How Mobile Ads Frustrate Users & Ways to Prevent It
This story originally appeared on the MAF blog.
Ever felt your blood boil over a mobile ad? You’re not alone.
Whether deliberately or unintentionally, app marketers sometimes serve mobile ads that cause frustrating ad experiences. These ads can range from being mildly annoying to making users so angry that they develop strong negative feelings toward the advertised apps.
What leads to this?
There are many situations where mobile ads frustrate users, and in this article, we will go over the most common ones.
Fake (Misleading) Ads
In the mobile gaming world, there are many discussions about misleading advertising.
Fake or misleading ads feature content that doesn’t represent the game’s actual gameplay. Sometimes, these ads show features that don’t exist in the game at all. In other instances, they highlight elements that exist but aren’t significant to gameplay.
Naturally, this disappoints users who install the game, expecting something completely different.
Consequences? Negative app store reviews, among other things.
Although this strategy can help marketers acquire more players and stand out in the super crowded market, it can seriously affect the game’s reputation and break user trust.
Some examples of games that often use deceptive advertising include Gardenscapes, Homescapes, and Hero Wars. While popular, these titles have become a synonym for misleading advertising in the gaming world.
“Fail” Ads
In mobile gaming, it’s common to see so-called fail ads in which players fail at extremely simple tasks. For example, such ads often feature scenarios in which players need to decide between two options and make a completely wrong choice.
These ads are designed with the intention of frustrating users.
They should provoke thoughts like: “How can someone fail at this” and create a strong desire to download the game and see if they can do better.
While often effective, this strategy is overused. Players have seen countless fail ads, and many of them don’t fall for this old trick anymore. Meanwhile, some users are so irritated by fail ads that they avoid games using this tactic.
If you plan to start or continue using fail ads, make sure to minimize their negative effects by not relying exclusively on this ad type and diversifying your ad creative strategy.
Intrusive Ads
One of the most common ways mobile ads frustrate users is by disrupting their gameplay experiences.
This refers to ads that pop up unexpectedly and “kill” the flow of the game.
Imagine that you’re playing a runner game, and just as you’re about to get close to the finish line, you get interrupted by an interstitial ad.
Just like that, you’re no longer immersed in the game.
Such situations can not only make players dislike the game that hosts these ads but also the advertised game itself.
To prevent this from happening with your ads, make sure to place them in games that integrate them during natural gameplay breaks through reputable ad networks. Also, consider using fewer pop-up ads and more opt-in ad formats that users voluntarily engage with.
Ads That Won’t Close
What’s even worse than disruptive ads?
Disruptive ads that won’t close. Ugh.
We’ve all been there: trying to exit an interstitial ad by tapping the close button, only to unwillingly click the ad.
This happens for two main reasons — either the close button is too small or it’s a fake button. These advertising practices are not only extremely frustrating for players but also violate advertising guidelines on almost all mobile ad networks.
Seeing the Same Ad Too Frequently
Another way mobile ads frustrate users is by appearing too frequently.
No one wants to see the same ad over and over again.
When this happens, it can lead to ad fatigue, a phenomenon where users see the same ads so frequently that they grow tired of them.
To be able to recognize ad fatigue, it’s important to monitor metrics that can indicate it — high ad frequency, low CTRs, and increased CPIs.
The primary metric here is ad frequency, which informs advertisers about the average number of times a user sees their ad. To prevent ad fatigue it’s recommended to limit ad frequency within campaign settings, aiming for between 1.8 and 4 total exposures per user (SocialMediaToday).
Ads Not Leading to Desired Destinations
Ever clicked on an ad for an app, hoping to go straight to the relevant page, only to end up on the homepage?
This happens when app marketers don’t leverage deep links. To define, deep linking is the practice of directing users to specific in-app destinations instead of the app’s home screen.
Today, users demand smooth and seamless online experiences.
When ads promote specific app features, they expect to be taken directly there, with no interruptions like reroutes and manual searching.
When mobile ads don’t use deep links where they are required, this creates frustrating ad experiences and negatively affects ad conversion rates.
Wrap Up
Let’s be completely honest — users generally dislike unsolicited ads and conversion chances are traditionally low. So when ads (on top of being ads) don’t deliver decent user experiences, this can be quite an issue.
When mobile ads frustrate users, it can have far-reaching negative consequences such as negative reviews, low ad conversion, low retention rates, and potential damage to brand reputation.
Therefore, app advertisers should pay special attention to how their ads affect user experiences and ensure they are engaging, relevant, and seamlessly integrated into the user journey.
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