Exit-Intent Ads
An exit-intent ad is an interstitial that waits until your visitor is about to leave. It opens when the mouse heads for the tab bar or the back button, or when a phone user flicks back up the page, so it never interrupts someone who is reading. Try the live demo.
What exit-intent ads are
Most interstitials open when a page loads or after a few page views, while the visitor is in the middle of something. An exit-intent interstitial turns that around: it stays out of the way for the whole visit and shows at the one moment the visitor has already decided to go. For the publisher that is one more impression from a visit that was ending anyway; for the visitor it is an ad that does not stand between them and the content.
In GoAdserver exit intent is a setting on an interstitial zone, not a separate format, so it uses the same campaigns, reports and ad code as every other ad format.
How it works
- On a computer, the ad opens when the mouse leaves the page through the top edge, towards the tab bar, the address bar or the back button.
- On a phone or tablet, it opens on a fast scroll back up after the visitor has read at least one screen, the gesture people make before they leave.
- Never straight away: it waits at least 5 seconds after the page loads, and opens once per page view.
- Capping on the zone limits how often the same visitor sees it, from 1 minute up to 24 hours.
The ad itself is a banner or native interstitial in the centre of the screen with a close button, exactly as on any interstitial zone.
Set it up
Create or open an interstitial zone (banner or native) and set Open the ad in its Floater Settings to When the visitor is about to leave (exit intent). The zone code stays the same single line of the goCtrl ad tag, so a zone that is already on your pages switches over without touching the site. The step-by-step guide is in the docs: Interstitial and full page ad zones.
Everything the panel does is also in the public API: the zone setting is floater_settings.trigger with the value exit.
Selling it
An exit-intent zone is sold like any interstitial: CPM campaigns, flat-rate direct deals and run-of-network campaigns, with the same targeting, frequency capping and reporting. Because it fills a moment that otherwise earns nothing, it fits well next to the in-content placements you already run, as described on the publisher ad server page.
See it live
The exit-intent demo runs on a real zone of a demo account: wait 5 seconds, then move the mouse up out of the page, or on a phone scroll down and flick back up. The other formats are on the live demo pages.
Frequently asked questions
What is an exit-intent ad?
An interstitial that opens at the moment a visitor is about to leave the page: on a computer when the mouse moves towards the tab bar or the back button, on a phone when they scroll back up quickly after reading at least one screen.
Do exit-intent ads hurt the user experience or SEO?
The ad stays out of the way for the whole visit. It never opens in the first 5 seconds on a page, shows at most once per page view, and the zone’s capping (1 minute up to 24 hours) limits how often the same visitor sees it. Because it waits until the visitor leaves, it doesn’t cover the content they came for.
How are exit-intent ads sold and measured?
Like any interstitial: CPM campaigns, flat-rate direct deals and run-of-network campaigns, with the same targeting and real-time statistics per zone, country and device as your other zones, so you can see what the exit moment adds to each visit.