Official

Video Ads / Free Parts - expectations vs reality

When we first integrated video ads in to the iGP Manager apps, like everyone else, we thought they were always available to everyone and that everyone could watch 10 video ads easily. During testing, that was also the case for us. But once we rolled them out to a global audience, reports started to come in that some people could not see video ads. We switched ad providers a couple of times in an effort to address this, before being forced to concede that it is not how ad providers operate.

Why can't I see a video ad or get free parts?
The reason is simple - the ad provider has no advertisements to show at that time to someone in your location.

As an example, if thousands of people in one town in Brazil have all been watching lots of video ads and not clicking on the products, maybe most of the ad networks decide they won't show more of those ads to people in that area. Also, there may not be many advertisers buying placements on the networks. Then in some cases maybe it's also 3am at night, further limiting the advertisers who will be available at that time. All of these factors are considered by the ad networks and ad provider, and in the end they may determine "there is nothing to show right now to this individual". I want to make it clear: That decision is completely out of our control. We do not have any influence over it.

What can we do about it?
To recap, the reason ads might not be available to you is because the ad networks have unanimously indicated that they have no ads to show. It is not a bug, and it is not within our control either. So, to address this we must improve our implementation of ads to make this clearer.

Recently, a first step was taken in this direction. You may have noticed the Free Parts button appearing on the Cars page. It also doesn't appear at all until there is a video ad available (the key word here).

We will also likely be reducing the number of free parts available to all players via video ads to avoid handicapping players who cannot see as many (or any) video ads. In addition to this, we will be adding new placements that offer more rewards, for example: more cash for your team, restoring driver health etc.

The placements will be dynamic and based on whether an ad is available (like the new placement on the Cars page). Our old implementation was a mistake in hindsight, because it was setting the expectation that 10 ads would always be available at all times, in a row. In some locations, this is almost never the case.

That said, we are also conducting work to integrate more ad networks, which will increase the availability of ads. This work should make ads available more often to more people. This will not change the fundamental dynamics of the system, but it will hopefully improve the rate at which people in some locations can see ads.