Pulse

Navigating ‘Banner Blindness’

By Lewis - 2 April 2024

Sergey Shchelkov, Sales Executive at Epom, describes how picking the most suitable online ad format can help create impactful results in emerging markets. In this easy to digest Ad Network Guide, Sergey outlines the benefits of each ad format and explains how to avoid ‘banner blindness.’ 

Despite the complicated geopolitical landscape worldwide, the number of emerging online markets keeps growing. This goes for betting and online sportsbook gambling as well.

What we’re trying to say is that the monopolisation of the vertical by big players is not a sentence to your traffic activities. There is still plenty of room to make the ads you sell noticed; the key is to pay attention to the emerging markets and add one special ingredient – best-performing ad formats.

The popularity of video and mobile ad formats is no secret to any ad network. But in this article, we’ll stay away from the obvious. Let’s concentrate on the ad formats best suited for the betting vertical, analyse the markets to concentrate on, and decide how to combine this knowledge.

What Are the Emerging Markets in Betting?

Before jumping to digital ad formats, let’s take a quick look at the market today. 

The top five positions have remained mostly unchanged since 2018. We have the UK, Italy, Australia, and two US states whose betting activities skyrocketed after being legalised; we mean, of course, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

While you still can hop into the train of the latter (since Pennsylvania betting was only legalised in late 2019), we wouldn’t call any other position an ‘emerging market.’ On the contrary, the competition is high enough.

That’s why you should pay attention to the other fast risers on the betting horizon. Primarily, target your best ad formats toward the gambling audience of Ontario and the Netherlands. Both markets became legal in 2021, and both continue to grow astonishingly.

The Importance of Ad Placements

If you’ve come so far as to create your own ad network, there’s no point in explaining the importance of ad placements. After all, the traffic reselling business operates by the same laws as any other – the higher the demand, the better the prices.

For the uninitiated users, an ad placement is a location where you put ads. An ad format is the type of ad you put there. The more suitable the ad format is on the page – the more likely that the user clicks on it. If the user clicks on it, everyone’s happy: the publisher’s inventory is sold, the advertiser has a lead, and the ad network has successfully profited from traffic operations.

Now that’s that dealt with, let’s move on to the best performing digital ad formats for ad serving.

Ad Format # 1. In-App Playable Interstitial

The in-app playable interstitial is one of the best mobile ad formats, specifically for monetising in-app inventory. The user triggers this one in exchange for in-game rewards; as a result, this digital ad format is non-intrusive and highly interactive.

All you have to do as an ad network/advertiser is upload MRAID-compatible creative as a ZIP archive for it to work as intended, and you get a brilliant ad format for betting apps and gambling games.

Ad Format # 2. Interscroller

Some might be surprised to see it here, but the interscroller is a great alternative to old-school interstitials. This digital ad format presents an expandable banner that takes over the screen (85 per cent of it) along with user scrolling.

An interscroller is more engaging than regular banners and adapts its size to the user’s device. This makes it perfect for eliminating one of the betting ads’ biggest problems – banner blindness.

Ad Format # 3. Auto Refresh Custom Code

Auto refresh custom code is not an ad format in its traditional meaning, but we decided to advise you on something less obvious.

This ad template adds a custom code with a sequence of images and sets a time after which they will change another. If you’re an ad network aggregator working with dozens of publishers, you know each website implies a different session duration.

Auto refresh custom code is an ad format for those publishers with longer website sessions like football match hosts and sports competition streaming channels.

Ad Format # 4. Corner Pop Up

A corner popup is a simple but effective digital ad format. It’s an ad that slides out of the corner to cover part of the page. Corner pop ups are a bit more user-friendly among similar ad formats, such as catfishes and pushdowns.

They pay more and don’t cause spammy ad frustration, so both your publishers and advertisers will be happy.

Ad format # 5. Desktop Native Ad

Last but not least is the native desktop ad. The benefits of native advertising are becoming more apparent every year, and they are especially relevant for the betting sphere.

This digital ad format drives more quality leads, is great for contextual targeting, and ensures a better user experience. Publishers don’t have that much native inventory, sure, but it’s worth every penny.

Overall, these digital ad formats are your best choices in the new emerging markets of the betting industry. Don’t forget, however, that the ad formats work only if you have high-quality ad tech solutions to buy/sell them. Settle for the best!