What is an end card in a mobile video ad?

Short answer. An end card is the screen shown when a video ad finishes, with the app or product details and a call to action such as install. It can be a static image or an interactive playable, and on many networks it is required.

This entry is the definition. For specs by network and how to test end cards, read our end cards guide.

The definition

Unity's documentation says: "End cards are creative assets displayed at the end of an ad with a call to action for users to download the advertised product." Its glossary adds that an end card typically presents "the title, icon, average user rating, and prominent installation button", and that "Modern end card implementations often incorporate interactive elements".

On Unity, the end card is not optional: "with Unity, all video ads must also include an end card." Digital Turbine notes that "End cards can follow Playables" and that "The end card should be part of the ad itself and not require any SDK control."

Static and playable end cards

Unity says "The default end card is a non-playable image." Its static spec lists square 800 x 800, landscape 800 x 600 and portrait 600 x 800, with square as the recommended default. A playable end card is an interactive version; Unity describes it as adding "a layer of engagement at the end of a regular 15 to 60 second video ad."

A worked example (illustration)

These numbers are invented. Run one video with three end cards, holding the video fixed, each on 100,000 impressions. End card A (store-style layout) gets 800 clicks, B (the game's best moment as a still, with one line of copy) gets 1,100, C (a short playable) gets 1,300. The video did not change, so the 500-click gap between A and C is the end card alone.

What a good or bad reading tells you

When video completion is healthy but taps are low, the end card is the first suspect: people watched and were not asked clearly enough. When the end card gets taps but installs lag, check whether it promises something the store page does not show.

In games and in consumer brands

For games the end card restates the game: name, best visual, one reason to play. For consumer brands running video on in-app networks, the same screen does the job of a product tile: product, offer, button. Our read is that the copy on that screen is the most under-written line in most accounts.

Common mistakes

• Using the network's default card for every ad, so the last screen never changes.
• Changing the video and the end card together, so a result cannot be attributed to either.
• Cropping critical text. Unity warns that dynamic cropping may occur and recommends a 100-pixel buffer on portrait and landscape images.
• Store badges that break platform rules; Unity notes that for Apple, you should "only depict the Apple app store logo".

Flixr's view

We think the end card is the most under-tested asset in most accounts: on AppLovin it is the last thing between the video and the click, and almost nobody varies it. That is the argument of end cards are the most under-tested asset you own. We make end cards with the video from the same brief; see our end cards page.