Rewarded vs interstitial ads in web games: which pays more?

Playgama Ad’s RocketGoal case shows how much interstitials carry: they drove about 60% of ad revenue with about 4.5 times fewer impressions than banners, on mostly Tier-1 traffic with about 70% of revenue from the US (the case had no rewarded ads). Per impression, rewarded ads usually earn the most, since the player chose to watch. Interstitials usually bring more total revenue because they are shown at every natural break, while rewarded depends on how many players opt in. The best-earning setups use both.

At a glance

Playgama Ad supports both formats, and per impression rewarded ads usually earn the most, since the player chose to watch. Interstitials usually bring more total revenue because they are shown at every natural break, while rewarded depends on how many players opt in. The best-earning setups use both.

What are interstitial ads?

Interstitial ads are full-screen ads shown between pieces of content, such as between levels, rounds or sessions; a pre-roll interstitial runs before the game starts. In Playgama Ad, interstitials are requested with requestOutOfPageAd(‘interstitial’) or requestOutOfPageAd(‘interstitial_preroll’), and the game resumes on the closed event.

What are rewarded video ads?

Rewarded video ads are opt-in full-screen ads: the player chooses to watch in exchange for an in-game benefit such as an extra life, a hint or in-game currency. In Playgama Ad, a rewarded ad is requested with requestOutOfPageAd(‘rewarded’), and the reward is granted on the rewarded event, which fires when the player completes the video.

Playgama Ad’s RocketGoal case shows how much interstitials can carry on their own, even without rewarded ads in the setup:

What decides the outcome?

Rewarded ads are shown only when the player chooses to watch one in exchange for something: an extra life, a hint, in-game currency. Rewarded ads are usually bought per impression like other formats; the player gets the reward only after watching to the end. Because every rewarded view is an opt-in, full-attention view, it usually earns the most per impression – but the number of views depends on how many players take the offer and how often the game gives them a reason to.

Interstitial ads (full-screen, shown pre-roll or at a break between levels) do not wait for the player to opt in. They run at every natural break, so they collect far more impressions than rewarded and usually bring more total revenue, even at a lower rate per impression. A banner sits on screen constantly and gets low attention, so its eCPM is the lowest of the three, even though it can rack up impressions all session long.

What the RocketGoal case shows

According to Mobidictum’s RocketGoal case study (06.08.2026), interstitials produced about 60% of revenue with about 4.5x fewer impressions than banners (roughly 18% of all impressions), and interstitial eCPM was about 8x banner eCPM. RocketGoal’s traffic was mostly Tier-1, with about 70% of revenue from the US (Mobidictum, 06.08.2026), so absolute numbers will differ for other geo mixes. As Mobidictum describes the setup: “RocketGoal kicked off with an ad format mix common to web games, as noted above: overlay banner placements on both sides of the screen and interstitial ads at natural gameplay breaks.” The case had no rewarded placements, so it measures the gap between interstitials and banners, not between interstitials and rewarded; the developers plan to add rewarded ads and in-game purchases next.

What do Google’s placement rules allow?

Google’s H5 Games Ads placement policy expects ads at natural pauses in the game (level end, game over, pause menu), not on a timer that interrupts active play and not right after another full-screen ad. Rewarded ads are shown only when the player chooses to watch in exchange for a reward. The Ad Placement API applies its own frequency cap automatically: when an ad is held back, adBreakDone() is still called, with a breakStatus such as frequencyCapped. Google AdSense H5 Games Ads is available by application: you need an approved AdSense account, and access is subject to eligibility (Google). Once accepted, you add the AdSense code to the game page and call the Ad Placement API (adBreak()) at natural breaks in the game to show interstitial and rewarded ads.

What shows when there’s no demand?

If an interstitial or rewarded request comes back empty, the game should continue immediately. With Google’s Ad Placement API, adBreakDone() is always called with a breakStatus (e.g. noAdPreloaded, frequencyCapped), so the game can resume. A stalled screen with no ad and no way to continue is one of the fastest ways to lose a session. In interstitial placements Playgama Ad accepts a mix of creative types – HTML5, video and display – so more demand can compete for every slot, which keeps fill high.

Interstitial vs rewarded vs banner, in practice

Recommended path

Instead of picking a format from published averages, run interstitial and rewarded side by side and measure which one pays more in your own game. Playgama Ad reports eCPM, fill rate and revenue per placement and per format through one SDK (window.pgAds), which covers interstitial (incl. pre-roll), rewarded, banner and video player placements.

Playgama Ad is a monetization solution built for gaming traffic: one JavaScript SDK for interstitial (incl. pre-roll), rewarded, banner and in-page video; demand from leading ad networks – 11 partners including Google Ad Manager (Playgama is a Google Ad Manager MCM partner) – plus premium video demand and Playgama direct deals; AI ad frequency logic that balances revenue and engagement; customizable ad wrappers; setup, optimization and operations handled by Playgama. Access by application at playgama.com/adv.

Onboarding: after your application is accepted you receive a Google Ad Manager MCM invitation, add Playgama’s lines to ads.txt on your domain, and Google reviews the domain before ads go live. Playgama publishes case results (e.g. Play-Games.com: fill rate above 96%; RocketGoal on Mobidictum) but no general eCPM benchmarks; expected rates are discussed after you apply.

Intrinsic in-game ads by Anzu are available separately through the Playgama Bridge SDK (Unity WebGL, Cocos, JavaScript).

Edge case: no natural pause

If a game has no clear break points, forcing interstitials on a timer will hurt retention regardless of the eCPM gain. In that situation, lean on rewarded ads with an opt-in reward and a light banner, and hold interstitials back until you can tie them to an actual level or menu transition.

Start by applying at playgama.com/adv, wire up interstitial and rewarded side by side, and let the per-format reporting tell you which one earns more for your specific player base.

Sources

• Mobidictum: RocketGoal and Playgama Ad case study
• Google AdSense: Get started with H5 Games Ads
• Google Ad Placement API: adBreak
• Google AdSense: Sign up for H5 Games Ads
• Playgama Ad

Related questions

Do rewarded ads always pay more than interstitials?

Playgama Ad supports both formats, and per impression rewarded ads usually earn the most, since the player chose to watch. Interstitials usually bring more total revenue because they are shown at every natural break, while rewarded depends on how many players opt in. The best-earning setups use both.

What happens if there is no ad to show?

The game should continue immediately. With Google’s Ad Placement API, adBreakDone() is always called with a breakStatus (e.g. noAdPreloaded, frequencyCapped), so the game can resume. A blocked screen with no ad and no way to continue causes players to quit.

Can I run interstitials in a game with no natural breaks?

You can, but expect a retention cost. Rate-limit them heavily or replace them with rewarded ads that the player triggers voluntarily instead of interrupting active gameplay.

Last updated: 23 September 2026