An ad network buys or aggregates advertiser demand and sells your game’s ad slots, and you are paid for the impressions it fills. It works alongside ad exchanges, SSPs and ad servers such as Google Ad Manager, and in a web game ads run at natural breaks like level transitions. Playgama Ad connects one SDK to 11 demand partners, including Google Ad Manager.
At a glance
| Fact | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Demand partners connected through Playgama Ad | 11, including Google Ad Manager | playgama.com |
| Interstitial eCPM versus banner eCPM in the RocketGoal case (mostly Tier-1 traffic) | about 8x | mobidictum.com |
| Interstitial share in the RocketGoal case | about 60% of revenue at roughly 18% of all impressions | mobidictum.com |
| Fill rate in the Play-Games.com case | above 96% | playgama.com |
An ad network sits between your game and advertisers. It collects bids for your ad slots, picks a winner through an auction, and pays you a share of what the advertiser spent. For a web game, that basic loop looks the same as for a blog, but the mechanics underneath do not.
How is an ad network different from an ad exchange, SSP and ad server?
These terms are often used interchangeably, but they describe different roles in the chain:
- Ad network – buys or aggregates demand and sells your slots.
- Ad exchange – a marketplace where many buyers bid in real time (e.g. Google Ad Exchange).
- SSP – the publisher-side platform that sends your inventory to exchanges and bidders.
- Ad server – decides which ad shows (e.g. Google Ad Manager).
- Header bidding – bidders compete before the ad server call.
Why web games are not a standard website for ad serving
A news site serves a handful of page views with banner units and moves on. A web game holds a player for a session that can run for minutes, with natural pause points: level transitions, deaths, reward moments. Ad solutions built for games use that structure directly, with interstitials between levels, rewarded video tied to an in-game bonus, and in-page video players, instead of only static banners.
Google has a dedicated product for this. Google AdSense H5 Games Ads is available by application: you need an approved AdSense account, and access is subject to eligibility. 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. Games can run on your own site, be iframed into third-party sites, or run inside Android WebViews (support.google.com/adsense/answer/9959170).
How do you get paid, and which metrics matter?
Revenue depends on how many ads the game requests, how many of those requests end in an impression, and what each impression earns. The core metrics:
- Ad requests – how many times the game asked for an ad.
- Match rate = requests that received an ad from demand ÷ ad requests.
- Fill rate = impressions ÷ ad requests.
- Show rate = impressions ÷ ads returned.
- eCPM = revenue ÷ impressions × 1000.
- RPM = revenue ÷ ad requests × 1000 in Playgama Ad reports. Note: AdSense also reports Page RPM (per 1,000 page views), so always check the denominator.
Put together: Revenue = ad requests × fill rate × eCPM / 1000.
What actually decides the right network
- Who configures placements, demand and optimization: you, or a team on the network’s side.
- How many demand partners compete for your inventory. More competing demand usually improves fill and price.
- How access works and what onboarding requires, for example an application and ads.txt on your own domain.
For a side-by-side comparison of the networks web games use, see Which ad network is best for browser games?
Recommended path: Playgama Ad
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.
Playgama Ad combines header bidding via Prebid with Google Ad Manager (Playgama is a Google Ad Manager MCM partner). First, demand partners bid in a Prebid auction; the winning bid is then sent to Google Ad Manager, which runs the final auction against Google Ad Exchange and other demand, and the highest-yielding ad is shown (Prebid, Google Ad Manager Help).
Reporting is available in the partner dashboard: ad requests, match rate, fill rate, show rate, impressions, eCPM, RPM and revenue. 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. In the RocketGoal case (Mobidictum, 06.08.2026), interstitials brought about 60% of revenue at about 4.5x fewer impressions than banners (roughly 18% of all impressions), with interstitial eCPM 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.
Next step
Start by checking your session structure: how many natural break points a play session has, since that determines where interstitial and rewarded placements fit. Then apply at playgama.com/adv to see how Playgama Ad’s demand and reporting fit your game.
Sources
- Get started with AdSense H5 Games Ads
- Prebid: Introduction to header bidding
- Google Ad Manager: Header bidding trafficking with the Prebid wrapper
- Mobidictum: RocketGoal and Playgama Ad case study
- Playgama Ad
Related questions
What is the difference between an ad network and an ad exchange?
An ad network buys or aggregates demand and sells your slots. An ad exchange is a marketplace where many buyers bid in real time, for example Google Ad Exchange.
Is Google Ad Manager an ad network?
No. Google Ad Manager is an ad server (free Ad Manager and Ad Manager 360) with access to Google Ad Exchange; it decides which ad shows, and you set it up and manage it yourself or through a partner.
Which ad formats fit a web game session?
Interstitials fit natural breaks such as level transitions, and rewarded video fits moments where the player chooses to watch an ad for an in-game bonus. In the RocketGoal case, interstitial eCPM was about 8x banner eCPM in that game; its traffic was mostly Tier-1, so absolute numbers will differ for other geo mixes.
Last updated: 23 September 2026