Rewarded vs Interstitial Ads in TMA: eCPM Benchmarks 2026

Over the past year of working with Telegram Mini Apps, we’ve tested both formats across 47 projects. The results weren’t obvious. In this article — no fluff, just numbers, case studies, and specific setup guidelines.

What’s Actually Happening

Most publishers make the same mistake: they pick one format and stick with it exclusively. Or worse — they enable everything without a systematic approach.

The reality of 2026:

• Rewarded Video shows 40-70% higher eCPM, but requires a well-thought-out in-app economy
• Interstitial is easier to implement, but can kill retention if configured poorly
• A hybrid model (both formats) delivers 55-85% more revenue — but only with proper balancing

Let’s break down each format in detail.

Rewarded Video: When Users Actually Want to See Ads

How It Works

Users see a button like “Get a bonus for watching” and decide for themselves whether to watch the ad. After the video completes (typically 15-30 seconds), they receive a reward: in-game currency, an extra level, or one hour of premium features.

Key point: This is the only scenario where ads don’t annoy users — instead, they’re perceived as an opportunity.

Real Numbers from Adexium Practice (Q1 2026)

We analyzed 127 apps using the rewarded format:

Hypercasual Games:
• Average eCPM: $16.40
• CTR: 18-24%
• Completion Rate: 91-96%
• Impact on D1 Retention: +15-25%

Utilities & Tools:
• Average eCPM: $11.20
• CTR: 12-16%
• Completion Rate: 87-93%
• Impact on D1 Retention: +8-12%

Tap-to-Earn & Quests:
• Average eCPM: $21.80
• CTR: 22-28%
• Completion Rate: 94-98%
• Impact on D1 Retention: +25-40%

Note: Rewarded ads perform best in tap-to-earn projects. This makes sense — the audience is already motivated to take actions in exchange for rewards.

When Rewarded Video Really Takes Off

From the 47 tested projects, we identified three niches where this format shows maximum effectiveness:

1. Games with Energy/Lives Systems
Classic mechanic: the player runs out of lives but can either wait 30 minutes or watch an ad. Conversion to view: 35-50%.

2. Apps with Premium Features
Example: a photo editor where users can apply a premium filter by watching a video. Here, it’s critical that the reward feels genuinely valuable.

3. Referral Programs
“Invite a friend and get a bonus” + “Or watch a video and get a bonus now”. The second option is chosen by 60-70% of users.

Technical Integration Nuances

According to Adexium documentation, proper rewarded integration looks like this:

// Initialize rewarded ad
const rewardedAd = new AdexiumRewarded({
  placementId: 'your_placement_id',
  onLoaded: () => {
    console.log('Rewarded ad ready to show');
    // Show the button to the user
    showRewardButton();
  },
  onClosed: (rewardData) => {
    if (rewardData.rewarded) {
      // Grant the reward
      grantReward(rewardData.amount);
    }
  }
});

// Show on button click
function showRewardedAd() {
  if (rewardedAd.isReady()) {
    rewardedAd.show();
  } else {
    // Show "Loading..." message
    showLoadingMessage();
  }
}

Important: Always check isReady() before showing the ad. If the ad hasn’t loaded yet and you call show(), the user will see an error and leave.

More details in the official Adexium documentation.

Interstitial: A Powerful Tool That’s Easy to Misuse

What It Is and How It Works

Interstitial is a full-screen ad that appears between app screens. Typical scenarios:

• After completing a game level
• When navigating between sections
• After completing an action (form submission, file save)

Unlike rewarded ads, users don’t request this format — it appears automatically.

Numbers and Facts

According to Adexium data for Q1 2026:

Hypercasual Games:
• Average eCPM: $9.80
• CTR: 6-10%
• Skip Rate: 28-40%
• Impact on D1 Retention: -5% to +10% (depends on frequency)

Utilities:
• Average eCPM: $7.40
• CTR: 4-8%
• Skip Rate: 22-35%
• Impact on D1 Retention: -10% to +5%

Pay attention to the retention impact. When configured poorly, interstitial ads can reduce retention by up to 10%. That’s critical.

Where Interstitial Works Well

After testing across 47 projects, we identified successful scenarios:

1. Gameplay Pauses
Showing ads between levels when the player is already taking a break. Click-through conversion: 8-12%, minimal negative reactions.

2. Action Completion
Example: a user saves a document in an editor, receives a “Done!” confirmation — and only then sees an ad. Key principle: result first, ad second.

3. Returning Users
Show interstitials rarely (or not at all) to new users, but more frequently to experienced users. They’re already familiar with the app and more tolerant.

How to Avoid Killing Retention

This is a critically important section. Here are mistakes we’ve seen dozens of times:

Mistake 1: Showing Too Frequently
Interstitials every 30-60 seconds = guaranteed user churn. Optimal interval: at least 3-5 minutes.

Mistake 2: Interrupting User Actions
Ads mid-level, during document editing, or while a file is loading — this frustrates users. Show ads only during natural pauses.

Mistake 3: No Close Button (or Poorly Designed)
Either the close button is too small or appears with a delay. Users must be able to close the ad immediately (or within 5 seconds max).

Mistake 4: Showing to New Users
No interstitials during the first 3-5 sessions. Let users get familiar with your app first.

Proper Capping Configuration (Impression Limits)

Per Adexium documentation, recommended settings:

interstitialConfig: {
  maxPerSession: 3,           // Max 3 impressions per session
  minInterval: 180,           // Min 180 seconds between impressions
  skipAfter: 5,               // Can be skipped after 5 seconds
  delayFirstShow: 60,         // First impression no earlier than 60 sec after launch
  showForReturningOnly: false // Show to new users too (after delayFirstShow)
}

These values are a starting point. From there, test and monitor your metrics.

Deep Comparison: Table and Takeaways

Key Takeaway

Rewarded Video wins across all key metrics: revenue, CTR, and retention impact. But there’s a caveat: rewarded requires your app to have a reward economy in place.

If you have a simple utility (calculator, converter) with nothing to “give” for watching — rewarded won’t work well. In that case, interstitial will be your primary revenue source.

Hybrid Model: How to Maximize Revenue

Now for the most interesting part: how to combine both formats for maximum profit.

Our Formula (Tested on 47 Projects)

Base Split:
• Rewarded Video — 60% of total impressions
• Interstitial — 40% of total impressions

Time-Based Distribution:
• First 3 minutes of session — rewarded only (or no ads at all)
• Minutes 3-10 — rewarded + interstitial (with 3+ minute intervals)
• After 10 minutes — can increase interstitial frequency to once every 2 minutes

User-Type Distribution:
• New users (sessions 1-3): 80% rewarded, 20% interstitial (or 0%)
• Experienced users (sessions 4-10): 60% rewarded, 40% interstitial
• Power users (10+ sessions): 50% rewarded, 50% interstitial

Real-World Example

Project: Hypercasual clicker game (TMA)
Audience: 85K MAU, 60% CIS, 25% Europe, 15% Rest of World

Before (Interstitial Only):
• eCPM: $8.40
• Daily Revenue: $420
• D1 Retention: 32%

After (Hybrid Model):
• Rewarded: eCPM $18.20, 60% of impressions
• Interstitial: eCPM $10.10, 40% of impressions
• Combined eCPM: $14.96 (+78%)
• Daily Revenue: $780 (+85%)
• D1 Retention: 38% (+6 pp)

Result: Nearly doubled revenue while simultaneously improving retention.

When to Choose What: Checklist

Choose Rewarded Video If:

• ✓ Your app has in-game currency or bonuses
• ✓ You can offer users real value for watching (extra life, coins, premium access)
• ✓ Your audience is achievement-motivated (games, quests, tap-to-earn)
• ✓ You’re ready to invest time in setting up a reward economy

Choose Interstitial If:

• ✓ Your app is simple with no complex economy (utilities, tools)
• ✓ There are natural pauses in usage (between actions)
• ✓ You need to launch monetization quickly (1-2 hour integration)
• ✓ Your audience doesn’t expect rewards (news apps, content platforms)

Use Both Formats If:

• ✓ You have a game with an economy (rewarded for bonuses, interstitial between levels)
• ✓ Your traffic exceeds 10K MAU (enough volume for testing)
• ✓ You’re ready to invest time in optimization (A/B tests, metric analysis)
• ✓ Your goal is maximum revenue (not just “turning on ads”)

Technical Pre-Launch Checklist

For Rewarded Video:

• □ The reward is genuinely valuable (not “+1 coin”, but something meaningful)
• □ The “Get Bonus” button is visible and clear
• □ You have fallback handling for when ads fail to load
• □ Rewards are granted only after SDK confirmation (not before the ad shows!)
• □ You’re tracking events: ad_loaded, ad_shown, reward_granted

For Interstitial:

• □ Ads are tied to natural pauses (don’t interrupt user actions)
• □ Close button is large and visible immediately (or after 5 sec max)
• □ minInterval is set to at least 180 seconds
• □ First impression occurs no earlier than 60 seconds after app launch
• □ Tested on slow connections (3G)
• □ New users see fewer (or zero) interstitials

What to Track: Key Metrics

Simply enabling ads isn’t enough. You need to monitor metrics and optimize continuously.

Core Metrics for Rewarded:

• Fill Rate (% of fulfilled ad requests): target 75%+
• Completion Rate (% of users who watch to end): target 85%+
• Reward Conversion (% of users who trigger an ad): target 25%+ (varies by niche)
• eCPM: benchmark against niche averages

Core Metrics for Interstitial:

• Fill Rate: target 80%+
• Skip Rate (% of users who skip): target ≤40% (if higher, reduce frequency)
• CTR: target 5%+ (if lower, adjust placements or creatives)
• Retention Impact: monitor for any drop in user retention

How to Calculate eRPMS (Effective Revenue Per 1,000 Sessions)

eCPM shows revenue per 1,000 impressions, but doesn’t account for how many impressions each user sees. eRPMS is a more honest metric:

eRPMS = (Total Revenue for Period ÷ Total Sessions) × 1000

Example:
Daily Revenue: $500
Daily Sessions: 45,000
eRPMS = (500 ÷ 45,000) × 1000 = $11.11

Calculate eRPMS separately for rewarded and interstitial — this reveals which format actually generates more revenue per user.

4-Week Action Plan

Week 1: Launch Rewarded

• Integrate Rewarded Video
• Set up 2-3 reward trigger points (where users can watch for bonuses)
• Launch on 10-20% of traffic (A/B test)
• Collect initial metrics: fill rate, completion rate, CTR

Week 2: Optimize Rewarded

• Analyze which rewards convert best
• A/B test button copy: “Get Bonus” vs “Watch Video +100 Coins”
• Expand rollout to 50% of traffic

Week 3: Add Interstitial

• Integrate Interstitial with conservative settings (max 2/session, 240-sec interval)
• Show only to returning users (session 4+)
• Launch on 20% of traffic

Week 4: Scale Up

• Analyze interstitial’s impact on retention
• If retention holds steady, increase frequency to 3/session
• Roll out to 100% of traffic
• Set up a dashboard with key metrics (eCPM, eRPMS, retention)

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Interstitial Frequency Too High

Problem: Users mass-uninstall the app.
Solution: Increase minInterval to 240-300 seconds; reduce maxPerSession to 2.

Mistake 2: Low-Value Rewarded Incentives

Problem: No one watches ads; CTR below 5%.
Solution: Make rewards more valuable. Instead of “+10 coins”, offer “+100 coins” or a rare item.

Mistake 3: Showing Interstitial to New Users

Problem: D1 Retention drops by 15%.
Solution: Configure interstitials to show only to users with 4+ sessions.

Mistake 4: No Fallback Handling

Problem: Ad fails to load; user sees a blank screen or error.
Solution: Always check isReady() and provide a fallback (own ad, placeholder, or simply hide the button).

Bottom Line: What to Do Right Now

If you haven’t decided on a format yet — start with Rewarded Video. It’s the safer bet: higher revenue, better UX, easier to scale.

If you have a simple utility with no reward economy — use Interstitial, but cautiously: conservative frequency, natural pauses only, no ads for new users.

If your traffic exceeds 10K MAU and you have resources for optimization — implement the hybrid model. This can deliver 55-85% more revenue compared to using a single format.

Golden rule: test, measure, optimize. Review your metrics every two weeks and adjust accordingly. The TMA market evolves fast — what worked a month ago may no longer be optimal.

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Article updated: February 2026
Tags: #ad_formats #TMA #Adexium #monetization #comparison #rewarded #interstitial