Why ad quality is the only game worth playing

New evidence that disruptive and disturbing ads drive players to abandon a game – and even quit it entirely – has the industry racing to find proactive ad quality solutions.

Significantly, the conversation is also shifting beyond naming and blaming bad players to identifying the best practices and "clean" networks that deliver real outcomes and reliable returns for monetisation teams.

Empowerment is the new focus as more publishers understand that putting players first is not just best practice; it’s their lever to unlock new growth opportunities. In a volatile market where the line between experience and monetisation is blurring, ad quality is becoming the new competitive edge. 

Publishers are taking that message seriously and shifting their focus from blaming bad actors to actively improving the ad experience for players. To support them, AppHarbr – a global ad quality solution focused on safeguarding user experience – is launching the PlayerFirst Collective.

The initiative brings together app publishers committed to building ad experiences that are clean, respectful, and transparent. But it goes beyond a mission statement. The Collective operates as a Slack-based community where monetisation teams, ad ops leads and changemakers share benchmarks, report dark patterns and shape shared principles for respectful ads.

Turning insight into action

“We built the PlayerFirst Collective to make sure publishers aren’t facing those challenges alone,” says Amnon Siev, CEO at AppHarbr.

“Together, we’re creating a new standard that rewards quality, not just quantity.”

AppHarbr breaks ad quality down into three key categories that publishers need to address to attract players and keep them coming back. 

1. User experience: Ads should not introduce technical errors, deceptive elements, or behavioural disruptions that interfere with gameplay or app functionality.
2. Ad content: Ads should exclude content that is offensive, misleading, or inappropriate.
3. Ad security: Ads should pose no risks to player safety, including threats associated with malicious ad behaviour.

To spotlight ad networks that excel in all three areas, AppHarbr will release its first Ad Quality Index later this year. The "clean" networks featured in the index include GAM and AdMob. The Index will be followed by the first Pulse Check – a quarterly snapshot of ad quality challenges, trends and solutions across the industry.

“Studios are asking for more than just raw data,” says Božo Janković, head of ad monetisation at GameBiz Consulting.

“They want benchmarks, actionable insights they can trust – and that they can act on. They want networks they can hold accountable. That’s why initiatives like the PlayerFirst Collective matter.”

When ads undermine trust, everyone pays

Ad quality may be rising as a priority, but not all teams are acting fast enough. The disconnect between user experience and monetisation still runs deep, and the damage when teams fail to see ad quality as a lever for increased revenues and sustainable growth can be dramatic.

This is the view of John Wright, former VP of Mobile at Kwalee and now CEO of Turborilla, one of Sweden’s leading gaming studios. He has seen this vicious cycle unfold across companies. The pressure to hit short-term goals leads to compromises in ad quality, which forces a downward spiral in retention and revenue. 

It’s a familiar story. Click-through rates spike. Installs go up. But players who feel tricked or trapped rarely return.

"The lift looks good until it doesn’t," states Wright. "The cost of poor ad experiences inevitably catches up, leading to a drop in players and damage to your brand."

But this pattern can be broken, Wright says.

"If you start thinking about ads as an extension of the product, not a break from it, then quality becomes obvious," he explains. "You wouldn’t ship broken gameplay. Why ship broken ad UX?"

Publishers under pressure

The damage to the player experience is obvious. However, without data, it has been tough for teams to make a strong case for better controls. That’s changing with Quality Drives Value – A Look into Mobile Gaming Ads, a new report from Deloitte and Google AdMob. The key takeaway? A single disruptive ad is enough to drive players away, even from their favourite games.

Based on a survey of 7,000 gamers across the US, UK, Germany, Vietnam and Japan, the report reveals that a whopping one in five gamers said they would abandon even a favourite game after just one poor ad experience. It also proves a clear correlation between ad quality and player perception.

Obscure exit paths, non-functional controls and bait-and-switch tactics aren’t just bad design. They’re bad for business, undermining loyalty, eroding trust and driving away engaged users when studios are desperate to keep players coming back.

Among the findings:

• Playable ads with hidden close buttons or forced redirects double the chance of churn.
• Churn jumps from 3% to 6%, to as high as 11%, with just one exposure to these deceptive formats.
• Repeated exposure is even more damaging. 52% of gamers said they’d stop playing altogether if they encountered these ads multiple times.
• And 14% said they’d leave a negative review, potentially hurting app store rankings, discoverability and word-of-mouth.

It’s a wake-up call backed by data, and it lands at a time when more teams are recognising that retention is the new North Star.

The latest data from AppsFlyer reports 57% of mobile gaming marketers now prioritise retention and lifetime value over traditional metrics, such as CPI.

Little wonder more teams are less focused on top-of-funnel wins and more determined to move downstream where they can drive loyalty, trust and long-term value.

Bad ads, bigger consequences

Dr. Celia Pontin, director of policy at Flux Digital and former video games policy lead at the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, says that deceptive and disturbing ads do more than drive churn. They damage trust and risk lowering participation in the entire mobile sector.

"With no choice over what they see, players can’t be confident that their next game won’t contain harmful ads; this erodes the duty of care in monetisation and weakens trust in the entire ecosystem," she states.

Rather than wait for backlash or legislation, Pontin says there’s nothing to stop publishers from stepping up and building better ad experiences starting now.

“Publishers don’t need to wait for regulation to do something good for their users," says Pontin. "They have an opportunity to build trust with their audience right now.”

That responsibility becomes even more critical when you consider who’s most at risk.

Women. Children. Casual gamers. These players are not only the industry’s most loyal and valuable users. They’re also the most exposed to unsafe or manipulative ad content and at greatest risk from the broader effects of harmful subject matter.

Nearly half (45%) of all gamers globally are women, according to data from Newzoo, a leading games and esports analytics firm. Casual gamers, most often women or younger players, are significantly more likely to rely on ad-supported titles, increasing their exposure to inappropriate ad content.

“If you alienate half your player base through frustrating or unsafe ad formats, that’s not innovation,” Pontin says. “It’s attrition.”

Publishers under pressure

Players aren’t the only ones rejecting bad ad experiences. Publishers are also turning up the pressure on ad monetization teams to strike a better balance between revenue and user experience.  

According to the App Publisher Halftime Report from Verve, a media platform that helps brands reach audiences in emerging channels using privacy-first targeting technologies, ad quality now ranks among the top three concerns for ad monetization teams, alongside transparency in mediation and predictable bidding.

And publishers are calling for more than just better controls. They’re also recognising a deeper responsibility to deliver ads that avoid disrupting the experience or disturbing players.

As one Verve survey respondent put it: “Bad actors are bad [for the ecosystem]. Bad ad strategies and executions hurt retention.”

That line carries weight. It reflects a deeper shift in the mindset of monetisation professionals from maximising every impression to maximising every moment.

Making ad quality a shared responsibility

Studios understand what’s at stake. Trust, loyalty, and long-term growth depend on getting the ad experience right. While the challenges are shared, so is the opportunity to solve them together.

The PlayerFirst Collective is one way publishers are beginning to do that. To learn more or to join the Slack community where these conversations are already taking place — click here.