Footnote: Immersive in-game ads is currently in closed beta and is only available for selected publishers

Most publishers are still relying on the same old ad formats and experiences. That feels safe, but it leaves money, premium demand and player trust on the table. In this episode, we dig into why traditional formats are overrated, why immersive in-game ads are underrated, and how a new hybrid monetization model can deliver both revenue and respect for your players.

I’m joined by Fatma Gungor Okutan from Google, who works on partnerships with app and game publishers across EMEA. Fresh from the Google App Summit in Dublin, Fatma shares what she’s seeing in the market: publishers hesitant to change formats, brands demanding higher-quality inventory, and players who want ads that blend into the game rather than break the flow.

We unpack what immersive in-game ads actually look like – from billboards on virtual race tracks to menu items and pause screens that become native placements – and how AI is shaping everything from creative design to targeting and localization so ads feel relevant, not random.

Fatma also calls out the red flags: forced redirects to app stores, confusing or missing exit buttons and low-quality, over-frequent ads that might give you a short-term bump but destroy retention and brand value over time. She explains why even hyper-casual games now need to balance frequency, segmentation, and experience to achieve real, sustainable performance.

When we talk about the future, Fatma doesn’t pick between ads, IAP or subscriptions. She puts her bet on a new hybrid model where IAP still dominates in absolute dollar terms. Still, ads take a bigger share – as long as publishers use segmentation, smarter formats and ad quality as a core design principle, not an afterthought.

This conversation is part of PlayerFirst Perspectives, a MobileGroove mini-series powered by AppHarbr. It’s a series about fixing ad quality and developing ad policies so users stay in your app or game, and you can enforce what you believe is right for your players.

👉 Join the conversation

Be part of the Player First Collective on Slack, where marketers, product teams and platforms swap real examples of bad ads, immersive formats, policy fixes and UX wins. You’ll find the Slack invite link and more resources in the show notes.

In this episode, Fatma tells me:

• Why relying too much on traditional formats is an overrated trend in mobile game monetization
• Why immersive in-game ads are underrated and how making every item or surface in your game a potential placement can unlock premium, brand-safe demand
• How AI is already embedded in Google’s infrastructure, from auctions to new formats, and how publishers are using it for creative design, coding and end-to-end experience building
• What a high-quality immersive ad experience looks like for players and for brands that care how they show up in games
• The ad quality red flags she watches for: too-frequent, low-quality, non-relevant ads that may boost short-term revenue but hurt retention and brand health in the long run
• How segmentation by country, behavior and ad tolerance helps you design the right ad mix for different users instead of treating everyone the same
• Why she is betting on a new hybrid monetization model where IAP and ads work together, and quality, formats and segmentation decide who wins

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