[Update] May 30, 2024
Key Takeaways:
- We are launching video ads so more advertisers can buy this ad format and ad publishers — creators who insert advertising units in their Roblox experiences — can earn more. Experiences that have image ads will start showing video ads in those ad units to eligible users. Publishers should review the placement and number of ad units in their experience.
- Video ads served in an experience will be shown as: 1) video ads that autoplay when a user looks at the video ad and 2) video ads where a user has to click to play the video ad.
- Publishers can motivate users to engage with click-to-play video ads with a reward. Since advertisers often pay more for additional engagement, rewards could enable publishers to earn more.
- Publisher eligibility requirements, including that the publisher account must be at least 18 years old and ID-verified, take effect on June 1. Starting today in Creator Hub, creators will be able to see and manage their eligibility status in a new “Eligibility” tab within the Immersive Ads page.
Hi Creators,
Late last year, we started testing immersive video ads with a small set of advertisers. Today, we’re expanding access to video ads to any advertiser with an Ads Manager account, so that you have more opportunities to earn incremental revenue from adding ads to your experience.
We also know that creators want more transparency over publisher eligibility, so today we’re sharing our new publisher eligibility requirements that will go into effect on June 1. For those unfamiliar, ad publishers are creators who insert advertising units in their Roblox experiences.
Video Ads
Video ads served in your experiences can be shown in two formats to users: video ads that are click-to-play for a user to start the video ad and video ads that autoplay when a user looks at the video ad.
Video Ads That Are Click-To-Play
Within a Roblox experience, these video ads are click-to-play. That means that a user can initiate a video ad by clicking on the ad unit, which prompts the video ad to play in full-screen with sound on.
You can earn when a user watches the video ad for at least 15 seconds. To incentivize users to watch the video ad, you may choose to implement a reward mechanism in your experience. Including a reward to players for watching a video ad could create more engagement with the ad. Since advertisers often pay more for additional engagement, rewards could enable you to earn more money.
Learn more about how to implement and earn from these click-to-play video ads into your experience here.
Example: Video ads that click-to-play.
How To Implement Rewards
You may incentivize players to watch these click-to-play video ads in your experience through a reward mechanism, such as an in-game item or in-game currency. You may subscribe to the AdGUI.OnAdEvent which will call back an AdEventType. This can be used to implement a reward for video ads that are click-to-play. Some details about the API:
- The
RewardedAdLoadedenum will be returned when a click-to-play video ads is being served. This can be used to communicate and promote the reward to users through the UI or signage. - The
RewardedAdGrantenum is triggered when a user has watched the video for at least 15 seconds. This can be used to grant the player a reward such as an in-game item or in-game currency. TheRewardedAdGrantenum will only be triggered once per ad rotation.
The RewardedAdUnloaded enum will be returned when a click-to-play video ads is rotated out. This can be used to remove any UI or signage that is promoting the reward.
Below is an example code snippet to get you started:
local function grantReward(PlayerId)
-- grant an in-game reward
end
local function showRewardPrompt(PlayerId)
-- show Prompt
end
local function hideRewardPrompt(PlayerId)
-- hide Prompt
end
local AdGui = script.Parent
AdGui.OnAdEvent = function(eventData)
local AdEventType = eventData.AdEventType
local PlayerId = eventData.PlayerId
if AdEventType == Enum.AdEventType.RewardedAdLoaded then
showRewardPrompt(PlayerId)
return true
elseif AdEventType == Enum.AdEventType.RewardedAdGrant then
grantReward(PlayerId)
hideRewardPrompt(PlayerId)
return true
elseif AdEventType == Enum.AdEventType.RewardedAdUnloaded then
hideRewardPrompt(PlayerId)
return true
end
return false
end
To learn more about how to implement a reward, please refer to our documentation here.
Video Ads That Autoplay
Within an experience, these video ads will start playing with the sound off when a person looks at it. If they look away, the video pauses. The video ad includes controls to unmute and click to expand to full screen with sound on.
You can earn when the video ad starts playing and an eligible ad impression is served. Learn more about how to implement and earn from these autoplay video ads into your experience here.
Example: Video ads that autoplay.
New Publisher Eligibility Requirements for Immersive Ads
Just as there are Advertising Integrity requirements for advertisers on Roblox, when you monetize your experience with Roblox ads, you are required to adhere to a set of Publisher Integrity requirements. We want publishers to be able to monetize from publishing Immersive Ads within their experiences, while also giving advertisers the confidence that they can reach their target audience within safe, compliant experiences.
In Creator Hub, you will be able to see and manage your eligibility status in a new “Eligibility” tab on the Immersive Ads page. These requirements take effect on June 1.
Example: Eligibility tab within the Immersive Ads page illustrating the requirements and if they’re being met.
Experiences must meet the following criteria to be eligible to be an ad publisher:
-
Publisher account must be at least 18 years old and ID verified.
- For group-owned experiences, this requirement applies to the owner of the group.
- Requirement is persistent — if a publisher disables identity verification, they will lose eligibility.
-
Publisher account must have 2-Step Verification enabled.
- For group-owned experiences, this requirement applies to the owner of the group.
- Requirement is persistent — if a publisher disables 2-Step Verification, they will lose eligibility.
-
Experience must be Public.
-
Experience must have Experience Guidelines questionnaire completed.
-
Experience must maintain 2,000 unique visitors per month.
- Counted by full days, e.g. eligibility on March 10 is based on visitors on the most recent 30 calendar days prior to March 10
-
Publisher must maintain compliance with the Roblox Terms of Use, the Community Standards, and the Publisher Integrity requirements.
- For instance, video ads should not be activated when users are idle or away from keyboard (AFK) because this will likely be considered ad fraud within our Publisher Integrity requirements.
- Publishers who are not in compliance may lose their eligibility temporarily or permanently, may lose some or all ad payouts, or may have their content or account suspended.
What’s Next
We will continue to share more regular updates in the coming months including:
- New ways for publishers to trigger and serve video ads in experience
- Improvements we’ve made to our ad system for advertisers
- Continued investments in increasing video and advertiser demand
We’re excited to provide you more ways to earn through Immersive Ads. If you have further questions or feedback, please let us know below. Thank you!
Resources
FAQs
Click here to view the FAQ!
What quantity of payouts from video ads should we expect?
- Given how early it is with video ads, we expect payouts to fluctuate. We will continue to provide updates on payouts as we learn more.
How will I receive payouts from video ads?
- Payouts for video impressions will be shown on the Creator Dashboard and paid out automatically on the 25th day of the following month.
Why do you require ad publishers to be age 18+ and ID verified?
- Ad platforms often require ad publishers to be over 18 years old, register their identities with the platform and meet additional requirements before their content can be monetized with ad campaigns. Clear publisher eligibility allows us to appeal to a broader range of advertisers, by providing confidence that they can reach their target audience within safe, compliant experiences. Appealing to a broader range of advertisers will give our creator community more opportunities to earn from advertising. We will continue to evaluate our eligibility requirements to do what’s best for our users, publishers and advertisers.
Why do you require publisher accounts to have 2-factor authentication enabled?
- Roblox generally encourages users to set up 2-factor authentication enabled to protect your account from unintended access. 2-factor authentication is an additional layer of security for your account. This is especially helpful in mitigating attackers from getting access into your account in case your password is stolen, as passwords are easy to be phished causing account compromises. This requirement reduces the likelihood of unintended access that could impact access to payouts and content safety.
Why do you require publisher accounts to maintain 2,000 unique visitors per month?
- Having substantial user activity gives Roblox the ability to more effectively detect violating content within an experience allowing us to protect our users, advertisers and publishers.
What happens if my unique visits dip below 2,000 visitors per month?
- As with any lapse for any of the requirements, you may lose eligibility for a period of time until this requirement is achieved again.
How do these rewards work? What’s the user experience?
-
Reward mechanics are very common on Roblox today. Creators implement rewards that make sense within the context of their experience. Today, rewards are often:
- In-game currency: coins, points, XP
- In-game item: free pet
- Free spin or mystery chest, which grants in-game currency or an in-game item
- Badges
What happens if I was in the video ads alpha?
- If you were a publisher of video ads during the period between Nov 2023 and April 2024, impressions and earnings for video ads will be reset.
Can I opt-out of showing video ads?
- To opt out of showing video ads, you can change the
EnableVideoAdsproperty on the AdGUI Instance.
Can creators use video ads to advertise their own creations on Roblox?
- Yes. For creators, this also means you have a new way to leverage video ads to drive discovery and awareness of your creations (experiences, items, etc.) to people on Roblox. Creators can now create video ads in Ads Manager.
)