These ads are an easy way to cast a wider net and repackage your game to attract similar-minded users who would not be interested in your game genre initially but could be. Fake ads are designed to get the largest amount of viewers to click, and since it doesn’t have to rely on true-to-game gameplay, they have more freedom to display gaming trends and stand out from the crowd, when it may be more difficult when your game is a widely spread game-type, such as match-3. When faced with the tremendous success of their fake ads, Playrix included some of the fake gameplay as mini-games in Homescapes and Gardenscapes.įor most of them, it’s about CPI. Why did so many developers invest in them? Some developers also use them as a way to gauge user interest in new game mechanics.

source: eBaum’s WorldĢ0 seem to be the year where there were the most fake ads, but they are still around, and most of all, according to certain experts, they’re here to stay.

Will 2022 sign the big come back for fake ads, or their dreaded end? What are fake ads exactly?įake ads are a kind of video ads where the gameplay depicted in the ad does not represent the actual gameplay you’ll find once you’ve downloaded the game, as you can see below from one of the most famous examples of fake ads: Homescapes.

Some even think their success won’t be stopping anytime soon. Fake ads were really big a couple of years ago, and against all odds, they are still kicking around.

Why is homescapes not like the ad