Google wants to make in-app ads less annoying

By now, any person using an app nowadays knows exactly how annoying in-app ads are. If you haven’t paid for the ad-free version of a game, you’re most likely stuck looking at those annoying multistage apps in between levels. Well, as announced during Google’s Google for Gaming Developer Summit 2024, the company may have found a way of making ads less annoying.

This news comes along with the announcement that Google is getting ready to bring native PC games. So, rather than relying on a launcher, you will be able to install certain Android games directly on your computer. Google is currently working on a limited selection of games at the moment. However, we expect the number to grow as time goes on.

Google will make in-app ads less annoying

Right now, we are still in the early stages of this new change, so there’s no telling when we will actually see this. Currently, when you are shown an ad during gameplay, you will either see a banner somewhere on the screen or you will see a fullscreen ad that slows things down. These are the ads that really annoy people.

According to Google, the company has a plan to make these types of ads less painful. It will allow developers to place ads in less inconvenient spots. In fact, it will let developers place ads inside of custom containers within their apps. So, Those ads will not have to take up the entire screen.

What does this mean? Well, developers will be able to place the ads inside of actual game elements or UI components within your apps. Say, you make a side-scrolling game where a character runs across the city and passes a billboard. Ostensibly, you will have the ability to place the ad within that billboard so, the player will have the ability to tap on the ad there rather than having it fill the entire screen.

Another example is the screenshot below. We see that the app was placed on the loading screen in between levels. The square box being held up by the balloons is the container, in the ad is within that. So, rather than having an entire ad break between levels, developers can use an approach like this.

This may go against one dynamic of using ads

Hopefully, app developers will incorporate this en masse. One reason why this may not have the desired effect is that some ads are meant to be annoying. Sure, they generate ad revenue for app developers. However, one reason why some developers place so many incessant ads into their game is that they want to push the users to pay for subscription services or buy the ad-free version of the app. So, there is a chance that we will see little inspiration for developers to use this method if it means that playing the free version of the apps will be easier.