Rewarded advertising has quietly evolved from a niche mobile gaming mechanic into one of the most promising full-funnel tools in digital marketing. At its core is a simple exchange: Value for attention. However, a new report from EMARKETER and Discord, "Reaping the Rewards: Unlocking the Full Funnel with Rewarded Ads,” shows that this simplicity masks enormous strategic potential across channels, audiences, and campaign objectives.

Why rewarded ads resonate

In a crowded ad environment, consumers are tuning out traditional formats. Ad fatigue, shrinking attention spans, and migration to smaller online communities are forcing marketers to rethink engagement. Rewarded advertising offers an elegant solution: It gives consumers tangible value for their time, such as discounts, in-game boosts, or exclusive content.

• Some 65.0% of US marketers agree that users prefer rewarded ads to non-rewarded ones, and nearly half (46.3%) say they make users feel more in control of their ad experiences, according to EMARKETER and Discord's data.

That clarity is particularly appealing to Gen Z, a generation that’s digital-first yet increasingly ad-averse.

• Three-quarters of Gen Zers will be digital gamers by 2028, EMARKETER forecasts, making reward-based formats a natural fit.

Marketers are buying in

The research shows that the industry is catching up with consumers’ enthusiasm.

• Most marketers have either used rewarded ads either frequently (20.0%) or tested them in the past (34.4%), according to the survey.
• Brand marketers are leading the charge, with 52.9% planning to use rewarded ads soon, compared with 41.9% of agencies.

What’s driving the interest? Rewarded ads deliver across the funnel. More than 60% of marketers find them effective for awareness, engagement, and conversions alike, while 40.6% believe they can even build long-term brand loyalty, as found in the survey. From a top-funnel trailer view to a bottom-funnel coupon redemption, the format blends flexibility with measurable impact.

The perceived targeting benefits are also strong: Two-thirds of marketers (66.9%) see rewarded ads as effective for reaching tech-savvy or hard-to-reach audiences. But the opportunity is also emotional. When a user feels that their time is being respected, the brand earns goodwill.

Evidence still matters

Despite the enthusiasm, many marketers remain cautious. Some 61% of US CEOs want their marketing teams to focus on performance/ROI metrics, per January 2025 data from Boathouse, making evidence-based investment decisions crucial in a crowded ad environment.

Nearly two-thirds of marketers (64.4%) said that case studies or success metrics would increase their willingness to invest in rewarded advertising, while others want improved targeting and A/B-testing capabilities, according to the survey.

Still, experimentation is thriving: Seven in 10 marketers are testing new ad formats as a mitigation tactic to combat falling ROI from paid social buys, per a February 2025 survey from Taboola.

Beyond gaming

While rewarded ads gained traction in mobile gaming, their potential extends far beyond it.

• In the survey, 74% of marketers saw social media as a promising environment for rewarded ads, followed by streaming platforms (56%) and messaging or community apps (45%), per the survey.

That expansion tracks with user sentiment: Over half of Discord users who’ve engaged with its Quests rewarded ad format say it improves their experience, according to an internal Discord survey.

As advertisers navigate a fragmented, privacy-conscious landscape, rewarded advertising offers a rare alignment of consumer preference and marketing performance. It respects attention, enhances experiences, and drives measurable outcomes.

The format’s growth from mobile games to social and streaming environments signals a broader shift toward value-based advertising, creating a world where time is currency, and brands that give back earn more than just impressions.

Read the full report.

This article was prepared with the assistance of generative AI tools to support content organization, summarization, and drafting. All AI-generated contributions have been reviewed, fact-checked, and verified for accuracy and originality by EMARKETER editors. Any recommendations reflect EMARKETER’s research and human judgment.