Unity Ads: How to Work with the Ad Platform

Key takeaways

• Unity Ads — a powerful ecosystem for monetization and user acquisition.

The platform combines DSP and SSP capabilities, providing a full-cycle ad management system — from media buying to in-game monetization. Through Unity LevelPlay, advertisers and developers can manage placements, formats, and analytics all in one place.

• Massive reach and strong performance.

With over 1.5 billion global users and 100+ billion monthly impressions, Unity Ads ranks among the top mobile ad networks. Its average video ad CTR reaches up to 6%, outperforming most other mobile platforms.

• Flexible ad formats for every goal.

Rewarded, Interstitial, Playable, and Banner Ads allow monetization without disrupting the user experience. Rewarded Ads boost engagement, while Playable Ads let users “try before they install,” driving higher-quality conversions.

• Advanced targeting and seamless integrations.

Unity Ads enables precise targeting by interests, devices, and geo. Integrations with AdMob, AppLovin, Meta Audience Network, and Liftoff expand access to premium audiences and diversified revenue streams.

• Fast launch and expert support with AdSkill.

You can go live in just a few steps — define your goals, connect integrations, choose ad formats, and start running campaigns. The AdSkill team supports you at every stage — from tracking and creatives to analytics and optimization — ensuring steady lead flow and maximum ROI.

What is Unity Ads

Unity Ads is an advertising platform developed by Unity Technologies that integrates into mobile games and applications, providing developers with the opportunity to monetize their content by displaying ads.

The platform offers a range of tools that allow ads to be shown to millions of users in video, banner, and other interactive formats. Unlike most other networks, advertising on Unity Ads is focused on mobile games, making it particularly attractive for developers in the gaming industry.

Unity Ads in Numbers and Facts

Audience Reach:

• As of 2025, it covers over 1.5 billion unique users worldwide, which is about 20% of the Earth’s population.
• The platform serves over 100 billion ad impressions monthly across thousands of games built on Unity.

Number of Integrations and Developers:

• Over 230,000 developers use Unity advertising to monetize their projects, highlighting the platform’s demand among professionals.
• Unity Ads is integrated into over 50% of mobile games, making it one of the most popular advertising networks among game developers.

Available Advertising Formats:

• The platform offers a variety of advertising formats, including video ads, banners, playable ads, and rewarded ads. The latter has become particularly popular as it allows players to receive bonuses (e.g., in-game currency) for watching an ad.

Targeting and Platform Capabilities:

• It uses modern targeting algorithms that allow precise ad targeting, increasing the likelihood of user engagement and conversion. The platform offers targeting options such as interests, demographics, devices, and geography.
• It functions as both a DSP (Demand-Side Platform) and an SSP (Supply-Side Platform), providing developers access to high-yield advertising campaigns and advertisers the ability to purchase ad spaces directly.

Advantages for Advertisers:

• Known for a high level of interaction and user engagement, which leads to higher click-through rates (CTR) compared to other platforms. On average, the CTR for video ads on Unity Ads is 6%, significantly higher than the industry average for mobile advertising.

Let’s examine some of these capabilities in more detail.

Advertising formats in Unity Ads

Unity Ads is now fully integrated into the Unity LevelPlay ecosystem — a unified mediation and monetization platform that has replaced the legacy ironSource and Advertisement API tools. Through LevelPlay, developers manage all ad sources, placements, and real-time auctions in a single dashboard.

What Is a Placement

A placement is a specific point within your game or app where an ad will appear. Each placement has its own format (for example, rewarded video or banner) and trigger scenario (such as LevelComplete, Pause, or ShopReward).

You can create and manage placements through the Unity Dashboard → Unity Ads Monetization → Placements section. Here, you can assign Ad Units, adjust settings, and monitor performance.

Main Placement Types and Where to Use Them

Unity Ads offers several ad formats, each designed to maximize engagement and retention — especially within mobile games. The most common formats include:

1. Rewarded Ads
The most popular format for mobile games. Users voluntarily watch a short video ad to receive an in-game reward such as coins, power-ups, or extra lives.

📍 Typical placement examples:

• After completing a level (Level Complete)
• On the “Game Over” screen
• Inside the in-game store (IAP Store)
• During idle gameplay moments (e.g., energy recharge)

🎯 Pro Tip: Rewarded videos work best when users choose to watch them — voluntary engagement improves retention and boosts eCPM.

2. Interstitial Ads
Full-screen ads displayed between gameplay sessions or during natural breaks (like loading screens or pauses). They work well for shorter gameplay loops but should be carefully frequency-capped to maintain a good user experience.

📍 Typical placement examples:

• Loading the next level (NextLevelLoading)
• Pause menu (PauseMenu)
• Exit or summary screens (ExitScreen)

🎯 Pro Tip: Unity recommends setting frequency caps and pacing intervals to avoid ad fatigue and keep engagement high.

3. Playable Ads
Interactive ads that allow users to test-drive a game or app feature before installing it. Playable Ads deliver some of the highest engagement rates, as users get a hands-on experience with the product before downloading.

📍 Typical placement examples:

• Promo sections (Promo)
• “Try the Game” buttons (TryNewGame)

🎯 Pro Tip: Playables are ideal for app cross-promotion campaigns or pre-launch user acquisition.

Integrations and partner networks

Unity LevelPlay supports integrations with major advertising networks, including Google AdMob, AppLovin, Meta Audience Network, Liftoff, and Unity’s own Audience Hub DSP. This unified mediation approach allows all demand sources to compete in a single auction, maximizing developer revenue. Additional external networks can also be connected via LevelPlay Mediation Adapters.

1. Google AdMob: One of the largest mobile advertising networks, providing access to a global audience and diverse ad formats. Through integration with AdMob, developers can access additional revenue sources and optimize monetization.
2. Meta Audience Network: Meta’s network allows for interest and behavior targeting, increasing the likelihood of user engagement. This is a popular network for advertisers aiming for precise targeting in mobile applications and games.
3. AppLovin: An advertising network focused on gaming and entertainment applications. AppLovin offers extensive opportunities for promoting games and increasing revenue through automated ad placement algorithms.
4. Liftoff: A network popular in the gaming segment, especially in video advertising and interactive ads. Known for its high-quality audience and suitable for applications focused on engagement.

By combining these networks within LevelPlay, Unity Ads functions as both a DSP (Demand-Side Platform) and an SSP (Supply-Side Platform) — providing developers with powerful monetization tools and advertisers with access to premium, gaming-focused inventory.

Unity Ads as DSP and SSP

Unity Ads as a DSP helps advertisers effectively purchase ad impressions in mobile applications and games through real-time bidding (RTB) and precise targeting algorithms.

The platform processes a large volume of user behavior data, allowing for the selection of relevant audiences and optimal bid settings for the best results. This is achieved through the available pool of ad placements provided by developers and flexible targeting settings. Advertisers can use targeting parameters such as interests, geography, device platform, and other data to increase conversions and improve interaction with the target audience.

On the other hand, Unity Ads acts as an SSP, helping developers monetize their games by connecting them with various advertisers and ensuring high demand for ad impressions.

Within the Unity LevelPlay platform and Unity Ads Exchange, developers can offer their placements in an open auction where advertisers bid for access to the audience. Unity Ads as an SSP ensures transparency and optimization in managing ad placements through automated mediation and inventory tools, allowing developers to leverage both internal and external advertising networks to increase revenue.

Advantages of Combining DSP and SSP

Registration in Unity Ads

To start fully using the platform, you need to register with Unity Ads. To do this:

1. Expand the profile menu and select “Create a Unity ID” on the main page.
2. Enter your Email, Password, Username, and Full Name.

3. An email will be sent to the specified address to confirm registration. Open it and follow the link to verify your account.
4. Go to your personal dashboard and click Sign In. Enter your credentials — Email and Password.

Launching monetization and advertising campaigns

To promote a product through Unity Ads, you need to organize an advertising campaign, which includes creating a project and connecting monetization tools.

The platform’s functionality offers a wide range of options: incentivized and non-incentivized traffic, payment for views and installs, integration with unpublished applications, and a self-learning system for automatic interest-based targeting. Targeting settings allow you to consider GEO, OS, and screen parameters.

To create a project, follow these steps:

1. Click on Projects in the dashboard of your personal account.
2. In the window that opens, select “New”. Specify the project name, audience age, and click “Create Project”.

Now, for the created project, you need to enable monetization:

1. Scroll down the screen and find the “Unity Ads Monetization” section, click “Launch”.

6. Complete the project setup by following the instructions in the “Unity developer integration guides” and click “Finish Project Setup”.

Conclusion

Unity Ads provides a set of tools for monetizing and promoting mobile games, helping developers effectively earn while maintaining a positive user experience. Broad reach and a variety of ad formats make the platform a versatile solution for the gaming industry.

When working, it’s important to consider all content and targeting requirements so that advertising on Unity Ads meets platform standards and delivers desired results. Experts at AdSkill offer comprehensive solutions, supporting clients at every stage — from account setup to campaign optimization — to ensure maximum investment efficiency and success in this dynamic segment.