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> It’s not like I get sucked into the game and decides to watch more expensive ads

It seems to be exactly like that for a sufficient portion of their users.

Explain how the user makes the decision. It's not like they click "watch expensive add and gain 2 coins, or watch normal add for 1 coin" The user doesn't know what ad they are about to be shown and has no choice in getting and ad that can revive their play.

when a user has lost, but can watch an ad to "revive" and continue the game, they are more likely to sit through that ad placement

some advertisers are thus more likely to pay more for those placements, and thus the placement is paired to one of these higher bidding campaigns

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