is what an interstitial ad looks like:

Benefits of interstitial ads

• Engaging content
  • Full-screen size
  • Media content can be static, video or interactive

• Rewardable 
  • Users who view the ads can receive in-app currency

• Positive UX
  • Placement in natural transition points improves the overall user experience

• High eCPM benchmarks
  • With the right implementation, playable and video interstitials can reach substantial eCPMs in tier 1 countries

Learn how to set up an interstitial ad.

Rewarded video

Rewarded video is an opt-in ad unit that encourages users to watch a video in order to receive in-app rewards. 

This is what a rewarded video ad looks like:

Benefits of rewarded video ads 

• Increase revenue
  • Rewarded video ads can increase your app revenue since the eCPM for rewarded videos is generally high.

• Increase in-app purchases
  • Rewarded video encourages free users to make in-app purchases by giving them a taste of the premium features they’re missing.

• Increase user engagement and retention
  • Users prefer to watch reward video ads rather than pay for premium features. This allows them to continue playing your game for longer which increases retention, engagement, and LTV.

Learn how to set up rewarded video ads

Banner/MREC

A banner ad is a rectangular ad that is typically displayed on the top or bottom of the screen and remains in place for the entire user session. Banner ads can be static or dynamic.

This is what a banner looks like:

Benefits of banner ads

Banner advertising serves as an easy, quick, and cost-effective way to generate immediate interest. Banners are the oldest form of advertisement and can make an instant impression at a minimum cost.

Banner advertising should be used not only to pique the curiosity of prospects but also to help retain them by promoting brand awareness.

Supported sizes

Standard
320 x 50: This ad size is the most common among mobile app advertisers, especially in hyper-casual games and non-gaming apps.

Large
320 x 90: This size is great for animated or video banners.

MREC (Medium rectangle)
300 x 250: The MREC often goes in the middle of app content, which users can view as they scroll through a feed.

Smart
320 x 50 (if screen height is ≤ 720) and 728 x 90 (if screen height is > 720): Smart banners adjust for mobile phones and tablets, depending on the size of the device.

Supported placements

Top
Banner will be centered at the top of the screen

Bottom
Banner will be centered at the bottom of the screen

Design best practices

Because of their small size, a good banner should be eye catching and easy to understand.

• Give the logo the highest visibility
• Use simple copy
• Make the call to action button stand out

Learn how to set up banner ads in your app.

Offerwall

The offerwall is a user-initiated ad unit that acts like a mini-store, listing multiple offers that users can complete in exchange for in-app rewards.  

This is what the ironSource offerwall looks like:

The offers

The offers on the offerwall can range from app-related offers such as: install an app and reach a certain level to get a reward, make an in-app purchase and receive a bonus, reach a level to achieve a higher rank, complete a survey to receive in-app currency, etc.

The rewards are calculated based on the campaign’s bid and the exchange rate set by the publisher, and represent the payment to the publisher.  Offers with a higher bid will give users a higher reward.

Target audience

Offerwall users tend to be strongly engaged with the app, but prefer to invest their time rather than their money. They’re most likely to complete offers in order to advance within the game.

Funnel

Access to the offerwall is through traffic drivers allocated to different parts of the game. Once a user accesses the offerwall, she’ll see a list of offers to complete in return for valuable rewards.

Clicking on an offer will open an intermediate page with the steps required to complete the offer and receive the reward. If the offer is appealing, the user is directed to the store to download the app. An in-progress bar and offer status keep the user up to date with all of the offers she initiated. Customer support is also provided for your app users in case of any problem.

Once an offer is completed, the user is rewarded automatically.

Learn how to set up the offerwall.