App open ad guidance and best practices

This is an article about App open ads in AdMob, which are a specialized format for monetizing your app's loading screens. They appear when a user opens the app or switches back to it. App open ads are designed for a seamless user experience during app load times.

In this article

• Why use app open ads?
• Best practices for implementation
• Policy compliance
• Example implementations

Why use app open ads?

• Enhanced user experience: Designed to blend naturally into app loading or transition moments.
• Monetization opportunities: Generate revenue during loading screens that were previously unmonetized.

Best practices for implementation

Ad placement

• App open ad units should only appear when the user opens or switches back to an app.
• Integrate app open ads into your splash or loading screens.
• If you don't have a splash screen, display ads immediately on app open or switch.
• Customize implementation based on different loading experiences within your app.

Frequency

• Analyze your app's performance and adjust ad frequency caps for the best results.
• Apps with frequent opens (more than once every 4 hours) see the best performance from app open ads. Consider other ad formats if your app doesn't meet this usage pattern.

Avoid conflicts

• Don't display ads immediately before or after app open ads.
• Don't display app open ads on top of other ads (for example, content with banner ads).

Example implementations

Use the following examples to implement your app open ads.

In the recommended example below, the app open ad is placed on top of the app's loading screen. The loading screen is seen underneath the ad.

In this discouraged example, the ad is placed after the loading screen and there is no content visible under the ad.

In this discouraged example, the ad is placed after the app content is shown. The app open ad should appear before the user can interact with the app's content.

While some of the discouraged implementations may not specifically be against our policies, not following these guidelines may lead to invalid activity and/or may result in Google disabling ad serving to your app.