This episode covers one of the least sexy but most dangerous blind spots in mobile ad monetization:

If you don’t actively control what ads appear in your game,

your retention is being taxed without you noticing.

Felix breaks down how creative & category blocking really works across networks and why most publishers misunderstand it.

Key truths from the episode:

Blocking is mostly reactive, not proactive

Mediation is not a global kill switch — you must block ads on every network

Category blocking alone is never enough

Some networks give full control, others give almost none

Aggressive end cards silently kill retention

Revenue loss from cleaner ads is much smaller than people fear (~12%)

Having a centralized block list is a massive operational advantage

“Parity” is the only language networks respect when negotiating ad formats

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This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let’s not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.

Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠

Podcast:

Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipg

00:00 — Why ad quality quietly kills retention

01:45 — Why blocking is mostly reactive

03:30 — Category blocking: what it actually solves

05:40 — Why category blocking is never enough

07:20 — Mediation myth: why ads aren’t blocked globally

09:40 — Why you need a centralized block list

12:00 — Network-by-network control differences

14:40 — Aggressive end cards & hidden retention damage

17:30 — Revenue trade-offs (the real numbers)

18:45 — Final takeaway

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Matej Lancaric

User Acquisition & Creatives Consultant

⁠https://lancaric.me

Felix Braberg

Ad monetization consultant

⁠https://www.felixbraberg.com

Jakub Remiar

Game design consultant

⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar

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Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

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🎙️ Creative & Category Blocking: Save your retention by Felix Braberg

two &amp; a half gamers

two & a half gamers