Google H5 Games Ads: access, AdSense approval and adBreak() rules

H5 Games Ads is Google’s AdSense product for showing interstitial and rewarded ads inside HTML5 games. Your game calls two functions, adBreak() and adConfig(), through the Ad Placement API, and Google decides whether an ad actually shows at each placement. It is not a portal: nobody distributes your game for you. It suits developers who host their own games on a domain they can get approved in AdSense. The AdSense overview says it works in browsers and in Android app WebViews via AdMob, with display, TrueView and Bumper video formats.

How submission and review work

There are two separate gates, and you need both.

1. Program access. H5 Games Ads is a by-application product: you apply through a form, approval depends on partner eligibility and is not guaranteed, and you need an approved AdSense account to show ads in H5 games. The AdSense Help version repeats the same conditions.
2. Site approval. The page that hosts the game is an AdSense site like any other. You add it to the Sites list, Google verifies ownership (ad code, ads.txt or meta tag) and reviews it for policy compliance, and you can only serve ads once the site shows “Ready”. Google says the check usually takes a few days and sometimes 2-4 weeks.

No game assets (icons, thumbnails, descriptions) are submitted anywhere. What gets reviewed is your AdSense account and the site.

Technical requirements

The integration is the standard AdSense tag plus a one-line initialiser, placed between <head> and </head> of the page that hosts the game. Google warns that ads will not work if you skip the initialiser:

<script async
  src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
  crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
<script>
  window.adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || [];
  var adBreak = adConfig = function (o) { adsbygoogle.push(o); };
</script>

Rules from the official docs that affect your game code:

• Same document. Google says the tag and every API call should run in the same document as the game canvas. If the game is iframed, they go inside the iframe, and the iframe should carry allow="autoplay"; Google says some ads need it to be eligible.
• Placement types. Every adBreak() call must name a type: preroll, start, pause, next, browse or reward. Only one preroll per page load.
• Pause and mute. Use beforeAd() to pause and mute and afterAd() to resume (reference). A preroll must not receive those two callbacks; passing them makes the call fail. A preroll waits at most 2 seconds for the API, and adBreakDone() is always called, ad or no ad.
• One ad at a time. Calling adBreak() while another ad is visible, or from inside an ad callback, fails; preloadAdBreaks can be set only once (console errors).
• Rewards. Rewards must have no value outside the game, no monetary value, and you must not encourage ad clicks.
• Frequency. data-ad-frequency-hint defaults to “120s”, the fastest allowed rate is one ad per 30 seconds, and the hint does not apply to the first adBreak(). Google says server controls may override it later.
• Placement policy. Full-screen ads belong at natural transitions such as between levels. The H5 guidance rules out ads after every interaction, during continuous gameplay, right after another full-screen ad, or ads that could be mistaken for the startup sequence.
• Testing. data-adbreak-test="on" shows mock ads and respects your frequency settings; the example guide says to remove it once real players get the game. Test mode does not catch a wrong data-ad-client.
• Apps. Inside an Android WebView registered with the Google Mobile Ads SDK, add data-admob-interstitial-slot and/or data-admob-rewarded-slot (parameters).

No build size, file count, engine or orientation rule is published for this API.

Monetization and payouts

H5 earnings are ordinary AdSense earnings: the payments guide says only simple one-way revenue sharing (regular AdSense payments) is supported. In AdSense reports, the Interstitial and Rewarded ad formats are reserved for H5 Games Ads; for Rewarded, clicks include engaged views, so treat CTR and CPC for that format with care.

Google does not publish a share specific to H5 Games Ads. The AdSense revenue share page states 80% to the publisher for AdSense for Content after the advertiser platform’s fee (about 68% when advertisers buy through Google Ads), adds that it does not disclose the share for every product, and tells you to check Account > Settings > Account information for each active product.

Payouts follow the AdSense payment thresholds. In US dollars: identity verification at $0, address verification at $10, payment method selection at $10 and payment at $100. Other currencies have their own values in that table.

Exclusivity and rights

The docs contain no exclusivity terms. What they do define is control: whoever hosts the game controls the AdSense tag, the publisher ID and the payments, and is responsible for any further revenue sharing. If a distributor hosts your game, the distributor’s tag earns the money, not yours.

AI-generated content

No H5 Games Ads page mentions AI. The general Google Publisher Policies apply to every page carrying Google ads, and the inventory value policy says not to place ads on automatically generated content without manual review or curation. That rule concerns pages and content, not how game assets were produced; Google does not say how it applies to games.

Before you submit

• Your AdSense account is approved, your H5 Games Ads application is approved, and the game’s domain shows “Ready” on the Sites page.
• The tag loads adsbygoogle.js with your own ca-pub- ID and includes the adBreak/adConfig initialiser.
• Tag and calls live in the document that contains the canvas; an iframe embed has allow="autoplay".
• Every adBreak() has a valid type (required) and a name (optional, recommended by Google); at most one preroll.
• beforeAd() pauses and mutes, afterAd() resumes; no beforeAd/afterAd on the preroll.
• data-adbreak-test="on" is removed from the production build.
• Rewards stay inside the game.

The Portal Readiness Checker can check some of this locally: whether the build calls adBreak/adConfig and loads adsbygoogle.js, which external URLs it requests, and whether any audio starts before a user gesture. It cannot check AdSense approval, site status or placement policy. See also the adBreak() integration guide.

What is not published

• A revenue share specific to H5 Games Ads.
• Eligibility criteria for the application (traffic, content or region requirements).
• How long the H5 application review takes (only the site review has a stated range).
• Any build size, file count, load time or device requirement.
• Any statement about AI-generated game assets.