The Dark Arts of Ad Fatigue: How I LOVED and Lost #Zynga's Harry Potter-Puzzles and Spells
> For part of Summer, go to Rome for 20th anniversary
> Get sick from eating sampler platter of meat and cheese where the meat wasn’t properly stored
> Paris Olympics are on TV…in Italian but still awesome to watch a bit of
> Wifey gets sick with me
> Wifey plays Harry Potter: Puzzles and Spells game on her Android OS Samsung-manufactured smartphone
> At one point she touches the screen to move the gems but the game doesn’t respond.
> Are girls real? #GirlsAren’rReal (just kidding) Have I just been imagining that I’ve been married…for 20 years?
> It’s like CandyCrush but with more Harry Potter-specific levels, challenges, upgrades, etc.
> We take turns playing the game. It’s actually pretty fun and MUCH more engaging than scrolling through social media feeds.
> Couple days later, we both get feeling better
> See the rest of Rome, the Eternal City - an absolutely amazing place!
> Travel back home
> Son who’s a senior in high school has Harry Potter: Puzzles and Spells game on Android OS Samsung-manufactured smartphone
> Play that game after son goes to sleep
>Play for too long, like hours – since I’m a cheapskate and refuse to buy any upgrades that will let me pass levels more quickly
> Also, save some of the tools (lightning, bombs, winged keys, etc.) that can be used to help pass levels for harder levels or for Armageddon – I really don’t know
> Realize I’m playing the game too long and set timer on Android OS for the app: daily limit is 20 minutes.
> Learn how to pass 3 levels in 20 minutes.
> Smiling nod meme
>Reduce timer to 15 minutes per day
> Get past level 1,000.
> Share a news article about my son’s cross country and track times – which are INCREDIBLE – on his Instagram account…as if he posted it
> Buy a few likes of the post (2,000 likes, actually)
> Go to sleep happy.
> Next morning, wifey tells son
> Son changes phone PIN so now I don’t know what it is
> No one plays Harry Potter Gems for a few weeks…and then a few months
> Harry Potter Gems’ advertising algorithms kick in
> Son sees a mandatory 15-second long ad multiple times per day, in high resolution, with Hagrid, Harry, Hermione and others: RETURN TO THE MAGIC & CLAIM YOUR GIFT!
Side note: This is an interstitial ad - a type of mobile ad format that appears between game levels, during pauses, or at natural breaks in the gameplay. They're designed to capture the user's attention and provide a seamless, non-intrusive advertising experience.
The incredibly annoying "X" or "Close" button in the top-right corner allows users to skip the ad and return to the game after a few seconds. This button is usually displayed after a short period, such as 5-10 seconds, to comply with advertising guidelines and regulations. When users push the x, the result is usually the ad taking you to the Apple’s App Store or Android’s Google Play page where you can download the game that was advertised. (PLEASE developers, design your ads and games so that if users are touching the x and after 4 times your ad STILL takes them to Google Play, the user does NOT and will not download the advertised game. Please, please.)
Interstitial ads are popular among mobile game developers and advertisers due to their: high engagement rates (possibly due to false positives when users are trying to close the ad but don’t perfectly touch the x in the top right of the screen?), targeted advertising, revenue generation
> Son sees ad one time to many while playing Clash of Titans or other game
> Son removes Harry Potter Gems’ game from his smartphone!!! PLEASE note, #Zynga that if your advertising algorithms aren’t updated more users might also remove the game from their smartphones entirely. Perhaps consider Ad Rotation or Ad Refresh as an approach. You could use random rotation, sequential rotation, targeted rotation or other methods. This would be like a living, breathing continuous A/B test for you. This would Increase user engagement, reduce ad fatigue (that leads to your apps being removed) and improve ad effectiveness.
Note: Zynga partnered with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Portkey Games to develop Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells. It’s likely that Zynga paid a licensing fee to Warner Bros. and possibly J.K. Rowling to use the Harry Potter intellectual property, but the specifics of the deal aren’t public.
> By the way - I LOVE Zynga!
> Why, God – why did my son remove the best game I’ve ever played on a smartphone?
> Son tells me I can download the game again and keep my current progress
> He tells me he can re-install it if it’s that important to me.
> Aw, thanks, son. Let’s ask your mother first.
