Ad Monetization Without Killing Retention

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Ad Monetization

Without Killing

Retention

Best Hybrid Practices

Playliner

by Sensor Tower

Playliner
, Sensor Tower’s state-of-the-art platform for analyzing

Live Ops, enables you to dive into a rich repository of events,

updates, and monetization oﬀers across hundreds of top games.

Whether you’re designing a new oﬀering, reengaging existing

players, or optimizing your monetization tactics, use
Playliner to

secure your competitive edge in the mobile gaming world.

This report gives you a preview of the rich insights available

in-platform – use these evidence-based recommendations to

move with confidence and revamp your strategy for 2026.

Three Ad Types We’ll Break Down

Bad Ads kill Retention.

Good Ad architecture scales LTV

Ads are often treated as pure negativity. In Hybrid games, that’s a mistake – Ads can support the player and scale revenue without killing

retention. The key is to treat ads as a
design system
: right format, right moment, right pressure.

The most flexible and safest Ad format:

●
RV is the most player-friendly format: can

support progress, grants extra

currencies

●
but can also
break the economy

and

diﬀiculty curve if it starts replacing coin

sinks

Goal:
improve engagement and progression

without cannibalizing IAP

Usually the
lowest eCPM
and often a smaller

share of total Ad revenue – added late as an

extra layer.

Their real risk is not revenue – it’s
distraction
:

bright competitor creatives, misclick zones

Goal:
add
incremental revenue

– while

minimizing negative impact =with
minimal

distraction

Your main tool for
coverage
– monetizes a

large share of players, fast.

But it’s also the easiest way to
damage

retention
if you place it in the wrong
emotional

moment (e.g., after a loss) or stack it too often.

Goal:
maximize coverage while
minimizing

negative impact
on retention

Interstitials

Rewarded Video (RV)

Banners

Fundamentals

Interstitials + banners = scale, but

minimize damage

RV = value exchange

Core Building Blocks of an Ad System

Triggers & Timing

End-of-level (WIN vs LOSE) + risky

triggers (unpause, mid-level).

Match ads to the player’s emotional

state.

Control Knobs

Start gates (level + playtime),

frequency, cooldowns, daily caps,

per-placement limits and others.

Strategy by Monetization Model

Diﬀerent rules for Ads-first, IAP-first,

and Hybrid: start timing, RV coverage,

No Ads logic

Extra Tips & Edge Cases

Creative filtering, banner refresh sweet

spot, oﬀline rules – small details that

protect trust & retention.

Placements

●
Proven RV spots

●
Banner-safe screens

●
Interstitial-safe moments

Interstitial Ad

WHY?

This is a natural emotional release point.

Level completed, Reward Granted → the loop is closed, and the player is in

a positive state

When Exactly Should You Show the Ad?

Most common placement:

●
After tapping ‘Collect’ on the reward screen

●
Before returning to lobby

WHY it works?

●
Emotional release already happened

●
But consider this:

a.
What if the player wants to Double reward via Rewarded Video?

b.
If you show Interstitial first – You block a higher-value RV and

interrupt monetization hierarchy

Most Common Trigger: After Level Completion

But this is actually
two separate triggers
:

Triggers:
After Level Completion

Most common trigger is after level end.

But Lose must be treated separately from Win.

●
Player already experiences frustration

●
Adding an Interstitial may create a double negative

●
Lose + Ad = higher churn risk

Choose the Timing Carefully

Show Interstitial only
after
the full Lose flow is completed:

●
Show the main Lose popup → Show LiveOps loss warnings

At every step, the player may convert.

If you show an Interstitial too early:

●
You increase frustration and block higher-value monetization

(Continue the level vie Ad or Coins)

In many cases, it’s smarter to sacrifice one Interstitial

than to lose a Revive conversion.

After IN – The Lowest Risk Variant

After LOSE – Higher Risk Trigger

This is not a user-friendly trigger by default.

Use only when: Levels are truly long (5+ minutes)

Triggers:
Unpause and Mid-level

When a player returns after minimizing the app:

●
They are still motivated to continue

●
They are unlikely to quit immediately

●
This can be a relatively safe interruption point

On Unpause (App Return)

Mid-Level

How to Smooth Both Triggers

Don’t interrupt instantly. Use a
pre-ad pop-up
first.

Pre-ad pop-up should:

●
Warn the player that an ad is about to start

●
Show a clear reward for watching

●
Reinforce progress and motivation: ‘You’re already 50%+ through the level’

It’s highly game-specific, but here are the key principles to guide

the decision

Many teams aim for the end of the 1st session, so the player:

●
gets engaged and enjoys the gameplay without interruptions

●
unlocks core features

●
but you still monetize a wide share of users (including those who

churn after the 1st session)

A common range is around
Level 10-20
.

⚠
But the real driver is
Playtime
, not level count:

●
level length varies

●
first-session duration varies across games

When to Start Showing Interstitials?

Extra factor: your monetization focus

●
If your focus is
IAP-focused
, you can delay Interstitials further

●
If your focus is
Ads-focused
, you usually start earlier (but still

after engagement is established)

The bigger the game and the more diverse

your players are, the more value you get

from expanding the system with extra

parameters.

(when implemented and tested carefully)

Setup Parameters

Interstitial Start Conditions:

Unlock Level

Two key start parameters:

1.
Level reached

2.
Total playtime

Best practice: use
both
as a gate.

Start showing Interstitials only when:

●
the player reached
Level X
,
and

●
session playtime is
above Y minutes

Session Start

Don’t show ads in the first minutes of a session

– give the player time to get engaged first.

(short cooldown ~ 1-3 minutes)

Every X Level + Cooldown

1.
Basic Parameter –
Set a rule for
every

N levels
(in most of the cases – every

level)

2.
Add Cooldowns (Best Practice)

A stronger setup is combining N-level

logic with cooldowns:

2.1
Time since last Interstitial

–
If the player clears levels quickly,

you avoid back-to-back ads

2.2
Time since last Rewarded Video

–
If the player just watched RV

(revive / booster / multiplier) –

avoid stacking ad fatigue

Smart Hybrid Solution (Pixel Flow example)

–
If player HAS No Ads purchase →
✅
Allow oﬀline play

–
If player DOESN’T have No Ads →
❌
Block oﬀline play

Oﬀline mode creates a clear conflict:

Oﬀline Mode: Pixel Flow case

●
Protects ad revenue

●
But may frustrate players

●
Risk: negative UX in real oﬀline situations (metro, flight,

poor signal)

Option 1: Block Oﬀline Play

●
Better player experience

●
But creates ad revenue leakage

●
Risk increases if players intentionally abuse oﬀline mode

Option 2: Allow Oﬀline Play

Banners

Banner Ad

Banner Ads – Often the Most Unpleasant Ad Format

Why?

●
Lowest eCPM + usually the smallest Ad

Revenue share

Banners are often added last as a ‘small extra

layer’ – typically assumed to bring ~
10-15%

incremental ad revenue (varies by genre and

game specifics)

●
Retention risk

Bright, animated competitor creatives:

○
distract from your game

○
irritate players

○
pull attention to competing titles

The calmer / flatter your UI style is, the more

aggressive banners will look inside it.

●
They require UI planning upfront

If you plan to add banners at any point, reserve

space from the start.

○
Your screens must look clean
with banners

and without them
– otherwise you’ll end up

with broken layouts or a rushed, ugly

integration.

In most games, banners are placed
at the bottom
.

How to choose?

Why bottom often works:

●
Player attention is usually higher on the screen

(core UI / goals / progress)

●
Bottom area is often partially covered by the

player’s hand during active play

Key risk: tap zones & misclicks

●
Boosters / core action buttons are often placed

at the bottom

●
If zones are too close, players will misclick the

banner when they intended to use boosters

→ irritation + retention damage (and potentially

lower-quality traﬀic)

Practical tip:
Always verify layout across multiple resolutions / aspect ratios. Otherwise you can end
up

with broken UI where banners overlap key elements (like the 2nd screen – Goods Sort example).

Banner Placement:

Top or Bottom?

Top Placement

Bottom Placement

Where to Place Banners?
(and Where Not To)

Most Common Placements

●
Gameplay (TOP exposure)
– players spend the most time here

●
Secondary screens
– e.g., Settings, sometimes Win screen

Lobby –
Usually

NO
:

●
conflicts with bottom navigation and high misclick risk

●
exception: a simple, low-density, flat lobby with clean spacing

Store –
Usually

NO
:

●
you want full focus on purchases

●
store visitors already show high intent → don’t distract them

Revive pop-ups –
Controversial:

Depends on your monetization focus:

●
Hybrid monetization games:

○
often avoid banners here

○
focus attention on Continue options (coins / RV)

○
use the banner Oﬀer Instead

●
Ads-monetization games (e.g., Block Blast, Cryptogram):

○
they still keep RV as an option, but maximize ad surface

and often place a banner even on Revive screens

Core Gameplay

Lobby Screen

Revive Pop-Up

Setup Parameters

Refreshing banners more often
doesn’t always

increase revenue
.

●
Too frequent refresh can
drop eCPM

●
It can also
increase annoyance
→ lower loyalty

●
Plus
extra device load
(performance, battery,

heat), especially on weaker phones

Best practice:
test and tune

Same Control Rules as Interstitials

In general, banners should follow similar

rules to Interstitials:

1.
When to start showing

Use both gates:

●
Level reached

●
Session playtime

2.
And decide whether banners appear:

●
from session start, or

●
only after X levels and/or t minutes

(early-session protection)

Creative Cleanup / Blocking

Competitors often run banners with:

a.
fake buttons (CTA imitation)

b.
overly aggressive animations

Track these creatives and
block/ban them
to protect

UX and retention.

Rewarded Video Ad (RV)

Rewarded Video Ads

Ads are often treated as pure negativity.

But Rewarded Video is diﬀerent:

●
it can
HELP
the player, not punish them.

The real question is not: ‘Where should I place RV?’

It’s:
‘What player behavior am I buying with this

placement?’

Every RV button trains a habit:

●
Revive, save progress

●
grind more

●
get additional rewards

●
skip friction

●
or simply keep playing longer

Great RV systems monetize

motivation
, not
desperation
.

Why RV is Helpful for the Players?

RV is useful because it turns a
‘paywall moment’
into an alternative:

instead of paying money/currency, the player can pay with
Time + Attention
. This strengthens the
F2P
loop.

Progress Save

●
Continue instead of losing

e.g., +30 seconds, +5 moves,

extra attempt

Easier Gameplay

●
Extra board space / extra slot

●
Extra boosters at the right

moment

Currency & Resource Income

●
Soft currency, boosters,

consumables

●
An extra source of income

Faster Gameplay / Boost

●
Speed up timers

●
Accelerate event progress

(e.g., x2 event currency)

What Drives Players to Watch RV?

Habit Pressure: Daily Limits

●
‘I have 2 RV views per day’ → I should use

them

●
Creates a routine and planned

consumption

Urgency: Time-Limited

●
‘You have 60 seconds to decide’

●
Uncertainty about the next chance

increases conversion

●
Scarcity + urgency pushes less rational

decisions

FOMO: Missed Value / Opportunity Cost

●
If I don’t take the RV booster → I progress

slowly

●
If I skip the extra reward → I’m being

ineﬀicient

●
Feels like ‘leaving value on the table’

RV Visual Standards

1.
Dedicated RV Button Color

a.
Pick
one color
for all ad-driven actions

b.
Use it consistently across the whole game

c.
Don’t overlap with other button types (IAP

/ Claim / Continue)

Common choices:
Yellow
(most common) and

Purple
(less common)

2.
Universal Ad Icon

a.
Use the most recognizable market icon:

the clapperboard

b.
Add it to every RV button for instant

recognition

3.
‘FREE’ Label

Works – Even If it’s not 100% True

a.
Yes, the player pays with time + attention

b.
But ‘FREE’ often increases conversion

because the mental comparison becomes:

○
pay money vs spend time

The most popular

RV placements

Revive (Play On)

Revive is one of the
TOP monetization points
in

most games, so it’s also a top RV placement. But it

needs strong economic protection.

1.
Don’t devalue coins with Revive

Oﬀer
diﬀerent value
for Coins vs RV:

●
Coins = better value (more benefit)

●
RV = minimum viable help (good, but clearly

weaker)

This keeps RV available, while keeping Coins

attractive.

2.
Protect the economy with repeat-fail logic

A strong pattern:

●
1st fail on the level → allow RV revive

●
If the player fails the same level again → remove

RV, keep Coins only

WHY it works:

●
Players have already invested eﬀort once

●
Skipping a 2nd revive feels irrational

●
Increases coin spend and purchase motivation

without inflating rewards

Diﬀerent Value

1st Revive

2nd Revive

Booster usage is another TOP monetization point. Common setups:

Buy Booster

1. Diﬀerent value: Coins vs RV

Show clear value gap:

●
Coins = more (e.g., 3 boosters)

●
RV = less (e.g., 1 booster)

Keeps coins meaningful while still oﬀering

RV access.

3. Ad Monetization games: RV-only boosters

For Ad-monetization focused games:

●
No coin option at all

●
Boosters are
RV-only
, 1-click access,

always available

High revenue potential, but must be paced to

avoid turning gameplay into an ad loop.

2. Same amount for both
(the ‘player trap’)

Oﬀer
1 booster
for Coins and
1 booster
for RV.

Often seen: diﬀerent boosters have diﬀerent

coin prices, but
the same RV price

As a Result: 30 vs 50 vs 100 = 1 RV

Looks unbalanced – but can be intentional:

●
Players feel they ‘outsmarted the system’

by using RV on the most expensive booster

●
You get what you want: an RV Ad view

Core Gameplay:

Extra Shelf

A very eﬀective placement is embedding RV

directly into gameplay:

●
an extra empty slot / extra space on the

board
(for limited-space mechanics).

WHY it works:

●
Player can still win without it – but it

becomes much easier with the extra slot

●
You can add it only on
Hard / Super Hard

levels
– with space-deficit situations

●
The key advantage: it appears
before the

player loses

○
the problem is visible

○
but the negative emotion hasn’t

started yet

○
the player can prevent failure

proactively (‘one step ahead’)

Time Limited Reward:

Bulb

This mechanic came from
Merge-5
, expanded into

Merge-2
, and is now actively used in
expedition

games
and even
casual puzzles
.

Core idea

●
A
bubble
appears unexpectedly (ideally at a

moment of diﬀiculty):

○
‘Watch an RV to get a reward’

●
The oﬀer is
time-limited
(e.g., only ~1 minute)

WHY it converts:

●
The player doesn’t know when (or if) it will

appear again → scarcity

●
Time pressure pushes less rational decisions →

urgency

Extra monetization leverage

●
If the same booster is normally
coins-only
, RV

feels like a ‘freebie’ → very high uptake

●
In Merge-2 this often becomes a classic value

comparison:

○
Fast
(hard currency) vs
Cheap
(RV)

Unlike scarcity/failure-driven RV, this one is a
positive

trigger
: the player already won – and wants to make

the win feel bigger.

2 common implementations

1.
Multiplier ‘Tap Meter’ (skill/fortune)

a.
Player taps to ‘land’ on a multiplier

b.
Pros: fun, perceived control

2.
Fixed Multiplier (usually x2)

a.
Simple, fast, predictable

b.
Often more popular today

What to consider

Your multiplied reward must feel meaningful.

Players won’t watch an ad for +10 coins if a revive costs

1000.

Best focus: Special Levels

Put the strongest emphasis on Special Levels: Bonus /

Hard / Super Hard levels

WHY?

●
Rewards are already higher (sometimes 2-3x

baseline)

●
RV multiplier becomes ‘worth it’ in the player’s

head

Reward Mult

Expectation setting:
Don’t expect players to multiply every level.

With good framing, they’ll use it mainly on high-reward special levels.

Soft Currency income

This placement is especially strong in
non-level-based

games
, where continued play depends on having

enough soft currency.

1.
Classic F2P Value Contrast

You oﬀer a clear choice:

a.
Fast / simple / large
→ IAP or hard currency

b.
Slow / small chunks / ‘free’
→ Rewarded

Video

(‘free’ = paid with time + attention)

This is the core F2P principle and it naturally

self-segments players:

‘Some pay with money, others pay with time’

2.
How to Avoid Breaking the Economy

a.
Key risk: players who would have paid now

switch to ads

b.
A common solution:
hard cap soft currency

from RV
(e.g., 4 times/day pattern)

WHY it works:

–
lets players play longer ‘for free’

–
builds habit + desire to continue

–
but keeps control over when more aggressive

monetization must kick in

Additional placements: Part 1

LiveOps Booster (x2 / x3)

●
Works both ways: if a player enters an event,

they’re more likely to activate a booster.

●
If they activate a booster, they’re more likely

to keep playing the event until it expires (to

‘use it fully’).

Lives

●
Common tradeoﬀ: refill +5 Lives pack for

coins VS +1 Life for RV

●
RV helps soften friction without fully

removing the sink

Pre-Level Booster

●
Provides a ‘helper’ for the upcoming level

via a booster

●
Works best right before Hard levels: frame

it as a ‘support’ to beat a diﬀicult stage

Additional placements: Part 2

Wheel of Fortune

●
An extra resource source

●
Best surfaced at session start so players

don’t forget it

Core Mechanics Help

●
Pay RV to unlock a feature temporarily

(e.g., open a shelf early)

●
Place it where valuable resources are

visible → clear perceived value

Daily Calendar Quest Catch-up

●
If a player missed a day → replay it via RV

●
Supports retention (daily habit) +

recovery for missed days

Additional placements: Part 3

●

Daily Shop Bonus

●
Drives traﬀic into the store

●
Should feel meaningfully valuable

(otherwise ignored)

Ad Endless Oﬀer (RV-only)

●
Increasing rewards in the chain

●
Few users max it, but many take

1-2 steps/day → great at scale

Extra Reward on Top (Bonus for RV)

●
Not watching feels like missing out

●
Position it as ‘bonus’ rather than ‘required’

NoAds

It’s also important to clarify what ‘
No Ads
‘

usually means:

●
Remove the annoying ads
: Interstitials +

Banners

●
Keep the useful
, player-beneficial ads:

Rewarded Video (RV)

NoAds:

WHY do you need it?

Whenever we create friction in a game, it’s smart to

design the solution at the same time:

●
Low on coins → oﬀer a deal

●
Falling behind in a tournament → oﬀer a booster

Same logic applies to ads.

Annoyed by ads? → oﬀer
No Ads
.

For the player:
a clear way to pay for comfort and

remove interruptions

For the game:
a direct way to compensate the revenue

you would’ve earned from ads

Many teams treat No Ads as the default. But it’s
not always
the best business decision.

Block Blast example (Hungry Studio)

Block Blast runs
all Ad formats
, yet players report
NO option to pay to Remove Ads
.

So yes – a top game can exist without No Ads.

WHY might ‘No Ads’ be worse for revenue?

No Ads is basically
Ad Revenue ‘compensation’
:

– you trade ongoing ad impressions for a one-time (or limited) purchase.

In some games (high engagement / long sessions), the ad revenue from an active player can

exceed what No Ads would bring – especially if:

●
Retention + Playtime are strong

●
Interstitial pressure is softened (e.g., longer gaps between interstitials in Classic Mode)

Self-check question:

Have you modeled this for YOUR game?

●
Expected ad revenue per engaged user (with current ad gaps)

●
No Ads price × predicted conversion rate (and lost ad impressions)

NoAds: BUT, Is It Always Worth It?

No Ads: Temporary or Permanent?

Most games sell
No Ads forever

However, you can experiment with
time-limited No Ads

( just make sure you reserve enough time to run a proper test)

Interesting uses of
Temporary No Ads
:

●
Event reward:
let players taste the game without ads – when ads

return, they’re more willing to pay to get that comfort back.

●
Welcome Back reward:
remove ad pressure right after a return,

reducing the risk of a quick churn on return.

A common best practice is to create a dedicated

NoAds Oﬀer
.

Compared to hiding No Ads in the Shop, it has

clear advantages:

●
A lobby widget (sometimes even visible in

core screens) → always
reminds
the player

●
A session-start pop-up, plus extra
triggers

(e.g., right after an Interstitial) → unlike the

Shop version, where the player must

remember to go find it

Typical oﬀer structure

●
Most often it’s a Bundle: No Ads + extra

currency/resources

●
More rarely (not necessarily worse):

○
No Ads only

○
Both options (No Ads only + Bundle)

shown side-by-side

How to Sell No Ads:

The ‘No Ads Oﬀer’

NoAds Bundle

Just NoAds

Both options

NoAds Bundle

Just NoAds

Both Options

‘Just No Ads’ + ‘No Ads Bundle’ (Side-by-Side)

●
Place two oﬀers next to each other:

○
Option A:
No Ads only

○
Option B:
No Ads + extra

currency/resources

●
Often the bundle is visually larger → stronger

attention pull

●
Make
No Ads
oﬀers stand out from the

rest – use distinct color, animation, and visual

treatment to separate them from standard

shop items.

WHY it works:

●
Anchoring eﬀect:
value of the bundle is much

higher, while price is only slightly higher

●
Pushes players toward the bundle as the

‘smart choice’

How to Sell No Ads:

Shop NoAds Bundles

When is this setup is especially good?

If your game is
IAP-focused
, it can be smarter to:

●
earn less from No Ads,

●
but
protect Payer Retention
and reduce

churn risk.

Extra control lever:

●
Gate No Ads behind a
minimum price
tier

(e.g., No Ads included only in purchases $6.99+,

not in the cheapest oﬀers)

This keeps high-value bundles attractive:

●
If a player is ready to spend $30 → they buy the

$30 bundle and get boosters + No Ads

●
Otherwise they must choose: Best Value bundle

vs No Ads (best case: they buy both over time)

How to Sell No Ads:

with ANY Purchase

Self-check metrics (to validate your setup)

●
What % of payers buy
only No Ads
?

●
What % of payers
never buy No Ads
, but

still purchase other IAP?

How to Sell No Ads: Extra Examples

‘Close’ Button on the Banner

Player expects to close the banner, but tapping the Close

Button → opens a
No Ads oﬀer
instead.

‘Disable Ads’ Toggle

A toggle placed in core gameplay or

Settings (alongside other toggles) that

naturally leads into the
No Ads

purchase flow
.

Core Gameplay Icon

Useful when players rarely return to

the lobby – keeps No Ads
always

accessible
.

Choosing Ad Strategy

by Monetization Type

Ad Monetization Focus:

Interstitial Ad

‘Meditative’ / Low-Fail Games →

Interstitial-driven

When gameplay is relaxing and it’s hard to lose,

Interstitials
often generate the majority of
Ad

Revenue
.

What matters most:

●
Higher
Retention + Playtime
= higher

revenue

●
Session limiters are often
removed
(lives /

energy)

●
Level pacing supports more ad

opportunities:

○
short levels
→ more end-of-level inter

triggers

○
or
long levels
→ higher engagement,

but with
ad breaks

●
Interstitials + banners can start earlier (after

initial engagement gates)

Ad Monetization Focus:

Rewarded Video

If the core has real challenge,
RV becomes the main

monetization tool
.

Key design question:
Do you need soft currency

(coins) at all?

Coins can:

●
create an IAP bridge

●
but also add friction, fake value, and

unnecessary choice layers

In ads-first games, a cleaner approach is often:

●
Failed level? →
+5 moves for RV

●
Hard level? →
RV booster

●
Direct, one-click RV – instead of ‘coins vs ad’

comparisons

RV Reward Size: How Much Do You Give?

A key tuning question:
what’s the RV payout?

●
1 booster
→ drives more frequent RV views

●
2+ boosters
→ increases the chance the player

keeps playing (because they feel ‘powered up’)

How to decide
:

●
Run an A/B test (payout size vs retention + RV volume)

●
Check the real need frequency: How often does a player actually need a

booster? Are they willing to watch ads that often?

Hybrid IAP-focused Monetization

Interstitials + Banners

●
In long-run IAP projects, you can
skip Inter + Banner entirely

●
If you still add them: start
later than usual
and use
longer cooldowns

No Ads

●
Best fit:
‘No Ads with ANY purchase’

Once a player buys anything, they’ve ‘opted out’ of annoying ads.

Rewarded Video (RV)

●
Often remove RV from core monetization points:

○
Revive / Continue

○
Booster purchase moments

●
Use RV for
controlled currency inflow
instead:

○
mini-games / periodic bonuses

○
but
limit it
(X times per day)

Goal
: Keep coins valuable vs ads

Hybrid Monetization

Wherever you have a
coin sink
, you can often add an

RV placement
as an alternative path.

●
When Coins and RV are side by side, use

anchoring
to highlight the option you want to be

the ‘optimal’ choice.

For hybrid monetization, segmentation is a must:

●
Treat
payers
like an IAP-first audience (with

lower ad pressure)

●
Treat
highly engaged non-payers
more

aggressively with ads

And keep testing continuously:

●
Coin value next to ads (does RV devalue coins?)

●
RV presence on monetization moments (does it

cannibalize purchases?)

●
Ad pressure tuning: unlock points, cooldowns,

overall aggressiveness

Same Genre – Diﬀerent Monetization: Screw Jam example

Screw Jam (early pioneer)

●
IAP-focused monetization

●
Almost no RV placements (mostly: Wheel of Fortune, +1 life)

●
Mid-length levels, high variability, relatively high diﬀiculty

Next wave: Screw Pin / Screwdom / etc.

●
Same core loop (almost 1:1)

●
Hybrid monetization

●
Often
no Interstitials
, but
RV covers most monetization moments

●
Slightly easier level design (still with challenge)

●
Clones didn’t win by ‘better core’ – they won by
monetization accessibility

●
RV-heavy coverage can outperform IAP-first setups when:

○
diﬀiculty creates frequent ‘help’ moments

○
RV is placed as a solution (revive, boosters, extra moves)

○
pressure is tuned to avoid churn (cooldowns, pacing)

Key idea:

Same gameplay + diﬀerent monetization architecture = diﬀerent ceiling.

Screw Jam

Screwdom 3D

Same Genre – Diﬀerent Monetization:

Magic Sort example

Nut Sort (earlier wave)

●
Very easy levels, minimal challenge

●
Very short levels (fast clears)

●
Ads-first monetization: no coins, lots of Interstitials

Magic Sort (opposite strategy)

●
Harder levels with more non-deterministic mechanics

(built-in challenge)

●
No revive, no RV boosters (no ‘ad-based help’)

●
Result: they significantly outperformed Nut Sort

Key takeaway:

More ads ≠ better results.

Sometimes stronger core challenge + clean experience
scales

better than aggressive ad pressure.

Nut Sort

Magic Sort

Segmentation

Segmentation Parameters (What to Segment By)

User Behavioral (Engagement)

●
Lifetime
(days since install)

●
Level progress

●
Playtime / session length

User Behavioral (Monetization)

●
Payer vs Non-payer

●
Whale vs One-time buyer

●
Recency:
how long since last purchase

Acquisition

●
UA type
(Ad-, Blended-, IAPROAS)

●
Source / network / campaign

●
Country / region
(diﬀerent eCPM +

diﬀerent ad tolerance)

Strategy note:

For payers, it’s often better to
earn less from ads
but win on
retention + future IAP
.

Also, payer segments often have
higher eCPM
, so lighter ad pressure doesn’t always mean proportional revenue loss.

●
Limits + cooldowns

(per session / per day)

●
Enable/disable specific RV placements

○
turn oﬀ RV on monetization

moments to protect IAP

○
keep RV for ‘support’ / periodic

income

What Should You Segment in an Ad System?

●
Enable/disable by segment

●
Start conditions
: Level X + Playtime Y

●
Refresh rate

●
Start conditions
: Level X + Playtime Y

●
Pressure control via
Сooldowns

(especially for payers)

○
every N levels

○
time since last Inter

○
time since last RV

Interstitials

People often say: ‘Whales should have no ads.’ But a more flexible approach is to keep ads for everyone – just
dose them
.

How to do it:

●
Set a
daily total cap
on ad impressions

●
Set
per-placement caps
(e.g., limit Revive RV separately from bonus RV)

●
Add
cooldowns
between ad views to avoid back-to-back pressure

This approach can also help build a habit:

when ads are limited and predictable, players tend to ‘use their daily views’ intentionally instead of feeling spammed.

Rewarded Video (RV)

Banners

Extra Notes

Interstitial Instead of RV (On Reward Placements)

Sometimes you can
replace a

Rewarded
placement with an
Interstitial
.

Why it can work

●
Higher eCPM:
Interstitials may monetize better than RV (or roughly the same) in some

cases.

●
Lower churn:
because the ad is shorter, there’s less interruption – and a lower risk the

player quits during the ad. Keeps the player in the flow, especially in high-frequency

reward taps (boosters, small bonuses)

Key idea:

Optimize not only revenue per view, but also
revenue per retained player
.

Ad Creative Filtering

(Protect UX & Retention)

Not all ads are equal. Some creatives actively damage your game experience – and your metrics.

What to filter out

●
Annoying / misleading creatives

Overly aggressive, intrusive, or deceptive interactions

●
‘Gross’ creatives

Pimple popping, dirt/cleaning – anything that can disgust players.

●
Political or highly triggering topics

Polarizing content that can create negativity and complaints unrelated to your game.

●
Too bright / attention-stealing ads

Especially banners with neon / acidic visuals and ‘screaming’ CTA buttons – they hijack attention and feel

toxic inside a calm UI

●
Direct competitors

Yes, they often have high eCPM – but they also raise churn risk by pulling players into similar games with

stronger hooks.

Key idea:
Creative filtering is not ‘nice to have’.

It’s a retention safety system: remove the ads that monetize today but lose players tomorrow.

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