Discord Opens Advertising to All With Ads Manager and 'Video Quests'
Updated: 6 days ago
TL;DR: Discord has launched a self-serve Ads Manager and a rewarded 'Video Quests' format, opening its ad platform to advertisers of all sizes and pushing deeper into mobile performance.
Discord is opening its advertising business to the masses. The chat-and-gaming platform has launched a self-serve Ads Manager plus a new mobile-first rewarded-video format, 'Video Quests', ending the days when only large direct-sold partners could buy its inventory.
What launched
Video Quests ask users to watch roughly 15-second videos to earn in-app 'Orbs', with a premium 'Video Quests Reserve' variant and measurement partnerships with AppsFlyer and Gamesight. The Ads Manager brings self-serve buying to advertisers of all sizes.
Discord cited more than 90 million daily active users and a 97% median completion rate on its original Quests format — numbers that frame the pitch to performance marketers ahead of a potential IPO.
Marketing Minute's read
A major social-gaming platform switching on self-serve plus rewarded video is a genuinely new inventory source, and the audience — young, engaged, hard to reach on traditional channels — is exactly what many mobile and gaming advertisers want.
Rewarded video is efficient but blunt: completion rates are high because users are paid in Orbs to watch. The test is whether that attention converts, or whether it is engagement without intent. Early advertisers should measure down-funnel, not just views.
What marketers should do
Treat Discord as a test-and-learn channel, not a line item to copy from gaming playbooks. Pair the rewarded format with clear post-install or conversion goals, use the AppsFlyer/Gamesight measurement hooks, and judge it on cost-per-outcome against your existing social and in-app channels.
Quick FAQ
What is Discord's Video Quests?
A mobile-first rewarded-video ad format where users watch ~15-second videos to earn in-app 'Orbs', launched alongside a self-serve Ads Manager opening Discord ads to all advertisers.
Is Discord worth testing for advertisers?
It offers a young, engaged audience and a new rewarded-video inventory source, but marketers should measure down-funnel conversion, not just high completion rates, before scaling.
Discord turning on self-serve and rewarded video is a real new inventory source, and its audience is one every mobile advertiser covets. But a 97% completion rate is a paid-attention number. The discipline is simple: measure what happens after the watch, not the watch itself. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Discord's self-serve ads open a new, youthful inventory source — test it against cost-per-outcome, not completion rates.
Would you test a rewarded-video channel if the attention came at the price of an in-app reward?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Discord, Marketing Dive, GamesBeat.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
