Google Trial Run Ads allow players to try apps before they install them

Google has launched a new advertising format that allows players to trial up to 60 seconds of a game before they download it.

Utilising technology similar to the company’s recently-launched app streaming, which lets users access their apps without having to install them, Trial Run Ads stream content from a game in the form of an interactive demo.

Google notes that a quarter of installed apps are never used – a figure it presumably wants to combat by letting consumers get a taste of the game and decide that they will actually use it before they hit download.

Joining Trial Run Ads are Interactive Interstitial ads, which run in HTML5 and allow advertisers to customise the advert’s experience for each user. For example, a user could play a virtual scratchcard to receive a custom promotion or swipe a screen to view a product gallery.

Both Trial Run Ads and Interactive Interstitial ads are now in beta on mobile, available to a ‘limited set’ of advertisers.