My Review of Google’s Rewarded Ad Gate Beta Program
Absolutely not. Are you joking me?
I got a short email from Google the other day.
Screenshot of author’s email.
Intrigued, as any monetized author would be, I clicked on the email about Rewarded Ad Gate Beta Program. Maybe it was a smarter ad system. Maybe it was a tip jar.
However, the email did not offer more info about the Rewarded Ad Gate Beta.
Screenshot of email body
When I clicked on “Turn on Rewarded Ad Gate,” I had to scroll a long way down before I got to the meat of the matter:
Screenshot reads: “1. The Rewarded Ad Gate will be displayed to a visitor on their fifth page view of each month 2. If the visitor chooses to view a short ad, a video or image ad will play for 30 seconds or less 3. A “Thank you” message will appear after the ad is complete and the visitor will gain access to your site 4. If the user chooses not to view a short ad, they won’t be able to access the site until their page views reset the following month or they choose to view the ad.” From Google’s page about this.
How does Google’s Rewarded Ad Gate Beta Program work?
Imagine Glenda is a loyal visitor to my site. She’s read four blog posts of mine, maybe about Rewarded Play vs Mistplay, realistic sites for beginners to get paid, SEO on Medium, and the best AI text generation tool.
But then she wants to read about whether Medium is still worth it in 2023.
Before she can read the article, she basically gets paywalled. She has to watch a f*cking 30 second ad to access what, previously, was free to her.
How much money does Google earn from this ad? How much money do I stand to earn? Google doesn’t elaborate.
There are so many problems with this. Let me explain why I don’t recommend Google’s Rewarded Ad Gate Beta Program.
1. The wording was disingenuous.
Google was not at all upfront about what this program would be. I had to click and scroll a lot to get to the crux of the matter.
Additionally, in all the marketing material, Google also clearly says that it’s an “offer” for your big fans to reward you. This is not an offer. It’s a paywall. Glenda is paying with her eyeballs, not her wallet, but it’s still not a choice, it’s forced action.
Why would I force one of my biggest fans to watch a janky 30s ad to access my content? I’m already papering the proverbial walls of my content with ads. Why more?
It would be different if viewers had a choice. Maybe Glenda could be offered a prompt: “Want to support this creator? You have the option to watch this 30s ad.”
But it’s not an offer. There’s no choice.
2. If I wanted to paywall content, I’d paywall it.
Google (wisely) doesn’t mention that it probably takes a hefty cut of any ad views.
Any extra income I’d receive (which Google also doesn’t elaborate on) would be minimal. If I’m forcing Glenda to watch a 30-second ad, and she chooses to watch it, I may as well ask her if she’d be willing to kick $5 my way to access premium content.
3. I hate ads.
I think they’re bad UX. I think they force you, as a creator, to put advertising companies before your audience. And I hate that our creator world is currently geared around ad-friendly, brand-friendly content.
I’d rather rely on my audience or clients to support me. But until then, I’m not going to force Glenda to watch a 30-second ad to access my article. If she wants to support me, she can pay $5 to read it on Medium. Or she can leave me a tip.
This is a highly opinionated piece. I expect you probably could make a lot more money by turning on the Rewarded Ad gate (beta). I’m positive that advertisers will pay a lot more to get a slot of guaranteed attention for 30 seconds of video than they would for an easily-ignored banner.
But if you care about your audience, I couldn’t in good faith recommend the Rewarded Ad gate beta. I can’t imagine how betrayed and annoyed I would be if it happened to me — and you can bet I’d stop using that website as a resource.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Any AdSense users, would you turn this on? Have you already? What have been your experiences with it?