Niantic has launched a new ad format, Rewarded AR, which uses a smartphone's camera to immerse players within branded content in their real-world surroundings.

The AR ads are powered by Niantic's AR development platform, 8th Wall, and are now offered in Niantic's real-world games like Pokémon GO. Players engage with interactive experiences within these ad units as they move around in the real world, unlocking rewards within the game. This approach helps reach players near key physical locations, delivering immersive brand experiences that lead to improved results across the funnel. According to Niantic, the Rewarded AR ad campaign has shown strong performance, with an average engagement rate of 76% and an average completion rate of 95% for the experience.

Analyst QuickTake: The launch of Rewarded AR ads represents an additional stream of revenue for Niantic, which has been struggling to replicate the success of its flagship Pokémon GO game. Additionally, Niantic launched an update to 8th Wall, which enabled cross-platform development of web-based AR content in June 2023 .