Playable Ads. What Works / What Doesn't

Hey all!

I've been spending a fair amount of time exporting and testing playables across multiple ad networks. I wanted to share some of the discoveries and issues here so that others may find some answers, and/or share their findings. Seems in general, the playable community as whole is nonexistent and as a result there is very little information on how to develop & deploy. I would like to change that. :)

Like most development projects - there isn't always a clear cut approach. Many times you have to try and fail multiple times before getting things to work. Please don't go creating bug reports or pinging Ashley with "this doesn't work" - They already exist. Rather report here your findings - Hopefully this will aid in finding out what works, what doesn't, and what could be an actual bug.

I'll populate further with more useful info (how to's) as time passes. Just wanted to get a discussion going to build off of.

Here is a list of some of the main ad networks I have deployed on and some of the issues faced.

Construct 3 Runtime

Google UAC / Google Ads : Doesn't seem to play well with .json files.

Facebook : Blank screen - falsely blacklisted due to Blob: URL / false positive / open discussion with FB engineers at the moment. Waiting on answers.

IronSource : single file index.html export works.

AppLovin : single file index.html export works.

Construct 2 Runtime

Google UAC / Google Ads : C2 works with minor mods to index file and removal of unnecessary scripts

Facebook : Not Available - requires single file index.html

IronSource : Not Available - requires single file index.html

AppLovin : Not Available - requires single file index.html

Feel free to contact me with questions - but I urge you to ask and discuss here.

Yeah, If I understand this correctly, we are talking about web/HTML5 exports using ( for example ) adsense or ads for games and if so this is definitely where Construct fails. Then there are issues with Google itself limiting where and how you can show adsense.

Gone are the days where you can just place adsense around game window. Most games are played full screen these days on desktop and especially on mobiles. We really could use an option to display adsense ( or go with CPM Star ) within games, before game starts, end of game and so on.

Yeah, If I understand this correctly, we are talking about web/HTML5 exports using ( for example ) adsense or ads for games and if so this is definitely where Construct fails. Then there are issues with Google itself limiting where and how you can show adsense.

Gone are the days where you can just place adsense around game window. Most games are played full screen these days on desktop and especially on mobiles. We really could use an option to display adsense ( or go with CPM Star ) within games, before game starts, end of game and so on.

Actually - This is more in regards to leveraging Construct to create Playable Ads to be served on google, facebook, applovin, etc..

These ad networks all have specific requirements when publishing playable HTML5 ads.

The two main methods of deploying playables is inline single file or a zip package. Other ad networks similar in requirements to Facebook and Google, work fine. It's understandable that the two giants have stricter requirements, but they also provide the least amount of tools to test - Their previews work, but ads fails when actually live or when trying to upload.

Facebook - requires base 64 data inline - ie; a single index.html file 2MB limit

currently broken on FB end for blacklisting ads : C3 creates a script Blob:URL - facebook falsely blocks it. Oddly enough similar engines do same thing and work fine.

Google - requires 20 file max zip 1MB limit (standard html5 export)

C2 runtime works - C3 does not. Seems to be .json issue and similar script Blob:URL

I was recently in a FB pitch meeting about new advertising products : They are planning on moving to the .zip format route. Should be out in a few weeks. Hopefully this resolves issues - but it could also remain the same. I have an open discussion with FB engineers about the false blacklisting - their system seems to think outside URL requests are being made - which isn't the case.

I don't want to name playable companies publicly, lets just say Playable Co. 1 - has their own proprietary game engine - which was working fine on facebook. Recently, they started to experience issues as well - black screen or unresponsive and hangs on load. So it's an issue outside of C3.

In any event - Any information, whether for ad creation or displaying ads, will potentially aid in a better understanding or a resolution of some sort.