A long-standing bug in rewarded video demand has started occurring more frequently since early July 2025. The problem? A bugged video player appears in the rewarded ad overlay — it shows no content, just a black screen with a skip button. No ad plays, and users can't access the reward.
What’s Happening?
At Nuwara Labs, we operate a plug-and-play platform for rewarded ads integrations, managing hundreds of live setups. This issue became critical, so we quickly investigated the root cause.
Here's what we've found so far.
How to Simulate the Black Screen Issue
Rewarded ad demand includes a mix of creative types, such as:
- Interstitial
- In-stream video
- Text overlays
- High-engagement interactive ads
The bug appears only when in-stream video is returned. A portion of these video creatives started failing, most notably on July 8, 2025, when the failure rate spiked. As a result, users couldn't view the video, couldn’t get their rewards, and many bounced from the experience.
Why This Bug Is So Disruptive
Here’s the typical user flow during this bug:
- User opts in to watch a rewarded ad to unlock premium content.
- The video player is rendered —> but nothing plays. Just a black screen.
- The user tries to skip the ad —> and doesn’t receive the reward.
- The user tries again —> the same bugged creative loads.
- Frustrated, the user leaves the experience.
This flow repeats across devices and browsers. If you run rewarded experiences, it’s a significant monetization and UX risk.
What’s Causing It?
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