• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, July 9, 2015

Mobile advertising platform StartApp released a study today analyzing the click-through rates of 15 billion total ad impressions generated within 170,000 apps that use their software development kit. The report focuses on six different types of app ads, including games, tools, entertainment, business, lifestyle and education.

No big surprise, mobile gaming ads performed the best in almost every category, with education ads being the least popular.

The type of creative used also had an effect on CTR: full-screen interstitial ads had 14.39% CTR. Variations on full-screen interstitials, including Splash ads (app launch ad with customizable pre-ad splash screen) and Overlay ads (full-page interstitial with transparent background), “had even greater effects on user engagement with rates of 26.62% and 20.62%, respectively,” the report says.

While significant, the reports' findings don't mean that a drastic change of tactics is necessary for most marketers. "Though we found it made sense for some advertisers to place their ads in apps where there would be less competition for users, for other advertisers, the ad placement you would expect to work did work,” said Itay Rokni, CMO of StartApp in the report.

“That being said, the report shows that advertisers can more often than not increase the click-through rates for their ad campaigns simply by targeting the right type of apps,” added Rokni.