• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, May 30, 2019

To maintain its edge in the gaming app ecosystem, Facebook is making several changes to its in-app ad network.

For starters, it is making “rewarded video” available to all gaming apps in its Audience Network.

The move is a no-brainer, considering payouts from “rewarded video” -- which consumers can watch in exchange for games points and virtual goods -- increased by more than 800% last year.

Facebook is also extending playable ads to its Audience Network, where they will available in both rewarded video and interstitial formats in the latest Audience Network SDK.  

The social giant debuted playable ads -- which offer interactive previews of app offerings -- in News Feed last summer.

Among other positive results, users who installed an app through a playable ad opened the app 60% more often, and were 600% more likely to make an in-app purchase compared to users who installed through other ads for the same apps.

In the new rewarded playable format, users have to interact with an advertised game for 15 seconds in order to receive a reward -- with the ad unit’s call to action taking the user directly to the app store to install.

With the new interstitials playable format, users can interact with the playable ad or download the game after five seconds.

Facebook is confident playable ads on Audience Network will continue to appeal to both game publishers and advertisers.

Within rewarded video placements on Audience Network, playable ads see 60% to 85% higher CPMs compared with regular video.

Initial data on interstitials are also showing encouraging results, with those playable delivering higher CPMs than video interstitials, according to Facebook.

More broadly, game publishers and developers are increasingly monetizing their mobile games with Facebook Audience Network.

In 2018, the total number of active gaming publishers on the off-platform, in-app ad network grew by more than 150%, per  integral figures.

In addition to extending playable ad placements to Audience Network, Facebook is also introducing expanded capabilities and more transparency for playable ads to help advertisers better understand the effectiveness of their creative and increase overall ease of use.

Three new playable ads metrics are becoming available in Ads Manager, including Instant Experiences Clicks to Open, Instant Experiences Clicks to Start and Instant Experiences Outbound Clicks.

These metrics are designed to help gaming advertisers identify key drop-off points to improve game play and increase return on ad spend.