Interrupting interstitial
Interruptive Interstitials · experience 20 of 23
In an app, it is an image ad that covers the whole screen by surprise, right when the person is about to start a game level or a piece of content.
Understand it in 1 minute
In apps, the interrupting interstitial is the ad that appears when the person does not expect it, usually right after they chose to do something else. The Coalition for Better Ads gives examples: full-screen image ads that appear during the game, at the start of a level, or at the start of a piece of content. They are a problem because the person expects to start playing or viewing the content, and is surprised by the ad. It is like pressing play on a movie and getting a flyer in the face before the first scene.
In the Coalition's tests, the experience evaluated was the interstitial during the game or during a stretch of content. So what decides is the moment the ad appears, and not only the fact that it takes up the whole screen.
The Coalition also says which moments did not fall below the standard for apps. They are: the interstitial at the end of the game or at the end of a stretch of content, the interstitial after the score screen, and the static interstitial (still image) that appears when the person opens the app. In all these cases, the person is not in the middle of something they just started. One question helps to decide: does the ad appear at the end of something or after the score, or does it appear right when the person was about to start a level or a piece of content? In the second case, it interrupts and falls below the standard.
Allowed
- A full-screen ad after the score screen.
- An interstitial at the end of the game or at the end of a level.
- An interstitial at the end of a stretch of content, such as the end of a chapter.
- A static ad image when the person opens the app.
Not allowed
- A full-screen image ad at the start of a level, when the person taps "Play".
- An interstitial that appears during the game, in the middle of a level.
- A full-screen ad that appears when the person opens a piece of content they chose.
- A full-screen ad that pops up by surprise right after the person chose to do something else in the app.
In practice
Imagine a word game that shows a full-screen image ad every time the person taps "Play" to start a level. The person wanted to start and was caught by surprise, and this is the interrupting interstitial. If the same ad appeared after the score screen, it would not fall below the standard.
Why it's annoying
The full screen appears just as the person was about to start something and interrupts the action they chose.
How to fix
- Show the interstitial at the end of the level or after the score.
- When the app opens, only a static image.
- Cap the frequency.
In ConsentMode
Out of scope: ConsentMode audits websites, not apps.
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