This may sound like a contradiction to what was previously discussed in our playbook on ad viewability, but ads that attract too much attention can many times hurt a website's long-term performance. Yes, ad viewability matters and is especially important for better revenue opportunities, but when an ad draws too much attention, it’s not always for the right reasons.

Creatives that clash with the content, break the layout, or disrupt the flow tend to stick out like a sore thumb—and like a sore thumb, they end up pulling attention in all the wrong ways. That kind of disruption is what gradually wears down the experience, especially in gaming and entertainment environments where user focus is high and expectations even higher. 

But there’s an art to making ads blend seamlessly into the experience. When done right, through the right monetization partner, ads can complement the content in a way that respects the website’s layout and speaks directly to the core audience.

It's Not Just About Fewer Ads 

Curated demand sources, such as private marketplaces (PMPs) or programmatic direct deals, involve selectively packaging ad inventory based on data and context to create better quality, more targeted advertising opportunities. This approach shifts buying away from the open exchange and into a more controlled environment, ensuring that users are presented with only high-quality and contextually relevant ads, rather than spammy, mismatched creatives that feel intrusive and out of place.

But beyond protecting the experience, this level of quality is extremely valuable for building trust among users, and is often what distinguishes a premium website from one that feels unreliable or built purely for monetization. That sense of quality doesn’t just affect perception, but directly impacts a website’s ad performance. According to a study by Lumen and Outbrain, native ads shown on premium publisher sites were 31% more trusted, 16% more likely to be clicked, and 18% more likely to lead to a purchase when compared to the same ads on social media.

This connection between a premium environment and performance is part of what makes curated websites more valuable to advertisers. When a site feels premium and aligned with its audience, the ads placed within it naturally benefit from that same credibility. It is what experts refer to in advertising as the halo effect, and according to Comscore, has the potential to deliver 67% higher brand lift and more than 3x the effectiveness in driving mid-funnel outcomes.

Nitro’s Infrastructure for Premium Demand

Curation only works when everything behind the scenes is built to support it. From how ads load to where they appear and who sees them, every piece needs to be optimized for relevance, quality, and control. That’s exactly the infrastructure we implement in the Nitro platform and apply across our network of over 500 premium gaming and entertainment websites.

As we explored in more depth in our Ad Format Diversity playbook, Nitro’s set of flexible, high-performing ad units is designed to fit seamlessly into a website’s layout and flow—allowing for cleaner, more intentional monetization strategies, with placements that feel native to the site experience rather than bolted on after the fact. To support this, Nitro gives publishers complete control over ad placement, backed by actionable analytics and hands-on strategic guidance from our client success team.

Under the hood, our proprietary tech stack ensures that every impression is served with speed and stability, adapting to the user’s bandwidth and browsing environment to reduce latency and prevent experience drop-off—contributing to an immediate sense of elevated quality and a more premium user experience .

A Smarter Way to Reach Gamers

For advertisers, Nitro is more than just another gaming ad network—it’s your entry point into the Overwolf Ads ecosystem, giving you access to over 100 million gamers each month across 500+ premium websites and desktop apps. We combine industry-leading viewability rates (85%+), guaranteed ad safety, low ad density, and best-in-class user retention to help your campaigns perform in high-focus, high-engagement environments.

And we’re constantly evolving the way advertisers connect with gamers—like our recent integration with The Trade Desk’s OpenPath, which provides a more transparent, efficient supply path into Overwolf’s exclusive inventory. Whether you're running native, video, or high-impact formats, Nitro ensures your ads appear in environments that are highly visible, brand-safe, and built for results.

Nitro is dedicated to reinventing website monetization for the gaming industry. Our ad tech platform combines uncompromised user experience, nitro-speed revenue and service with Net 7 Payouts, same-day support and the industry’s fastest ad loading.