Why Ad Breaks Are Driving Revenue For Games, Streaming, & Media
The Untapped Revenue Opportunity: How Media Sites Can Capitalize on Rewarded Advertising Models
The digital advertising landscape has adapted rapidly to shrinking availability of content for ads on websites and increasingly willing to pay a premium for unique or engaged audiences. The supply and demand dynamic has created opportunity for sites with engaged users consuming various forms of media. The model that is emerging that benefits those hosting these audiences and users alike: rewarded advertising. This form of ad monetization looks different in it's many applications; however for websites hosting games, videos, streaming content, or music, this model is best clearly represented as ad breaks or usage based ad interruptions.
Understanding Rewarded Advertising Models
Rewarded advertising encompasses several formats where users voluntarily engage with ads in exchange for access to premium content or features. These include:
Rewarded Video Ads: Users watch a complete video advertisement (typically 15-30 seconds) to unlock content, features, or temporary premium access.
Ad Break Models: Strategic placement of short ad breaks between content sessions, similar to traditional TV commercial breaks but with user control.
Ad-Gated Content: Premium content or features that become accessible after viewing an advertisement, creating a clear value exchange.
The key differentiator is user consent. Unlike interruptive advertising, rewarded ads are opt-in experiences where users actively choose to engage with advertisements in exchange for clear, immediate value.
The Historical Foundation of Ad-Funded Content
Ad-supported content models have a proven track record spanning decades. Television built entire industries on this foundation, generating over $17.8 billion in prime-time ad sales in 2024 alone. The model's sustainability stems from a fundamental principle: valuable content justifies advertising interruption when the exchange is transparent and equitable.
Digital platforms have refined this approach significantly. YouTube's ad-supported model generated $29.24 billion in revenue in 2022, demonstrating that users will accept advertising when it enables access to desired content. The streaming revolution has further validated this approach, with ad-supported streaming revenue projected to grow from $26.5 billion in 2025 to $37.3 billion by 2029 in the US market alone.
Current Market Performance and User Acceptance
The data surrounding rewarded advertising reveals compelling user acceptance rates that traditional advertising formats cannot match:
User Engagement Statistics
- 68% of players prefer rewarded video ads over other advertising formats
- Nearly 80% of digital video viewers accept free content as a value exchange for watching advertising
- Only 24% of users find rewarded ads disruptive, compared to much higher rates for traditional formats like interstitials
- 84% of users will engage with content that offers tangible rewards
Advertisers are convinced
Rewarded advertising consistently outperforms traditional formats across key metrics which is why advertisers are willing to open up their wallets for these forms of advertising.
- Click-through rates are 45% higher than non-rewarded video formats
- Conversion rates improve by 33% compared to standard video ads
- Install rates increase by 93% for rewarded video campaigns
- Video completion rates reach 93-95%** on connected TV platforms, significantly higher than mobile (64-78%) or desktop (81-85%)
The Time Might Be Now: Potential and CPM Performance
The financial opportunity for sites implementing rewarded advertising or ad breaks, or ad-governed usage/viewing is at an all-time high. Advertisers see it as in-demand and not enough sites have figured out or explored implementing these revenue models yet. This means the current opportunity is substantial:
Premium CPM Rates
Rewarded video ads command some of the highest CPM rates in digital advertising:
- Ezoic has observed sites receiving $100-500 eCPMs in premier markets like the United States using rewarded ads on a daily basis
- Sites Ezoic has studied before and after ad break implementation demonstrates approximately 60-100% higher eCPMs when compared to standard video ads
Market Growth Projections
The rewarded advertising ecosystem is experiencing robust growth and that should continue for the next few years without disruption. This means it should be an area that sites with these kinds of users should flock to; whether it's to anchor the business monetization strategy or just to augment an existing strategy with the untapped potential available across all viewers — or event a subset of users that produce little or no revenue currently.
The Emergence of Engaged Viewer Targeting
A critical factor driving the rewarded advertising opportunity is the evolution of audience targeting capabilities. Advertisers are increasingly willing to pay premium rates for engaged, actively participating audiences.
Here's how to stack the timing of the opportunity with multiple trends converging at once to maximize revenue if you're a game, streaming, music, or media business with users accessing your content or services online.
1. Collect & Utilize First-Party Data To Your Advantage
Publishers with rewarded advertising models gain access to valuable first-party data that traditional display advertising cannot provide:
- User engagement duration and patterns
- Content preferences and consumption habits
- Voluntary interaction signals indicating purchase intent
Sites offering engaged, data-rich audiences can access premium advertiser demand. This age-old process of user list building can work two-fold for sites as both a means of increasing the value of advertising to your audiences; as well as a tried and true strategy for sustainable email marketing.
2. Let First-Party Data and Rewarded Ads Drive Growth In Unison
The shift toward programmatic advertising, which now accounts for 82.4% of digital ad spend, favors sites who can offer high-quality, engaged inventory. Rewarded advertising formats provide exactly this type of premium inventory that programmatic buyers actively seek.
The strategy of combining first-party data collection and customized advertising has more than one path to success. As the types of models we've been discussing can include displaying or implementing ad breaks to all users or focus on users that perhaps haven't provided significant value in other forms. This could include things like providing 'account data' (an email or or user data in the form of a logged in account) or even a ' direct payment" ( a paying user) in exchange for access to your media.
Online Web Games
Gaming sites can implement ad breaks at natural transition points:
- Between game levels or rounds
- For extra lives, power-ups, or in-game currency
- To unlock premium features or content
Video and Streaming Platforms
Video content sites can integrate ad breaks seamlessly in similar ways:
- Pre-roll ads for premium content access
- Mid-roll breaks with rewards for continued viewing
- Bonus content unlocked through ad engagement
Music and Audio Platforms
Audio platforms present a great case for usage based offers :
- Ad-free listening periods after rewarded ad viewing
- Premium audio quality upgrades
- Exclusive content access through ad engagement
New Growth Is Within Reach With Technology Maturation
Advanced targeting and measurement tools now make rewarded advertising accessible to advertisers and sites of all sizes. Programmatic platforms offer automated optimization that previously required significant manual management.
Meanwhile, solutions like Ezoic Rewarded Ads make what was once a significant custom project to implement rewarded ads simple and easy to deploy in a tailored fashion on any site it could be applied.
Will it work for your site or app?
Successful rewarded advertising prioritizes user experience and include or display these attributes:
- Quality content that justifies advertising interruption or users view as a fair trade for their time
- Clear value propositions for ad engagement
- Optional participation with alternative access methods
- Reasonable frequency that doesn't overwhelm users
An Opportunity That Shouldn't Be Ignored
Ad breaks and similar ad solutions represent more than just another revenue stream from a new ad unit, it's a larger ad revenue model that aligns the sites interests, advertiser interests ,and user satisfaction. As traditional advertising becomes harder and potentially less viable for advertisers and users become more selective about their digital experiences, rewarded models offer a proven alternative thats a growing source of revenue for websites that have the right content to capitalize.
The convergence of user acceptance, advertiser demand, and technical capability creates a unique window for implementation. Content sites that move decisively to test and optimize rewarded advertising models will likely find themselves better positioned for long-term sustainability in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.