Hey, everybody.
I'm Andrew [? Broggan. ?] And welcome back to the Mobile Ads
Garage, where videos of mobile ads code
arrive just like old batteries-- free of charge.
In our last episode, we covered how to implement interstitials
in iOS and Android.
Today, with the help of Gary the Graphics Guy,
we're going to show you the best ways
to use them by focusing on where, when, and how.
One of most important things to consider with interstitial
is where you're going to show them
within the flow of your app.
Ideally, you're looking for a natural break in the action.
Between levels in a game is a great one.
Switching between articles or activities
is another good spot.
You're looking for places where the user is expecting a pause.
If they're not in a hurry, they're
more likely to consider what the ad has to say
and they're less likely to feel interrupted.
That's important, because you never
want to disrupt the user right when
they're trying-- [SIGH] --trying to do something.
Dude, Buckets o' Cheeze?
I think that would give me hypertension.
Picking pauses in the action for your interstitials
can also help keep you in line with AdMob's publisher
policies.
For example, to make sure users are
able to identify which app is showing them an ad,
an interstitial should never be the very first thing
they see when launching your app or the last thing on exiting.
Another thing that can set a good spot apart from a bad one
is user expectation.
For example, if you had a game in which people tap like crazy
on the screen, make sure you don't
show an interstitial right when they
think a new game is starting.
They could end up tapping on the ad accidentally, which
is a bad clickthrough.
Just like we talked in our episode about banners,
it's a part of a publisher's job to make
sure people don't accidentally tap on ads
when they're trying to do something else.
So that's the where part.
Now let's talk when.
When is mostly a question of how often.
There's a balance to find between showing enough ads
that you can hit your revenue goals,
but not so many that you flood your user with ads.
Are you dissatisfied with your current shampoo?
No.
Thank you.
Want to see a movie about a cat that plays chess?
It's called "Checkmeow."
I'm all set, really.
Even if it's something the user might be interested in--
Dude, cupcakes in the hallway.
Cupcakes in the hallway.
-it's just too much.
Is your dog getting enough fiber?
I got to start shaving my neck beard better.
If the flow of your app is dominated
by one screen or activity, it's easy to keep track and avoid
this kind of thing.
Imagine an app with multiple activities, though.
If you show an interstitial every time the user switches,
a new user who's poking around the app
might end up seeing a whole lot of ads very quickly.
On the plus side, this is an easy problem to fix.
You can keep a time stamp of when
the last interstitial was shown to make
sure you don't overdo it.
Or you could only show an ad every other time
the user switches activities.
And so on.
All right.
So that's where and when, which just leaves us with how.
The big thing I want to touch on here
is how to make sure you have an interstitial ready
when you need one.
You might remember these steps from our last episode.
Interstitials are bigger than banners,
and can take a little extra time to load.
So they're requested asynchronously,
before they're needed.
You can start that process pretty much as early
as you want in order to make sure you're done
loading when the time comes.
The important thing is that the ad waits for the user,
so the user never waits for the ad.
I don't know about you, but the last thing I ever want to do
is sit around as-- [BEEPING]
Oh, for the love of-- Home button.
So make sure you give your app enough time for its ad
requests.
Even if that means you sometimes load
an interstitial that you don't end up displaying, that's fine.
So now you know the where, when, and how.
That's all for this episode.
Here are some links to our interstitial guidance pages,
which have some great tips on how to use interstitials
effectively.
And don't forget to check out AdMob's no-nonsense guide
to app monetization.
It's an overview of monetization strategies
that includes code and tips from other engineers.
As always, if you've got a technical question relating
to anything you've just seen, stop by our support forum.
And if you've got a question about this video series
or an idea for something we could cover,
leave a comment below, and Gary and I will see you next time.
So you want to go check out those cupcakes now?
Yes.
Yes, I would.
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