False Promises, Real Profits: Why Misleading Ads Work for Mobile Games

We’ve all been there: scrolling through Instagram reels or TikToks, consuming a stream of memes, inspirational speeches, or whatever the algorithm decides we should see. Then come the ads. A puzzle game flashes on the screen—pull the pins in the right order to save the character from certain doom. Or maybe it's an action-packed adventure, with a hero mowing down enemies while sprinting across a bridge. The games look simple, addictive, and easy to beat, but the gameplay in the ad is deliberately terrible. The character makes obvious mistakes, and you’re left mentally screaming, No, don’t do that! It’s a clever hook. Convinced you could do better, you download the game, eager to prove your strategic genius.

But once you start playing, the reality doesn’t match the promise. That puzzle game? Turns out it’s a match-three clone of Candy Crush. The fast-paced action shooter? Actually, it’s a base-building game with little resemblance to the frenetic battle scene you were sold on. It’s not just a bait-and-switch, it’s a full-on genre shift.

Then, on rare occasions, you stumble upon ads so bizarre, they defy all logic—and good taste. One that I recently came across began with a scene of a horse engaging in what can only be described as sexual foreplay with a lingerie-clad woman. Yes, you read that correctly. Just as you’re recovering from that disturbing moment, the ad morphs into a generic puzzle situation, where the characters make the worst possible decisions once again.

What’s going on here? The entire premise of these ads seems to be to irritate, confuse, or even shock viewers into downloading the game just to see how it all plays out. The games themselves often have little in common with the ad, which leaves you wondering: why do developers resort to such tactics? Are these ads really driving downloads? What’s the rationale behind these increasingly outlandish, and sometimes offensive, marketing ploys?