A playable ad is not a video or a banner. It is an interactive HTML5 unit that lets someone play a short, scripted slice of a mobile game inside the ad itself. The user taps, swipes or drags through a few moments of gameplay, then sees a card with a button to the App Store or Google Play.
The logic is simple: installs are expensive and many are wasted. Google said in December 2015 that one in four installed apps is never used. A playable lets people who dislike the gameplay drop out before the advertiser pays for them.
How the format is built and served
Technically, a playable is a small web application. Studios export from a game engine into HTML5 and JavaScript, then inline images, sound and script so nothing has to be fetched after the ad starts. The file size ceiling is nearly identical across networks:
- Google App campaigns: ZIP up to 5MB, maximum 512 files, ExitApi script required.
- Unity: one minified index.html under 5MB, MRAID 3.0, play only after viewableChange.
- AppLovin: one HTML file of 5MB or less, base64 assets, MRAID 2.0, audio muted until first touch.
- TikTok: ZIP below 5MB with index.html and config.json, its own JavaScript SDK instead of MRAID.
On the publisher side the unit runs inside the app’s SDK and uses MRAID to check visibility and open the store. Meta’s version depends on a FbPlayableAd.onCTAClick() call; Google uses ExitApi; TikTok forbids MRAID in favour of its own SDK. A typical serve moves through an ad break, a mediation auction, the winning creative, and finally a mobile measurement partner matching the install.
Why app marketers pay for play
Acquisition is getting pricier. Adjust’s 2026 trends report found gaming cost per install rose 30% year on year. AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi says advertisers spend “well over $11bn a year” on its platform. Facebook’s 2019 data claimed users who installed through playables opened apps 60% more often and were six times likelier to buy in-game items. Brands outside gaming are borrowing the format: a Unity test reported a 290% click-through lift, and adidas ran playable ads inside Uber’s app across Europe in 2026.
The problems to watch
First, honesty. In October 2020 the UK Advertising Standards Authority banned Playrix ads for Homescapes and Gardenscapes after regulators found the pin-pulling puzzles appeared only once every 20 levels; a small disclaimer did not save them. A playable is, by construction, a claim about gameplay.
Second, accidental taps. AppLovin and Unity both ban automatic store redirects, but Culper Research alleged in February 2025 that AppLovin used deceptive UX to trigger inadvertent installs. Third, fragmentation. One playable may need separate builds for MRAID 2.0, MRAID 3.0, Google’s ExitApi, Meta’s call and TikTok’s SDK. Measurement is thin too: the IAB’s Gaming Measurement Framework lists playables but does not define the term, and most performance figures come from the platforms selling the inventory.
What to do about it
Treat the playable as a qualification filter, not a trick. Show the core loop players will actually repeat, keep the unit under 5MB with assets inlined, and route every click through the required API. Start in rewarded placements where users have opted in, then expand to end cards and feed placements. If the demo misrepresents your game, the install will be cheap but the post-install metrics will punish you.
Source: PPC Land
