Last month, Pokemon Go added ads to the game. Well, more ads. There were already ads at special sponsored locations, like gyms and PokeStops, but starting at the end of March, Niantic added floating balloon ads that weren't dependent on a player's location.
To be fair to Niantic, these ads weren't nearly as awful as other free-to-play mobile games, which would often interrupt gameplay to force the player to watch a short ad. Pokemon Go's balloons would at least give players free gifts like Stardust, Poke Balls, Lures, or other items, so there was a good reason to interact with them. Plus, if you didn't like 'em, you could always turn them off in the game settings, and Child accounts never got these ads.
That said, the ads could still be a bit obnoxious. They almost completely obscure the screen when they appear, and they'll hang around for 10 minutes at least before disappearing naturally.
Ad balloons were limited to US Pokemon Go users back in March and for most of April, but now Niantic is rolling out the same thing to the rest of the world. So look forward to random balloons showering you with both items and advertising from now on.
Pokemon Go gets most of its cash from selling in-game items and event tickets to its millions of players. It's an extremely successful game, with 120 million downloads in 2020 alone. That number led to a 41% increase in revenue for Niantic despite lockdowns keeping trainers from congregating in large numbers at Gyms and Poke Stops.
Along with ad balloons, Team Rocket has been rolled out once again. Team Rocket had previously been disabled for a game-breaking glitch that would cause a player's phone to freeze, but the latest update has freed Team Rocket to once again terrorize Trainers from around the world.
And to apologize for the glitch, Niantic is bringing back Shadow Zapdos later in June. Keep an eye out for Shadow Zapdos starting n June 1 and running to June 17.