If you’re using a website and suddenly see a full-screen ad overlapping the page content, you’ve encountered an interstitial advertisement. They are becoming increasingly popular because of their relative effectiveness. This article will explain interstitial ads, how they work, and when to use them.
What is an interstitial ad?
It is an advertising format that covers the user’s whole screen on a browser web page. They fully immerse users into the ad message, unlike Banners that occupy a smaller place or popups that appear randomly. For example, the ad might appear while a user is navigating through a website.
How does interstitial advertising work?
The first step is the user landing on a website. Once they open the page, a request is automatically sent to the publisher’s ad network (e.g., Adsterra) to send an interstitial ad.
The ad network already has a collection of Interstitials from different advertisers. It detects the user’s screen size and looks for an interstitial page that matches the dimensions. The desktop or mobile interstitial must not exactly match the user’s screen size: anything that fits 50% to 100% of the screen width and 40% to 100% of the height is okay.
Of course, bidding takes place on the ad network. The network then sends the interstitial from the highest-bidding advertiser to the publisher’s website. Once the user takes the required action, e.g., completing a quest on a game, they’ll see the interstitial ad content on their device display.
To Contents ↑Why should advertisers use Interstitial ads?
The interstitial ad format offers many advantages for advertisers, including:
1. Engaging
This ad format is more engaging than other formats because it takes up the user’s whole display. It provides an interactive photo or video experience, and readers are more likely to respond to interstitial ads than other formats.
2. Multi-platform compatibility
The interstitial marketing format doesn’t discriminate. It works with all kinds of desktop and mobile devices. You can find it on desktops, Android smartphones and tablets, iPhones, and web browsers. This multi-platform compatibility allows advertisers to reach as many viewers as possible.
3. Higher click-through rates (CTRs)
Interstitial ads have higher click-through rates on average than other ad formats, providing more opportunities for advertisers to get conversions.
How much do interstitial ads pay?
There’s no specific amount a publisher can make from interstitial screen ads. It depends on many factors, including the target audience, content niche, and advertising network. For example, ads from the U.S., U.K., Canada, and other economically developed and emerging countries (e.g., Brazil and Saudi Arabia) return higher payouts.
Some content niches also tend to perform more than others. For instance, Adsterra publishers profit from iGaming, E-commerce, Utility, and Dating offers promoted via Interstitials.
According to an Adnimation study, the average eCPM from Interstitials is 4x that of traditional Banner ads. According to the same study, Interstitials earned publishers an average of $7 to $62 per mille.
Adsterra increases publishers’ earning potential by providing access to a network of lucrative interstitial ads. Our platform connects publishers to over 15,000 advertisers, so there’s no shortage of ad inventory for a website.
To Contents ↑Best practices of interstitial ads
- Use animations when possible. Animated ads are more engaging and generally deliver better results than static image ads. You can use high-quality animations to attract the user’s attention.
- Offer discounts and freebies to customers. They’re more effective at grabbing customer attention than providing bland information. You can time your discounts to convince customers not to miss out on something valuable.
- Thoroughly select images and visuals. It’s great when your main visual delivers a clear message, not being just a background pattern or stock photo. Highlight the main value like in the example below.
- Ensure you provide a great call to action. No matter how catchy your ad is, some people need a little nudge to take action. So use active verbs and offer value: “shop now,” “get a bonus,” “become a VIP,” etc.
What is the best frequency for capping interstitial ads?
Interstitial ads are good but too many ads can disrupt users’ experience and make them hate your brand as well as the website they navigate. Advertisers must ensure their ads are displayed at healthy intervals.
- From the advertiser’s side, the best ad frequency is 1 per 24 hours, but it’s possible to increase it to 1 per 12 hours.
- From the publisher’s side (if allowed by an ad network), it’s better to cap interstitial ads at one per hour for each unique user. This timing ensures that users don’t repeatedly see the same ads.
Interstitial ads can yield great results if you place them well. Adsterra’s Interstitials don’t require any fixed space on your website because they cover the whole screen. Users are likelier to interact with the ad because of full-screen coverage and more so when you find relevant ads from our network.
If you want to reach relevant audiences and convert as many users into leads and customers, read through this guide to setting up an Interstitial campaign with Adsterra.
Things to avoid when launching Interstitials campaigns
Here are other tips advertisers should note about placing the interstitial ad format:
- Avoid using too much text. Focus on the visual elements over text because they play a bigger role in getting conversions.
- Avoid misleading ads that can get users angry and lead to potential legal consequences. You can be creative and catchy but stay credible.
- Ensure all your campaign’s elements are consistent. It means that Interstitials must match in design and main messages with your landing page.
Conclusion
Above all tips for advertisers, they should choose a reliable ad network connecting them with high-quality traffic from reliable publishers. Adsterra connects brands and media buyers with 35,000+ highly-rated publishers sending Interstitial traffic from 248 geos.
Publishers who want to monetize websites, will only need to register and get a Social Bar ad code, which encompasses all innovative ad types, including Interstitials.
To Contents ↑FAQ
The interstitial ad format is engaging and more likely to elicit a response than other formats. It’s compatible with all kinds of desktop and mobile devices, which gives advertisers a higher chance of getting conversions. Advertisers are more likely to get good results from Interstitials than other types of ads.
Interstitials come in different sizes depending on an ad network you’re using. Among the traditional sizes are: 320×480 or 480×320 for mobiles, and 1024×768 or 768×1024 for tablets and PCs. With Adsterra, you can upload a 600×400 image to create a large Interstitial that can also adapt to mobile devices if you target mobile traffic.
The interstitial format covers the entire screen with the advertisement and a darkened background. A user literally faces the ad they cannot overlook. A popup ad takes just a segment of the screen, blocking a user’s current activity on the page.
The defining feature of the interstitial ad format is that it covers the user’s entire display. Other notable features include having a close button, using rich media and graphics, and appearing after specific user actions instead of randomly.
