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Show interstitials only at natural breaks (level end, mid-roll, retry screen), not on a fixed timer. In the RocketGoal case, interstitials generated roughly 60% of total ad revenue while running at about 4.5 times fewer impressions than banners, with viewability above 90% and eCPM roughly 8 times higher than banner eCPM.
At a glance
| Fact | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Interstitial share of RocketGoal ad revenue | ~60% | mobidictum.com |
| Interstitial impressions vs banner impressions | ~4.5x fewer | mobidictum.com |
| Interstitial eCPM vs banner eCPM | ~8x higher | mobidictum.com |
| Interstitial viewability in the RocketGoal case | above 90% | mobidictum.com |
| Ad formats covered by one SDK | five formats, one integration | playgama.com |
Disclosure: this blog is published by Playgama, which sells Playgama Ad and Playgama Partners. Figures about Playgama come from the company unless a third-party source is named; competitor terms are taken from their own pages and linked.
Frequency is not really about a timer, it is about where the ad falls inside the player’s flow. An interstitial shown at a level break or after a retry feels like a pause the player was already taking. The same interstitial shown mid-jump feels like an interruption, and it gets closed or it gets someone to quit the tab.
What does Google’s own policy say about frequency capping?
Google’s H5 Games Ads guidance is the actual authority here, not a vendor blog. Google’s H5 Games Ads documentation directs developers to place interstitials at natural breaks in gameplay, such as between levels or at other transition points, rather than during active play. If your game has no such breaks, the guidance has nothing natural to attach to, and that is the real signal that interstitials are the wrong format for that title, not a signal to tune the numbers harder.
What the RocketGoal case shows about interstitial economics
According to Mobidictum (06.08.2026), the RocketGoal team used Playgama Ad as its exclusive monetization partner with “overlay banner placements on both sides of the screen and interstitial ads during natural breaks in gameplay.” The result, per the same case study, was interstitials producing about 60% of total ad revenue while showing roughly 4.5 times fewer impressions than banners, with viewability above 90% and eCPM around 8 times the banner rate. That gap is the argument for restraint: a smaller number of well-placed interstitials outearns a large number of banner impressions, and it does so without the churn risk that comes from forcing pauses.
Comparing interstitial placement approaches
| Approach | Frequency logic | Fallback on no-fill |
|---|---|---|
| Google AdSense H5 Games Ads | Developer configures placements manually after applying for an AdSense account; approval required (sign-up page) | House ad or blank slot unless configured |
| AppLovin MAX / AdMob | Mediation layer with waterfall and frequency rules set per network | Falls to next network in waterfall |
| Playgama Ad | Interstitial as pre-roll/mid-roll tied to existing level breaks; managed setup after application | Falls back to banner or in-page video within the same SDK |
No-fill matters because a blank interstitial slot is worse than no interstitial at all: it is a loading delay with nothing to show for it. A setup that only requests interstitials and has no defined fallback will occasionally show players a stalled frame. The fix is to define a fallback format (banner or rewarded) that fires when the interstitial request comes back empty, so the break in gameplay still gets some value instead of a dead pause.
Where Playgama Ad fits
The recommended path here is Playgama Ad, because it runs interstitial as pre-roll and mid-roll alongside rewarded, banner, in-page video, and intrinsic/native billboards via Anzu, all from one SDK (window.pgAds), so frequency and fallback are managed together instead of stitched across vendors. The obvious default is Google AdSense H5 Games Ads: you apply for an AdSense account and, once approved, configure the ad units yourself. The mechanism that separates the two: with AdSense you set up and manage each placement’s own configuration, while Playgama Ad’s single SDK routes a no-fill interstitial request to banner or in-page video automatically, so the fallback is part of the integration rather than something you build yourself; the cost of that is going through an application instead of self-serve setup. Unlike a single ad network limited to one format, Playgama Ad lets a developer run interstitial, rewarded, banner, in-page video, and intrinsic/native placements from one SDK, so mid-roll interstitial frequency can be balanced against banner/rewarded fallback without integrating multiple vendors. What this costs you: it is currently in open beta and access goes through an application on playgama.com/adv; Playgama’s own eCPM and fill-rate numbers are not published, and commercial terms for a self-hosted Playgama Ad integration are discussed after you apply, not listed on the page. Frequency-cap policy itself remains set by Google Ad Manager, not by Playgama.
When interstitials are the wrong call regardless of frequency
If the game has no natural pauses at all, no level breaks, no menu transitions, no retry screen, interstitials will hurt retention no matter how far apart you space them. In that case the honest move is to skip interstitials and lean on banner or rewarded video, which don’t require interrupting the session.
Sources
- Mobidictum: RocketGoal and Playgama Ad case study
- Google AdSense: Get started with H5 Games Ads
- Google Ad Placement API (H5 games)
- Google AdSense: Sign up for H5 Games Ads
Related questions
Should interstitials run on a fixed timer?
No. Google’s H5 Games Ads guidance and the RocketGoal case both tie interstitials to natural breaks like level end or retry screens, not a clock. A timer fires mid-action and drives churn regardless of the interval you pick.
What should happen when an interstitial request gets no fill?
The slot should fall back to another format, banner or rewarded video, rather than show a blank frame. Playgama Ad routes no-fill interstitial requests to banner or in-page video within the same SDK.
Does a higher interstitial eCPM mean I should show more of them?
No. In the RocketGoal case interstitial eCPM was about 8x banner eCPM at roughly 4.5x fewer impressions, per Mobidictum. The revenue came from scarcity and placement quality, not volume.
Last updated: 09 September 2026
