Rewarded ads vs interstitials on utility/tool sites

Rewarded ads vs interstitials on utility/tool sites

What it does — both gate value behind an ad. Rewarded asks the user to opt in (watch to unlock a feature/download); interstitials interrupt unprompted.

Setup effort (1-5) — Rewarded: 4 (opt-in flow, unlock logic, frequency cap). Interstitial: 2.

RPM lift seen — Rewarded eCPMs are very high and, because they're opt-in, they don't tank bounce: +20-35% on tool pages with a natural 'unlock' moment. Interstitials lift impressions but raise bounce and hit Better Ads.

Pros / Cons —
Rewarded: premium eCPM, user-consented so policy-clean and UX-positive, but needs a genuine reward to gate.
Interstitial: drop-in, but interruptive, bounce-positive, frequency-capped by Google.

Verdict — If your page has any 'unlock/download/continue' action, rewarded beats interstitials on both RPM and UX. No natural reward moment? Then a capped interstitial is your fallback.

Lift: ★★★★★ — Risk: ★★☆☆☆
Best for: calculators, downloaders, generators. Skip rewarded on pure article reads, there's nothing to reward.