51% of mobile game developers view ads as a "necessary evil" of the free-to-play space and say that their ads are cautious or experimental.

This is according to data from analytics and marketing firm DeltaDNA. The company surveyed mobile game developers on their use of ads and attitudes towards them.

It found that 42% of developers only show a maximum of one ad per session to its users. This is an increase of 6% from a survey conducted by DeltaDNA in 2015.

The study also found that the number of developers showing ads in the very first session had dropped to 14%. This suggests developers are growing more cautious of showing too many ads to players.

This is backed up by the rest of the data. 36% of respondents said they were concerned that too many ads would lead to less player engagement. 29% claimed it would lead to lower player enjoyment.

Players churn

Interestingly, only 14% worried that increased ads would also increase the amount of player churn. Only 5% of respondents were concerned that it would lead to lower store ratings.

In terms of how developers view ads, 51% claimed that they were a necessary evil. 25% said that they were vital to the game's economy, while only 17% of respondents said that ads were "worth doing."

Regarding their actual approach to ads, 28% of respondents said that they were "experimental", while 22% said they were being cautious. 30% of developers claimed that their approach to ads was "balanced."

Also of note is the types of ads used by developers. 21% of respondents claim to be using interstitial ads, down from 67% in 2015. The number of developers using rewarded videos ads also dropped slightly, from 56% in 2015 to 44% in 2016.