Google’s Latest App-Install Ad Lets Users Test-Drive Games Before Installing

Google has unveiled two new interactive app-install ad units for app marketers. The formats, Trial Run Ads and Interactive Interstitial ads, are designed to make app promotion ads more engaging to combat install-and-ignore behaviors; Google says one in four installed apps is never used.

Trial Run ads are for game apps and currently launching in beta. Users can test-drive a game within the ad before deciding to download it. Content streams from the app for up to 60 seconds. Users who download the app after trialing it are presumably more likely to keep playing once they have it on their phones.

The Interactive Interstitial ads, also in beta, are available to all types of apps, not just games. The HTLM5-based ads allow marketers to customize and test their ads beyond the standard templates that Google offers. App data and content can pull into the ads dynamically, and app marketers can get creative with the content they show and the ways users interact with the ads.

Zalora is one of the companies to test Interactive Interstitial ads with a gallery-style preview of products that also showcases the app’s value propositions and promotes a special offer.

Both tests are available to a limited number of advertisers. If interested, contact your Google account rep, if you have one.