June 9, 2026
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mobile ads

Case Study: The Effect of Presenting Ads as Rewards in Mobile Games

34 mins

The challenge of monetization is about more than dollars and cents – it is about continuously enhancing the user experience. Many developers steer clear of monetization solutions, fearing that they will turn off users and cause drops in retention and engagement rates.

However, when ads are presented as personalized they can have favorable implications for user experience and engagement. Below, I will share some data that demonstrates a positive correlation between the implementation of such ads and an increase in overall engagement.

In order to provide some context, PaeDae is a premium ad network that leverages a “reward ad spec” to help app developers monetize. One of the biggest contributors to our success is our commitment to ensuring that reward ads look native, and blend seamlessly into a user’s overall game or app experience.

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tacy trowbridge

Tacy Trowbridge on Adobe’s Education Exchange and Promoting Creativity

Ivan Kuo12 mins

The Gamification Revolution is the only live gamification webcast featuring Gabe Zichermann and fellow gamification experts every week. Join us and have all of your gamification questions answered by these experts. This week’s guest was Tacy Trowbridge, Head of Education Programs at Adobe.

Be sure to catch our next episode this Thursday, August 22 at 1PM ET/1800 GMT, where we feature Nicole Lazzaro, creator of Tilt World and president of XEODesign Inc.

Remember you can participate in the show if you sign-in and RSVP! Signing in will allow you to receive show reminders, ask questions, and even join Gabe and our guest for a live question.

In this week’s episode, Gabe and Tacy share some of Adobe’s education programs to see how they’re getting kids to become more creative and the resources they’re offering for educators and students. You’ll learn about Adobe’s Education Exchange, Tacy’s approach to motivating students in education, and a spirited user-chat about gamification user-experience. Watch the full talk below:



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One Million Views for Gamification

Gabe Zichermann01 mins

Since the first GSummit in January of 2011 in San Francisco, we have been sharing presentation materials with the community and world on Slideshare. Today we’re pleased to announce that those slides have been viewed over 1,000,000 times – a milestone we never could have imagined these 3 short years ago. With amazing content from…

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New Vendors Added to the Gamification Buyer’s Guide – 3/1/2013

Ivan Kuo02 mins

Need a place to start looking for gamification solutions? Our gamification buyer’s guide is a comprehensive database featuring numerous prominent companies, their vital stats, and a filtering system to find which company is right for you. Here are this week’s new gamification solutions added to the Buyer’s Guide:

  • FantasySalesTeam is an application that allows sales teams to run more engaging sales contests based on fantasy sports concepts.
  • Mobitto is a crowdsourced mobile loyalty app that rewards people for doing the things they like the most.
  • PAKRA works with you to understand the knowledge, skills and behaviors critical to maximizing your customers experience, and to explore opportunities for business improvement across all channels of contact

See the full gamification Buyer’s Guide for the complete list of gamification vendors. If you would like to be apart of the Buyer’s Guide,

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SCVNGR Raises Another $15m in Funding

Gabe Zichermann12 mins

Congratulations to SCVNGR, the location-based mobile app, for recently raising another $15million in funding from European VC firm Balderton Capital! SCVNGR is a fast-growing location-based site that puts its focus on gaming by giving challenges to go with your check-ins. SCVNGR is among the most business-friendly of location-based apps as hundreds of companies, schools and…

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How Urgent Optimism Can Drive Player Action in Gamification

Ivan Kuo47 mins

We’ve all experienced that final push, whether it’s getting a project done, putting the finishing touches on a term paper, or running the last leg of the race. No matter what the particulars are of the situation, there is a sense of urgency just before the challenge is over. The final aspects of a journey are coming to a close and there’s usually an implied reward. Sometimes the reward is the end of the challenge, itself, as is the case with a term paper. Other times, there is a finish line to cross and a celebration of closure. It’s what we tell ourselves when we’re about to finish a book and we have “just a few more pages.” In terms of game mechanics, urgent optimism is a powerful force to get people to take action quickly and it could be very successful for your gamification program

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Are 4G Networks Worth It?

Gabe Zichermann11 mins

Most smartphone users (i.e., mostly everyone) have been getting excited by mobile providers new claims on their 4G networks. The speeds are supposedly incredible and who could resist the possibility of downloading a full-length HD movie right to your phone? But before you get too jazzed, you might want to check out the recent post…

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Why Wibidata’s Portal 2 Recruiting Game Was So Successful

Ivan Kuo08 mins

The gamification of recruitment has been a very creative way to find and bring talent to your company without going through a costly recruiter. Given the recent success of recruiting games by Dominos, Quixey, and even the Air Force, it’s become clear that using games can be a viable strategy. One startup by the name of Wibidata took this idea to the next level and hired a game designer to create a Portal 2 game mod that would get over 75,000 impressions and 100 qualified job applicants in a single week.

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gamification certification

The Guide to Our New Gamification Certification Levels of Mastery

Gabe Zichermann27 mins

The first gamification design course was offered in 2011 at the inaugural GSummit in SF. Since then, nearly 1000 people have taken live and online courses that are eligible for certification through the Engagement Alliance. Additionally, tens of thousands have attended on-and-offline gamification courses that don’t offer any commonly accepted accreditation.

After many years of experimenting with design frameworks and through extensive discussion and consultation with industry, I’m pleased to announce a new rubric for design certification. This new program is based on best practices, designed to maximize the value of your education and help you deliver optimal results for your employer and your career. Here are the new levels of certification, and what they mean:

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