Rewarded Ads
A rewarded ad is a short video your visitor chooses to watch, in exchange for something you give: the rest of an article, a download, a coupon, an extra life in a game. Nothing plays until they click, and the ad server confirms every reward before it is granted.
How a rewarded ad works
Rewarded is a setting on a video ad zone. Tick Rewarded ad and the zone code becomes a button (“Watch a short ad to unlock”) plus one line of the goCtrl ad tag. You can also start it from your own page, for example when a player runs out of lives, with goCtrl.rewarded.show().
- The visitor clicks, and the video plays in a dialog with a countdown.
- Closing it early simply means no reward. Nobody is forced to watch.
- When the video ends, the reward is confirmed and your page unlocks what was promised.
Rewards your server can trust
A reward is only worth giving when you know the ad really ran. Before it grants one, the ad server checks that the ad came from your zone, that it was served at least the minimum watch time ago, and that each ad view is rewarded only once. A second claim for the same view is refused.
Your page receives a token signed with your zone’s own reward secret. Add a reward URL to the zone and the ad server also calls your server directly, with the user id you passed and the token, so you never have to trust the browser to grant the reward. Checking a token is one HMAC-SHA256 on your side.
Where rewarded ads fit
- Publishers: unlock premium articles, downloads or extra features for visitors who would never subscribe.
- Games and apps on the web: an extra life, a hint or in-game coins for one short video.
- Ad networks: high-attention video inventory, viewed to the end by people who chose to watch, sold on CPM, flat-rate or run-of-network like any video ad zone.
See it live
The rewarded ad demo runs on a real zone of a demo account: click the button, watch the video and the article unlocks, together with the signed token and how to check it. More formats, from interscrollers to in-text ads, are on the live demos page and the ad formats overview.
Setting it up is described in Video ad zones in the documentation.
How to set it up
- Create or open a video ad zone for your site.
- Tick Rewarded ad and set Least seconds before the reward to about the length of your videos.
- Optional: fill in Your server’s reward URL, so the ad server calls your server with the user id and the signed token for every confirmed reward.
- Paste the zone code where the unlock button belongs, or start the ad from your own script with
goCtrl.rewarded.show(). - On your server, check the token against the zone’s Reward secret (HMAC-SHA256) before you grant the reward.
Frequently asked questions
What is a rewarded ad?
A video ad the visitor chooses to watch in return for something on your site: an article, a download, a coupon or a game life. It plays only after a click, and the reward is granted once the video has played through.
Do rewarded ads annoy visitors?
Nothing plays unless the visitor asks for it, and closing the video early only means no reward. Instead of a paywall or a sign-up wall, visitors get a choice.
How do I know the ad was really watched?
The ad server confirms every reward itself: the ad came from your zone, it was served at least the minimum watch time ago, and each view is rewarded only once. Your page, and your server if you set a reward URL, receive a signed token you can verify, so a browser alone can’t fake a reward.