Interstitial ad

Interstitials take over the whole screen. In apps, they typically appear at transitions: after a level, between articles or when switching sections. They can be static images, video or interactive playables, and they have a close button, sometimes after a few seconds.

Because they are impossible to miss, interstitials achieve high viewability and strong performance, and they command higher prices than banners. The risk is annoyance and accidental clicks: if an interstitial appears unexpectedly or the close button is tiny, users tap it by mistake, inflating clicks that are not genuine interest. Platform policies restrict misuse; Google's ad policies, for instance, prohibit interstitials that appear unexpectedly, and the Better Ads Standards flag certain intrusive mobile formats on the web.

For advertisers, the key is placement quality: interstitials at natural pauses perform well; ones that pop up mid-action generate low-quality clicks and user backlash. Unusually high click-through rates on interstitials can be a sign of accidental or manipulated clicks.

Think of it like this

An interstitial is like the curtain coming down between acts at a theatre with an advert painted on it: everyone sees it, but it had better not drop in the middle of a scene.

An example

A news app in the Philippines shows one interstitial after every fourth article; moving the ad from mid-scroll to the article transition cut accidental clicks by half while keeping revenue steady.