This glossary defines the 21 terms that come up most when studios make and buy playable ads, from MRAID and end cards to IPM, D7 ROAS and creative fatigue. Each definition is short enough to quote and links to a longer guide. We use the words UA managers and creative leads use on calls, not textbook jargon.
- Format terms: playable ad, end card, interactive end card, lead-in video, CTA.
- Technical terms: MRAID, base64 inlining, SDK network, Axon.
- Performance terms: IPM, CPI, D7 ROAS, completion rate, time to first interaction.
- Strategy terms: creative fatigue, variation, concept, reskin, misleading ad.
- Genie Playable builds playable ads from your own game and exports them for ten networks, so these terms become checkboxes, not problems.
Format terms
What is a playable ad?
An interactive ad that lets people try a short slice of a mobile game before installing it. It's a self-contained HTML5 file, about 5 MB at most, usually 30 to 60 seconds long, ending on a screen that links to the app store. See What is a playable ad?.
What is an end card?
The final screen of an ad, carrying the call to action and the store button. In a playable, it appears after the win or fail moment. Small changes here (copy, character, offer) are one of the cheapest variations to test.
What is an interactive end card?
An interactive screen shown after a video ad. The player taps or swipes once or twice before reaching the store button. It's the lightest form of playable and a common first step for studios new to the format.
What is a lead-in video?
A few seconds of video at the start of a playable that sets up the moment before the player takes control. About eight in ten new playables open with one. It's also usually the heaviest asset in the file.
What is a CTA in a playable ad?
The call to action: the button or moment that sends the player to the store. Each network uses its own code for it, such as mraid.open() on AppLovin and Unity or FbPlayableAd.onCTAClick() on Meta.
What is a rewarded ad?
An ad the player chooses to watch or play in exchange for an in-game reward, like extra lives or coins. Playables run well here because the player opted in.
What is an interstitial ad?
A full-screen ad that appears at a natural break, like between levels, without the player asking for it. Most playable impressions run as interstitial or rewarded ads.
Technical terms
What is MRAID?
Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions, the IAB standard API that lets rich media ads talk to the app they run in. AppLovin requires MRAID 2.0 and Unity specifies MRAID 3.0. Meta and Moloco require playables to work without it. See Playable ad specs by network.
What is base64 inlining?
Embedding every image, sound and font directly inside the playable's HTML file as text, so the ad needs nothing from outside. Networks like AppLovin, Unity and Moloco require it. It makes each asset at least a third bigger. See Why is my playable ad over 5 MB?.
What is an SDK network?
An ad network that serves ads inside other apps through a software development kit built into those apps. AppLovin, Unity Ads, Mintegral, Moloco, Liftoff and Digital Turbine are SDK networks, and that's where most playable volume runs.
What is Axon?
AppLovin's AI engine that bids, targets and picks which creative to show. It shifts spend between your creatives on its own, which is why practitioners advise against pausing creatives by hand too early.
Performance terms
What is IPM?
Installs per mille: installs for every 1,000 impressions. It's the most common way to compare how well creatives convert. A high IPM doesn't always mean good payback, so pair it with ROAS.
What is CPI?
Cost per install: what you pay for each install. Useful, but misleading on its own. Senior UA practitioners judge creatives on ROAS and retention instead.
What is D7 ROAS?
Return on ad spend after seven days: the revenue a group of new players generated in their first week, divided by what it cost to acquire them. Ad-monetized games often look at D0, hybrid games at D7, and in-app purchase heavy games at D28.
What is completion rate in a playable ad?
The share of players who reach the end state of the playable, whether they win or fail. It tells you whether the challenge holds attention. See What to track inside a playable ad.
What is time to first interaction?
The seconds between the playable appearing and the player's first real move. Sett's data puts the median at about 8.8 seconds, and a good tutorial hint cuts it by about 40%.
Strategy terms
What is creative fatigue?
The drop in performance when the same audience has seen an ad too often. On the fastest networks, practitioners report seven to ten good days before a playable slides. See How to iterate a winning playable.
What is a variation?
A new version of a playable concept with one thing changed, such as the hook, difficulty, end card or skin. Leading studios put about 70% of their playable output into variations of winners.
What is a concept?
A genuinely new playable idea: a different mechanic, story or structure. Leading studios spend about 30% of their output exploring new concepts.
What is a reskin?
The same playable with new art on top: a different theme, character or color scheme, with the mechanic unchanged. Reskins are a fast way to fight fatigue. When a tool only offers reskins of generic templates, the playable stops looking like your game.
What is a misleading (fake) playable ad?
An ad that shows gameplay players won't get after install. The UK ASA has ruled that even a real mechanic can be misleading if it isn't the game's core experience, and that disclaimers don't fix it. See Fake vs real playable ads.
Where does Genie fit?
Genie Playable builds playable ads from your game (your APK or HTML build plus the assets, narrative and live events in Genie), from a format that's already working, or from a brief. It exports network-ready versions for Meta, Google, TikTok, AppLovin, Unity Ads, Mintegral, Liftoff, Moloco, Snapchat and Digital Turbine, and your team makes the next variation from the last one. Try it free on your game.
Sources
- IAB, MRAID
- Unity glossary, installs per mille
- Unity glossary, playable mobile ads
- Adjust glossary, CPI
- Adjust glossary, ROAS
- AppsFlyer, creative fatigue
- PlayableAdsMaker, playable ads glossary
- Unity Grow playable specs
- RocketshipHQ, testing creatives on AppLovin
- Sett, Playable Ads Complete Guide
- ASA ruling, Top Games Inc (Evony)