You have a smartphone more powerful than the computers used to send men to the moon in 1969. It’s great for productivity and keeping in touch with all your friends and family (it can even make phone calls!) but it can be. cheerful. There are thousands upon thousands of games that you can install and play.
The problem is that no matter how great the game is, there is Lots of greats availableGreedy ad networks spoiled them. I’m done with all of that and won’t install any free games on my phone until someone does something about the horrific ads that have plagued the mobile game industry.
It doesn’t have to be done this way.
You’ve seen what I’m talking about. You are given an option to watch an ad to get some kind of in-game feature but you say no. You see an ad anyway. Or you play a level of your favorite puzzle game and have to sit through an ad before you play another role. There are plenty of other examples of how ads can push down our throats, too.
What is worse than the ads themselves. You sit within 15 seconds of the introduction, then see a 30 second timer, hit the fast forward button, and then wait another 10 seconds before you’re presented with a way to close the ad. Hopefully you can see an X in the corner because somewhere an evil person somewhere thinks it’s cool to put a white X on a white background. This makes me sure Start It will install everything that is advertised.
It’s one of those 22 game developers’ roundabout positions. No one seems to be willing to pay for a game on their phone and can’t work for free. Developers also make payments for rent, cars, and electricity bills, you know?
This means that they are forced to rely on the advertising model for monetization. This is where things are often out of their control and at their mercy ad network. Every time an ad is shown, they get a few pennies. There might be some extra incentive if someone has already installed something that was advertised through their app as well. There is not a lot of money on a per user basis, but it does add a lot and a developer of a popular game can usually make a little profit through ads.
The user experience of a great game can die quickly when ad networks get involved.
I don’t know anyone who works in a mobile ad network, and from what I’ve seen I probably don’t want to know anyone who works in a mobile ad network. All the care and craftsmanship that goes into the user experience of a great game is completely ignored by the poor advertising of the few games themselves. I’m not naming names here because these games can be massive and were created by developers who care but are stuck within the same circle of ad networks nonsense. But you know which ones I’m talking about because you see the same ads I show.
This isn’t an Android-specific issue either. You can also find offensive ads in free iOS and Windows games. I care more about the Android side of things because a file Pixel 6 Pro Live inside my pocket. Advertisements are a good way to transfer money when done right. When not done properly, they are bad. Believe me – after working for over a decade at a website that relies on advertiser revenue, I’ve seen a lot of uptake.
Unfortunately, not everyone can do much to fix it. We don’t enjoy the torrent of ads, and developers probably hate seeing their work turn into a vehicle for abusive behavior. Ad networks only care about revenue because they take their pennies first, long before they pay any kind of developer compensation. It’s also a tough order getting users to pay for a game they’re not sure they’ll enjoy, even if it’s only a few dollars.
It’s something Google and Apple need to solve. There are rules about how ads work. They have to follow some basic privacy and security rules and can’t show inappropriate things, but they also have some rules that make them less outrageous. Could you Read Google’s rules here Then you get upset because half of them seem to be getting ignored regularly and Google doesn’t seem to care. Apparently, Google and I have different definitions of disorder. This is probably because Google is also a mobile advertising company that is no better than others.
This probably won’t change every time Google updates its policies, advertisers try new ways to push the limit. But I’m done with all this mess. I have a few games that I’ve gladly paid for, and if I see others that I think will be fun, I’ll put a few bucks on them. When it comes to free ad-supported games, I’m over it. My time isn’t valuable, but it’s worth more than spending 40 seconds watching mindless trash until I can solve my next crossword puzzle.
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