In-game advertising in the U.S. - statistics & facts

In-game advertising is disappointing. Gamers dislike it for being disruptive. Advertisers tend to stay away, unsure of the effectiveness and fearing for brand reputation. Lacking earnings from ad sales, publishers do not have funds to develop attractive solutions. Is there a way to improve the situation for all parties involved?

Marketers believe in the “better safe than sorry” rule…

The quality of media is of utmost importance for advertisers. One of the leading indicators of media quality is brand risk mitigation, named by nine in 10 brands and eight in 10 agencies during a 2023 survey. At the same time, one in three marketers named mobile apps as one of ad channels with the highest brand safety risk. Additionally, consumers hold the advertisers accountable for the place where the ads were placed. In times of cost-of-living crisis, when both consumer spending and ad budgets shrink, brands prefer to place their bets on established, safe ad media.

… and want measurable results…

Ad fraud is also on marketers' top of mind, named one of the leading digital media challenges of 2024 (552656). Unfortunately for game developers, mobile is considered one of the most vulnerable ad channels, according to the results of a 2023 survey of U.S. digital media professionals. Additionally, four in 10 marketers worry about the declining ability to measure digital campaign effectiveness.

… but they bet on the wrong horse

Industry research shows that interstitial ads — full-screen ads that cover the interface of the app or website — are the most commonly used ad format in games. However, gamers have good reasons to dislike them. Interstitial ads yank them out of the gameplay, disrupting the flow. The ads also tend to block the entire screen, which makes them impossible to avoid or play around. Unsurprisingly, a 2022 survey confirms that gamers from the United States deem interstitial ads the most distracting ad type.

What needs to change?

Just as for any other media, the gaming industry needs advertising revenues to survive. That applies to free-to-play games as well as subscription-based models. If gaming companies want to attract more advertisers, they will need to heavily invest in AdTech that will help them fight ad fraud, mitigate brand safety risks, and provide advertisers with accurate campaign measurement. Finding better ways of addressing gamers will be more complicated. It will rely on collecting consumer experience (CX) insights, a willingness to turn them into experimental campaigns in new formats, and developing or acquiring the right type of tech for such purposes. It will be a time and money intensive endeavor, but with the potential to bring in the long-awaited cash.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Mar 18, 2024

Key insights

In-game ad revenue in the U.S.
8.5bn USD
Share of games in mobile ad spend in the U.S.
4%
Share of games in time spent on mobile devices in the U.S.
11%
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