Version 23.0.0 of the Android Google Mobile Ads SDK is now available. We recommend upgrading as soon as possible to get our latest features and performance improvements.

The minimum Android API level is 21

Starting in version 23.0.0, the Google Mobile Ads SDK requires all apps to be on a minimum Android API level 21 to run. To adjust the API level, change the value of minSdk in your app-level build.gradle file to 21 or higher.

Ad Manager builder methods can now be chained

In version 23.0.0, AdManagerAdRequest.Builder methods inherited from its parent can be chained together to build an AdManagerAdRequest using a single call:

var newRequest = AdManagerAdRequest.Builder()
  .addCustomTargeting("age", "25") // AdManagerAdRequest.Builder method.
  .setContentUrl("https://www.example.com") // Method inherited from parent.
  .build() // Builds an AdManagerAdRequest.

A side effect of this change is AdManagerAdRequest.Builder no longer inherits from AdRequest.Builder.

SDK deprecation and sunset timelines activated

With this Android major version 23 launch and the iOS major version 11 launch last month, we are announcing new deprecation and sunset dates for older major releases. Specifically:

• Android Google Mobile Ads SDK versions 21.x.x are officially deprecated, and will sunset in Q2 2025.
• Android versions 20.x.x and iOS versions 8.x.x will sunset on June 30, 2024.
  • While there are currently no plans to disable ad serving on Android versions 20.x.x and iOS versions 8.x.x, we strongly recommend updating to a supported SDK version to avoid being impacted in the future.

For the full list of changes in v23.0.0, check the release notes. Check our migration guide to ensure your mobile apps are ready to upgrade. As always, if you have any questions or need additional help, contact us via the developer forum.

 - Jill Song, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Today, we are announcing that version 11.0.0 of the Google Mobile Ads SDK is now available. We recommend upgrading as soon as possible to get our latest features and performance improvements.

Simplified SwiftUI development

Version 11.0.0 no longer requires publishers to declare a view controller to present full-screen ads. As a result, SwiftUI Publishers can now present full-screen ads without the need for UIKit or UIViewControllerRepresentable workarounds. See our SwiftUI guide for more information.

struct ContentView: View {
  private let adCoordinator = AdCoordinator()

  var body: some View {
    ...

    Button("Watch an ad") {
      adCoordinator.showAd()
    }
  }
}

private class InterstitialAdCoordinator: NSObject, GADFullScreenContentDelegate {
  private var interstitial: GADInterstitialAd?

  ...

  func showAd() {
    guard let interstitial = interstitial else {
      return print("Ad wasn't ready")
    }

    // The SDK uses the app's main window to look up view controllers
    // automatically when one is not provided.
    interstitial.present(fromRootViewController: nil)
  }
}

Continue collecting user metrics in AdMob

The Google Mobile Ads SDK dependency on GoogleAppMeasurement has been removed. This dependency that powered the user metrics toggle in AdMob will be discontinued in early 2024. To continue collecting user metrics in AdMob, link your AdMob app to Firebase and integrate the Google Analytics for Firebase SDK into your app.

Changes to minimum OS and Xcode requirements

• The minimum OS version to load ads has been bumped from 12 to 13. Applications can still be built for iOS 12, but the SDK will only load ads on iOS 13 and higher.
• The minimum supported Xcode version has been bumped to 15.1.

For the full list of changes, check the release notes. Check our migration guide to ensure your mobile apps are ready to upgrade.

SDK Deprecation Reminder

Per the deprecation schedule, the release of version 11.0.0 means that:

• iOS Google Mobile Ads SDK versions 9.x.x are officially deprecated, and will sunset in Q2 2025.
• Versions 8.x.x and below will sunset in Q2 2024, approximately 60 days following the release of Android Google Mobile Ads SDK major version 23.0.0.
  • While there are currently no plans to disable ad serving on version 8.x.x, we strongly recommend updating to a supported SDK version to avoid being impacted in the future.

As always, if you have any questions or need additional help, contact us via the developer forum.

 - Justin Malandruccolo, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

In case you missed it, we announced new consent management platform requirements for serving ads in the EEA and UK. Beginning January 16, 2024, Google will require all publishers to use a Google-certified consent management platform (CMP) when serving ads to users in the European Economic Area or the UK.

In addition to growing our list of certified CMPs, we explored how to improve the User Messaging Platform (UMP) SDK developer experience for those who choose to use Google’s consent management solution. We are excited to share several updates in the latest iOS and Android versions that we think will streamline your integration.

Loading and presenting a consent form

The latest UMP SDK release introduces a new API, loadAndPresentIfRequired(), that consolidates the existing individual load and present consent form methods into a single method. The new API loads a consent form and if consent is required, automatically presents the consent form. This method is intended to be used at the beginning of a new app session.

Here is a code example of how to use the new API on iOS:

class ViewController: UIViewController {

  private var isMobileAdsStartCalled = false

  override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    UMPConsentInformation.sharedInstance.requestConsentInfoUpdate(with: parameters) {
      [weak self] requestConsentError in
      guard let self else { return }

      // Call the helper method once consent information has been updated.
      UMPConsentForm.loadAndPresentIfRequired(from: self) {
        [weak self] loadAndPresentError in
        guard let self else { return }

        if UMPConsentInformation.sharedInstance.canRequestAds {
          self.startGoogleMobileAdsSDK()
        }
      }
    }

    // canRequestAds will be true if consent was gathered in the previous session.
    if UMPConsentInformation.sharedInstance.canRequestAds {
      startGoogleMobileAdsSDK()
    }
  }

  private func startGoogleMobileAdsSDK() {
    DispatchQueue.main.async {
      guard !self.isMobileAdsStartCalled else { return }

      self.isMobileAdsStartCalled = true

      // Initialize the Google Mobile Ads SDK.
      GADMobileAds.sharedInstance().start()
      // Request an ad.
      GADInterstitialAd.load(...)
    }
  }
}

Checking when to request ads

We added a new boolean property canRequestAds to use as a check before initializing the Google Mobile Ads SDK and requesting ads. canRequestAds returns true when the consent status is either OBTAINED or NOT_REQUIRED; as a result you don’t need to implement any enum checking yourself.

You should use the canRequestAds API in two places (as seen in the code snippet above):

1. Once consent has been gathered in the current session.
2. Immediately after you have called requestConsentInfoUpdate. It is possible consent has been gathered in the previous session in which case it is not necessary to wait for the callback to finish.

Checking privacy options requirement status

GDPR requires that publishers allow users to withdraw their consent choices at any time. It should be as easy to withdraw consent as it is to gather consent. To simplify this process, we have added two new APIs:

1. privacyOptionsRequirementStatus to determine whether you should include a UI element that can re-present the consent form, such as a button in your application’s settings page.
2. presentPrivacyOptionsForm() to show the form so the user can update their consent status at any time.

Here is a code example of how to use the new APIs on iOS:

// Show a privacy options button if required.
private var isPrivacySettingsButtonEnabled: Bool {
  return UMPConsentInformation.shared.privacyOptionsRequirementStatus == .required
}

// Present the privacy options form when a user interacts with your app.
@IBAction func privacySettingsTapped(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
  UMPConsentForm.presentPrivacyOptionsForm(from: self) {
    [weak self] formError in
    guard let self, let formError else { return }

    // Handle the error.
  }
}

Developer resources

We updated our AdMob banner samples applications for iOS and Android to showcase integrating the UMP SDK. Keep an eye out as we add UMP SDK support to the rest of our samples soon.

Also take a look at our iOS and Android developer documentation for instructions on how to implement the UMP SDK.

If you have any questions or need additional help integrating the UMP SDK, please contact us via the developer forum.

 - Justin Malandruccolo, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

We’re excited to announce the launch of new testing features on ad inspector across all platforms for our AdMob and Ad Manager publishers.

Previously, ad inspector tested all ads in context - in other words, you had to fire up your app, navigate to the appropriate screen in the UI, and have your ad load as it would for any other user. While this provides for the most accurate testing scenario, it also puts more work on you as the publisher and tester of your app. You don’t want ads buried in more obscure screens in your app to lose out on the testing attention and care they need!

With our latest update, you can now use test ads to load requests for any ad unit - no matter where it's located in your app. Rather than needing to navigate through your app to test each ad unit, you can execute your tests directly from ad inspector.

How do I use ad inspector’s new testing features?

Beginning with version v10.0.0 on iOS and v21.4.0 on Android of the Google Mobile Ads SDK, ad inspector supports running tests directly from the ad unit detail screen via a “Request test ad” button:

All of your requests made from your app’s UI or within ad inspector will appear in the SDK request log; your requests made from within ad inspector will be differentiated by being labeled with “Requested from ad inspector”. For these special requests you’ll be able to tap the “View” button one time to view the actual ad, see which network filled the slot, and more.

Alongside single ad source testing, these new testing features will allow you to rigorously test each individual ad network integration in your app.

To learn more about how to test your ads with ad inspector, check out our developer guides here:

• Android (AdMob | Ad Manager)
• iOS (AdMob | Ad Manager)
• Flutter (AdMob | Ad Manager)
• Unity (AdMob)
• C++ (AdMob)

If you have any questions or need additional help, please contact us via the developer forum.

 - Chris Giglio, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

We are excited to announce the release of our newest version of the Google Mobile Ads SDK. We recommend upgrading as soon as possible to stay up-to-date with our latest features.

Version 22.0.0 Changes

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 22.0.0 introduces a few major changes:

• MobileAds.getVersionString() is removed in version 22.0.0 in favor of MobileAds.getVersion(). The new method returns the expected external version number (for example, 22.0.0), helping you more clearly identify your SDK version. For more information about this change, see the Use the new Google Mobile Ads SDK getVersion() method blog post.
• In version 21, the Google Mobile Ads SDK provided you the NativeCustomFormatAd.getVideoMediaView() method to get the media asset for an Ad Manager native custom ad format. In version 22, NativeCustomFormatAd provides direct access to getMediaContent() enabling you to define your MediaView in layout files along with the rest of your other views, and simply populate that view with its content once the ad loads.

See release notes for the full changelog. See our migration guide to help you migrate your apps.

SDK deprecation/sunset activated

Per the deprecated schedule announced last year, the release of iOS version 10.0.0 in February and this Android version 22.0.0 release activate the sunset period of earlier Android/iOS releases. Specifically:

• Android Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.x.x is officially deprecated, meaning that you will be asked to update to at least version 21.0.0 to receive full support from the Google Mobile Ads SDK developer forum.
• Android versions 19.x.x and below, as well as iOS versions 7.x.x will sunset on June 30th, 2023, meaning that ad serving could be disrupted. See details below.

Updated definition of sunset

We remain committed to regularly disabling old SDK versions balanced with minimizing disruption to ad serving. Aligned with this goal, we are making some changes to the previously announced sunset definition for 2023:

1. We previously communicated that the sunset notice period would be 2 months. For this 2023 sunset, the sunset date is June 30th, approximately 3 months notice.
2. We will leverage the “Outdated” feature on the Google Play SDK Index, requiring you to move off a sunset SDK version for future releases of your Android apps. See Understanding issues with your app’s third-party SDK for more information.
3. Starting June 30th, you may notice some disruptions in your ad serving. While we do not plan to stop ad serving for iOS version 7.x.x and Android versions 19.x.x and earlier at this time, we will regularly review usage of all sunset versions going forward to consider disabling ad serving. The oldest versions with lower usage and higher maintenance costs will be targeted first. Therefore, ad traffic from sunset SDKs versions will be at risk of receiving automatic no fill due to stopped ad serving going forward.

To avoid disruptions in ad serving, we highly recommend upgrading to a supported version as soon as possible so your users have a chance to update before June 30th, 2023.

Check if your apps are affected

To help you prepare for these changes, there are several ways you can check if your apps are affected:

• Use the Ads Activity report and enable the “GMA SDK” dimension to see iOS app traffic running on iOS 7.x.x or earlier. Currently, only the Google Mobile Ads SDK for iOS is supported.
• In Android Studio, check your build.gradle file for build warnings, which are thrown when compiling with Android SDK version 19.x.x or earlier.
• Check your console logs for warning logs when making ad requests.

As always, if you have any questions or need additional help, contact us through the developer forum.

 - Jill Song, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of our 2023 Google Mobile Ads SDK Developer Survey. As part of our efforts to continue updating the AdMob and Ad Manager products, we’d like to hear from you about where we should focus our efforts. This includes product feedback as well as feedback on our guides, code samples and other resources. Your feedback will help shape our future product and resource roadmap.

Take the survey

This anonymous survey should only take about 15 minutes to complete and will provide our team with your valuable feedback as we plan for the months ahead. Whether you’re an engineer, Ad Ops personnel, or a PM, your feedback on AdMob, Ad Manager, and the Google Mobile Ads SDK is valuable to us. We appreciate you taking the time to help improve our developer experience!

 - Chris Giglio, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

The volume control APIs provided by the Google Mobile Ads SDK are intended to mirror your app’s own custom volume controls. Utilizing these APIs ensures that the user receives video ads with the expected audio volume.

We’ll talk about some best practices implementing the volume control APIs in your iOS, Android or Unity project.

Why are we mentioning this?

Publishers can lose revenue when using these APIs to lower or mute the volume of the Google Mobile Ads SDK. Two issues we have commonly seen:

1. Apps are using their own custom volume controls not sending the app’s accurate volume to the Google Mobile Ads SDK, but always sending zero
2. App are just muting the SDK

Some apps have close to a 100% mute rate which doesn’t sound correct (pun intended). Setting application volume to zero or muting the application reduces video ad eligibility, which as a result may reduce your app’s ad revenue.

Volume control APIs

The Google Mobile Ads SDK offers two volume control APIs: setting the volume and toggling mute. These APIs are applicable to App Open, Banner, Interstitial, Rewarded and Rewarded Interstitial ad formats. For Native ads, use GADVideoOptions.

Setting application volume on each platform

iOS	GADMobileAds.sharedInstance().applicationVolume = 1.0
Android	MobileAds.setAppVolume(1.0f)
Unity	MobileAds.SetApplicationVolume(1.0f)

Use applicationVolume to set your custom volume relative to the device volume. The range can be from 0.0 (silent) to 1.0 (current device volume). For example, if the device volume level was at half level and the user set your app’s custom volume to max level, set the applicationVolume to 1.0 and the user will receive an ad with the volume at half level.

Setting application mute on each platform

iOS	GADMobileAds.sharedInstance().applicationMuted = true
Android	MobileAds.setAppMuted(true)
Unity	MobileAds.SetApplicationMuted(true)

Use applicationMuted if your custom volume controls include a mute button. Only toggle applicationMuted if the user selects your custom mute button. For example, if the user adjusts your custom volume to 0 you do not need to call applicationMuted; just call applicationVolume = 0.0.

Setting mute for native ads on each platform

iOS	let videoOptions = GADVideoOptions() videoOptions.startMuted = true adLoader = GADAdLoader( adUnitID: "AD_UNIT_ID", rootViewController: self, adTypes: [ ... ad type constants ... ], options: [videoOptions])
Android	val videoOptions = VideoOptions.Builder() .setStartMuted(false) .build() val adOptions = NativeAdOptions.Builder() .setVideoOptions(videoOptions) .build() val adLoader = AdLoader.Builder(this, "AD_UNIT_ID") .forNativeAd( ... ) .withNativeAdOptions(adOptions) .build()
Unity	N/A - Native video ads are not supported in Unity.

Use startMuted if your custom volume controls include a mute button. Only toggle startMuted if the user selects your custom mute button.

Best Practices

To use our APIs as intended:

1. applicationVolume should be called only when your custom volume control settings are set to reflect the new volume
2. applicationMuted or startMuted should only be toggled to true if the user has muted your custom volume

As a rule of thumb, if your app does not have custom volume controls then you should not use these APIs.

What should you do?

To verify that your mobile applications are using these APIs correctly, we recommend that you enable test ads and force load a video test ad in your application. If your app has custom volume controls, the ad’s volume should be at the same level as the custom volume. Otherwise, the ad’s volume should match the device volume.

If you have any questions or need additional help, please contact us via the forum.

 - Justin Malandruccolo, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

We are excited to announce the release of our newest version of the Google Mobile Ads SDK. We recommend upgrading as soon as possible to stay up-to-date with our latest features.

Version 10.0.0 Changes

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 10.0.0 introduces a few major changes:

• The minimum OS version has been bumped from 11 to 12. Given the high adoption rate of iOS 16, we are continuing the trend of incrementing the minimum support level. Applications can still be built for iOS 11, however, the SDK will not load any ads on iOS 11.
• Since bitcode is deprecated in Xcode 14, we have disabled bitcode in the SDK. As a result, this has decreased the download size of our SDK by ~35MB. What this means for you is to integrate with SDK version 10.0.0, you also have to disable bitcode (if you haven’t already) in the build settings of your Xcode project.
• Ad Manager applications require an app ID upon initialization of the SDK. This also means the key GADIsAppManagerApp will no longer bypass this check. App IDs are added to the Info.plist with a key of GADApplicationIdentifier. See Update your Info.plist for more details.
• Ad Manager applications require GoogleAppMeasurement.xcframework as a dependency. If you install the Google Mobile Ads SDK through CocoaPods or Swift Package Manager, no additional action is required. If you install frameworks manually, see Manual Download for more details.
• We also have removed deprecated APIs of various properties and classes.

For the full list of changes, check the release notes. Check our migration guide to ensure your mobile apps are ready to upgrade.

SDK Deprecation Reminder

Per the deprecation schedule announced last year, the release of version 10.0.0 means that:

• iOS Google Mobile Ads SDK versions 8.x.x is officially deprecated, and will sunset in Q2 2024.
• Versions 7.x.x and below will sunset sometime in Q2 2023, approximately 60 days following the release of Android Google Mobile Ads SDK major version 22.0.0.

As always, if you have any questions or need additional help, contact us via the forum.

 - Justin Malandruccolo, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

We are happy to announce the release of an iOS sample application that demonstrates how to integrate the Google Mobile Ads SDK into a SwiftUI-based app. This post covers how we implemented full screen ad formats (interstitial, rewarded, rewarded interstitial) in SwiftUI.

The Google Mobile Ads SDK relies heavily on the UIKit Framework, depending on UIView or UIViewController for each ad format. For example, the SDK currently presents full screen ads using the following method:

present(fromRootViewController rootViewController: UIViewController)

In UIKit, ads are typically implemented in a UIViewController, so it is rather trivial to pass in a rootViewController value by simply invoking self. SwiftUI requires us to diverge from this approach, however, because UIViewController cannot be directly referenced in SwiftUI. Since we can’t just pass in self as the root view controller, we needed to achieve a similar result using a SwiftUI-native approach.

Our solution

We created an implementation of the UIViewControllerRepresentable protocol with a UIViewController property. Its one job is to provide access to the UIViewController reference in SwiftUI.

private struct AdViewControllerRepresentable: UIViewControllerRepresentable {
  let viewController = UIViewController()

  func makeUIViewController(context: Context) -> some UIViewController {
    return viewController
  }

  func updateUIViewController(_ uiViewController: UIViewControllerType, context: Context) {}
}

AdViewControllerRepresentable needs to be included as part of the view hierarchy even though it holds no significance to the content on screen. This is because canPresent(fromRootViewController:) requires the presenting view controller’s window value to not be nil.

private let adViewControllerRepresentable = AdViewControllerRepresentable()

var body: some View {
  Text("hello, friend.")
      .font(.largeTitle)
      // Add the adViewControllerRepresentable to the background so it
      // does not influence the placement of other views in the view hierarchy.
      .background {
        adViewControllerRepresentable
          .frame(width: .zero, height: .zero)
      }
}

To present the full screen ads in our sample app, we leveraged action events in SwiftUI.

Button("Watch an ad!") {
  coordinator.presentAd(from: adViewControllerRepresentable.viewController) 
}

And our AdCoordinator class does the honor of presenting it from our view controller.

private class AdCoordinator: NSObject {
  private var ad: GADInterstitialAd?

  ...

  func presentAd(from viewController: UIViewController) {
    guard let ad = ad else {
      return print("Ad wasn't ready")
    }

    ad.present(fromRootViewController: viewController)
  }
}

And voila!

An alternative option

Instead of creating a UIViewControllerRepresentable, there was always the option to query the rootViewController property from UIWindow.

UIApplication.shared.windows.first?.rootViewController

We decided against this option for the following reasons:

1. There is the inherent nullability risk to querying an optional array index.
2. The default value of rootViewController is nil.
3. If your app utilizes more than one window, the windows array will have multiple elements and therefore, makes querying the “first” window object unreliable.
4. windows on the UIApplication object is deprecated in iOS 15 and UIWindowScene now holds the reference to this property.

Conclusion

We know there is more than one way to cook an egg when it comes to writing code in SwiftUI. For our use case, we chose the most low-code friendly option. If you have any questions, reach out to our developer forum.

Try it out!

 - Justin Malandruccolo, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

To provide Google Mobile Ads SDK developers for AdMob and Ad Manager more transparency and predictability on the expected lifetime of an SDK version, we are introducing a deprecation schedule for the Google Mobile Ads SDKs for Android and iOS.

Benefits

Introducing a predictable deprecation schedule offers the following benefits for app developers and publishers:

1. Ability to predict and plan for SDK updates with a year of lead time.
2. Legacy SDK code that only exists to support old versions can be deleted, thereby decreasing SDK size and lowering the risk of bugs.
3. Engineering resources are freed up to focus more on support for newer SDKs and innovation of new SDK features.

Glossary

To understand the deprecation schedule, let’s first align the terms used to describe the state of a Google Mobile Ads SDK version:

SDK State	Impact
Supported	Ads serve to this SDK. Technical SDK support questions are welcomed on the Google Mobile Ads SDK developer forum.
Deprecated	Ads will still serve to this SDK. Support questions specific to this SDK version are no longer answered on the Google Mobile Ads SDK developer forum. Users will be asked to validate the issue in a supported SDK version to receive full support.
Sunset	Ads will not serve to this SDK. Ad requests return a no fill with an error indicating that this version is sunset.

Timelines

The deprecation and sunset timelines will revolve around major SDK version releases. We plan to do a major version release annually, in the first quarter of each year. The release of a new major version on both Android and iOS will trigger changes in SDK state for older major versions on both platforms.

Once we release a new major version N for both Android and iOS:

• All SDK versions with major version N-2 on their respective platforms are considered deprecated immediately. Questions specific to these versions will no longer receive support.
• All SDKs versions with major version N-3 on their respective platforms will sunset after 2 months.
  • We will publish subsequent blog posts communicating specific sunset dates to activate this two-month sunset period. The first sunset announcement is expected in Q1 2023 with a sunset date in Q2 2023.

With this schedule, a new major version will live in the supported state for about 2 years, and in the deprecated state for an additional year before moving to the sunset state.

The graphic below helps visualize the schedule:

How does the change apply to existing versions?

Effective today, Android v19 and iOS v7 versions are considered deprecated. In accordance with the schedule above, we plan to sunset Android v19 and iOS v7 versions in Q2 2023 following the releases of Android v22 and iOS v9 planned for Q1 2023. We will provide more specific sunset dates following the releases of Android v22 and iOS v9.

The graphic below helps visualize the state of existing Google Mobile Ads SDK versions for Android and iOS with today’s announcement.

Note: Versions 6.x.x and below for both Android and iOS have been sunset since 2018.

Exceptions

The deprecation schedule provides a framework for predictable lifetimes for an SDK version. However, there may be exceptions in the future. This schedule does not preclude us from sunsetting an SDK version at an earlier date, but we are committed to providing proactive communication with ample lead time for any future changes.

Next Steps

1. Refer to the deprecation developer pages (Android | iOS) for the latest updates to the deprecation schedule. If you are on a deprecated version, see the Android migration guide or iOS migration guide for more information on how to update.
2. Stay tuned for future updates to this blog, where more specific sunset dates will be communicated once new major Google Mobile Ads SDK versions are released.

If you have any questions about this announcement, please reach out to us on the Google Mobile Ads SDK Developer Forum.

 - Eric Leichtenschlag, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Today we're announcing the release of Mediation Test Suite Beta. Mediation Test Suite is a lightweight SDK that enables Google AdMob publishers to easily test mediation ad network integrations without having to make changes in the AdMob UI, saving you and your developers time. It is available on Android, iOS, and Unity.

Mediation Test Suite allows you to:

• View a full list of mediation ad source configurations for your app
• Automatically check your project for missing SDKs, adapters, and manifest changes required by partner ad sources
• Load a banner, interstitial, rewarded, or native ad for any ad source using a certified Google Mobile Ads SDK implementation
• Batch test multiple ad sources for the same ad unit
• Test both open source mediation adapters and custom event adapters

Integrating Mediation Test Suite is easy -- once you have the SDK imported, it can be launched with just a single line of code. All you need is your AdMob app ID.

On Android, the launch code looks like this:

import com.google.android.ads.mediationtestsuite.MediationTestSuite;
...
String appId = "YOUR-ADMOB-APP-ID";
MediationTestSuite.launch(MainActivity.this, appId);

On iOS, all that's required is importing the correct header and launching the Test Suite:

#import "GoogleMobileAdsMediationTestSuite.h"
...
NSString* appId = @"YOUR-ADMOB-APP-ID"
[GoogleMobileAdsMediationTestSuite presentWithAppID:appId
                                   onViewController:self delegate:nil];

Unity is just as simple, but please note that you need to use the appropriate app ID for your platform:

using GoogleMobileAdsMediationTestSuite.Api;
...
#if UNITY_ANDROID
string appId = "YOUR-ANDROID-ADMOB-APP-ID";
#elif UNITY_IPHONE
string appId = "YOUR-iOS-ADMOB-APP-ID";
#else
string appId = "";
#endif
MediationTestSuite.Show(appId);

Including Mediation Test Suite in production builds is optional

You are not required to keep the Mediation Test Suite library in the production release of your app; however, you may choose to leave it in and hide it behind a debug gesture. Doing so enables you to launch Mediation Test Suite within your production build.

You can find more information about how to use Mediation Test Suite in the developer guide (Android | iOS | Unity). Remember that Mediation Test Suite is a beta product, so if you have any questions or feedback, please contact us on the developer forum.

 - Jon Weisbaum, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Cross posted from the AdMob blog.

Optimizing the ad experience on your app for a varied audience can be difficult. Showing users ads that are a better fit can improve their overall ad experience and help maximize your app’s revenue.

AdMob has launched a new feature that allows you to specify the content rating for Google ads served in your app. With the new max_ad_content_rating signal, you can now choose the content rating of Google demand that you want to deliver on a per-request basis.

Four content rating choices offer you the granularity you need to provide users at each level with a better user experience. The four new content rating choices are:

• G: Content suitable for general audiences
• PG: Content suitable for most audiences with parental guidance
• T: Content suitable for teen and older audiences
• MA: Content suitable only for mature audiences

You can start sending the new max_ad_content_rating signal in the Google Mobile Ads SDK by following these Android and iOS guides. To learn more about the new signal and the content rating choices, visit the AdMob help center or contact your Google account team.

Posted by Alexa Haushalter, Product Manager, AdMob

Today we're announcing a behavior change when requesting test ads using the Google Mobile Ads SDK. It enables you to test your own ad units while also ensuring that you are in test mode.

When using the Google Mobile Ads SDK during development, we recommend that you configure your device to request test ads. Always testing with test ads is important so you avoid having your account flagged for invalid activity.

Previously, enabling test ads resulted in the same sample ad like this one being shown in your app:

While this worked well as a basic check, it didn't allow for testing what real ads would look like in a production environment. For example, you couldn't test your mediation configurations or the different types of banner and interstitial formats that AdMob offers. The update we're rolling out addresses these problems.

New Test Ad Behavior

Starting today, apps built against Google Mobile Ads SDK 11.6.0 or higher on Android or 7.26.0 or higher on iOS can take advantage of the new behavior of test ads, which serves production-looking ads without charging advertisers. With this change, you can safely test the clickthrough behavior of your ads without your account getting flagged for invalid activity.

Banner, interstitial, and rewarded test ads now show a "Test Ad" label in the top-middle of the ad to give you a visual indicator that the ad returned is actually a test ad.

Sample 300x250 Banner ad

For native advanced test ads, the headline asset has the text "Test Ad" prepended.

Sample native content ad.

Test ads with Mediation

When using mediation, ads shown from third-party ad networks won't display the test ad label. Only Google ads show the test ad label. You are responsible for ensuring that your testing of third-party ad networks is compliant with their stated policies. See each mediation network's respective mediation guide for more information on how to enable test ads on those networks.

See the testing guide (Android | iOS) for more information on how to enable test ads in the Google Mobile Ads SDK. If you have any questions, contact us on the developer forum.

 - Eric Leichtenschlag, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

In the Google Mobile Ads SDK Android version 11.2.0 and iOS version 7.21.0, we added multiple native ads, a new feature for AdMob Native Ads Advanced. This feature lets you load up to five unique native ads with a single request. If you're showing native ads in a scrolling feed, this will allow you to get a batch of ads different from one another. It also means fewer network calls, which improves latency.

If you're displaying multiple native ads in a feed and loading ads one by one, converting to the new API should be fairly straightforward.

First, make a decision about how many ads you wish to fetch in one request. This is a function of how frequently you display ads in your feed. If you request five ads, AdMob will return the top five ads, ordered by eCPM value. If only three ads are available for the ad unit, only three ads will be returned.

iOS Implementation

Before initializing your ad loader, you need to create an instance of GADMultipleAdsAdLoaderOptions and set the numberOfAds property. Then include this object in the array of options when calling GADAdLoader's initializer:

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    let multipleAdsOptions = GADMultipleAdsAdLoaderOptions()
    multipleAdsOptions.numberOfAds = 5

    adLoader = GADAdLoader(adUnitID: YOUR_AD_UNIT_ID, rootViewController: self,
        adTypes: [GADAdLoaderAdType.nativeContent,
                  GADAdLoaderAdType.nativeAppInstall],
        options: [multipleAdsOptions])
    adLoader.delegate = self
    adLoader.load(GADRequest())
  }

When requesting multiple native ads, you will still get individual callbacks when each ad is loaded. For example, for an app install ad you will have a callback to -adLoader:didReceiveNativeAppInstallAd:, and for a content ad -adLoader:didReceiveNativeContentAd:. This way you don't need to change the way the ads are received and shown.

To determine when ads have finished loading, there are two new APIs available:

1. On the GADAdLoader object, a new property, loading, has been added. It returns true if a request is in progress, and false otherwise. You can check this property after each ad has loaded to find out if loading ads has completed.
2. On the GADAdLoaderDelegate, the adLoaderDidFinishLoading: method has been added. It's invoked when all ads for a request have been returned.

Android Implementation

The Android implementation is similar to iOS. There's a new method on AdLoader, loadAds() which accepts the number of ads to load. There's also a new isLoading() method that indicates whether a request is currently in progress.

For a detailed walkthrough of the implementations, see the AdMob Native Ads Advanced implementation guides (iOS | Android). If you have any questions about this feature in the Google Mobile Ads SDK, please drop us a line at the developer forum.

 - Samuel Stow, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Cross-posted from the AdMob blog.

Every interaction a user has with your app matters. That's why we're constantly evolving our advertising recommendations and policies to ensure that no matter where and on what device users are engaging with your apps, they have good experiences.

Example of ad appearing outside of "safe area" on iPhone X

With the launch of the iPhone X, app developers now need to plan for new design considerations as the rounded corners, notch, and home screen indicator on the extended screen can obscure content and lead to poor ad experiences for users when ads are placed in these areas.

That's why we've put together a guide to help you adapt your ad strategy for iPhone X. This includes guidance for how you can shift placement of banner or native ads to designated "safe areas" for this new device.

We've also updated our policies to indicate that ads must not be placed where objects may interfere with the user's typical interaction with the ad or app, such as under the home screen indicator on the iPhone X.

Please review these policy updates and our suggested implementation guide to ensure you're compliant by November 20th.

If you have any questions, visit the AdMob Help Center or contact your Google account team.

Posted by Pablo Alvarez, Product Manager, AdMob

Over the past few months, a couple new projects designed to streamline AdMob and DFP mediation have launched: mediation groups, open source adapters, and network-specific guides.

Open Source Mediation Adapters on GitHub

In partnership with some of our mediation partners, we've open-sourced many of the most popular adapters used with DFP and AdMob mediation. You can see for yourself at our GitHub repos for iOS and Android:

• https://github.com/googleads/googleads-mobile-android-mediation
• https://github.com/googleads/googleads-mobile-ios-mediation

In addition to adapter source, there's also a project containing example adapter and custom event implementations, plus a test app.

Import Mediation Adapters with CocoaPods and Gradle

In addition to open-sourcing the adapters, we've also made importing compiled adapters into your projects simpler by uploading them to Bintray and making them available via jCenter and CocoaPods. Rather than downloading and manually including libraries, publishers can get the correct adapter simply by updating their Podfile with a line like this:

    pod 'GoogleMobileAdsMediationMoPub'

...or their build.gradle file with a line like this:

    compile 'com.google.ads.mediation:mopub:11.10.1.0'

With many ad networks choosing to distribute their SDKs in the same manner, it's frequently possible to bring a new mediation network into an app with nothing more that a Podfile or build.gradle tweak. For instructions on which gradle artifacts and CocoaPods to use, check the AdMob Mediation Overview (iOS, Android) and look for networks in the "Open source and versioned" section.

Network-specific guides

Each mediated network is a little bit different. They have their own front-end, their own reporting systems, and their own vocabulary including things like "placement," "location," or "zone." Once you start trying to add a second or third network to your mediation waterfall, things can get confusing in a hurry.

To help publishers navigate through these details, we've created network-specific guides for the mediation partners who have joined our open source repositories. Each one includes step-by-step instructions (with screenshots) that guide a publisher all the way from configuring their account in the mediated network's web site to setting up their mediation stack and importing the right adapter.

For more details, there's no better place to go than the guides themselves. You can find them in the AdMob Mediation Overview (iOS, Android).

Questions?

If you've got questions about our open source adapters or the best ways to get up and running with mediation, stop by our support forum.

 - Andrew Brogdon, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

If you've created a Native Express ad unit recently, you may have noticed a new template format alongside App Install and Content: Video App Install. In the past few weeks, AdMob has rolled out support for video assets in Native Ads Express, giving publishers a new way to create more engaging presentations for their users.

How to get started

Enabling video demand for a Native Express ad unit is easy. Just open the ad unit's settings in the AdMob console, and look for the Ad type checkboxes at the top of the editor:

Check the checkbox marked "Video app install," and save the change. In a short while, your ad unit will start serving video creatives alongside the other two formats, with no code changes to your app required. That means you can update your existing apps to display this new format without redeploying to the Play Store or App Store.

An important thing to note is that video creatives are only available for ad units using the Large template size. The video player needs a certain amount of space, and the Large template ensures that it's available.

Customizing the experience

While there's no mobile code required to take advantage of Native Express Video, AdMob has introduced some new features to the API that allow publishers to customize the user experience. In particular, a new video options class (VideoOptions on Android, and GADVideoOptions on iOS) gives publishers a way to influence how the ads behave.

For example, the following code will cause video ads appearing in an Android NativeExpressAdView to begin playing with their audio on:

mAdView = (NativeExpressAdView) findViewById(R.id.adView);
mAdView.setVideoOptions(new VideoOptions.Builder()
    .setStartMuted(false)
    .build());

Staying in the know

App publishers can retrieve information about the video assets in their ads through the use of a video controller object (VideoController on Android, GADVideoController on iOS). The ad view classes for native express have been updated to include video controller properties that apps can grab and query for info like whether a video is present in the ad, and what its aspect ratio is. Even if the ad doesn't contain an video asset (or no ad has been loaded at all), you'll always get a valid reference to the ad view's video controller.

For example, here's a Swift snippet that shows how to check if an ad that just loaded contains a video asset:

func nativeExpressAdViewDidReceiveAd(_ nativeExpressAdView: GADNativeExpressAdView)
{
  if nativeExpressAdView.videoController.hasVideoContent() {
    print("Received an ad with a video asset.")
  } else {
    print("Received an ad without a video asset.")
  }
}

More Info

Native Express is designed to make implementing native ads easy, but if you have questions about how to get up and running or how you can best put it to use in your apps, stop by our support forum. The Mobile Ads Garage recently released an episode covering Native Express Video as well, with feature details and screencasts for iOS and Android:

 - Andrew Brogdon, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Episode twelve of The Mobile Ads Garage is live on YouTube! If you haven't seen it before, The Mobile Ads Garage is a video tutorial series that covers how to use the Mobile Ads SDK to display ads from AdMob and DoubleClick for Publishers. Each episode covers one aspect of the SDK, breaks down the feature, and shows screencasts of real implementations on both Android and iOS – all in a friendly format.

With their customizable presentations and ability to be precached, Native Express ads fit right in with list-based user interfaces:

In this deep dive episode of the Mobile Ads Garage, you'll learn how to integrate Native Express ads into an iOS app that uses a UITableViewController for its primary UI. Along the way you'll get a detailed set of step and see screencasts of an implementation in Xcode. The episode also covers a handy technique for tapping into the ad lifecycle to load native express ads sequentially, from the top of the list to the bottom.

If you like the video, save the Mobile Ads Garage playlist to your YouTube Playlist collection and you'll never miss an episode.

We'd love to hear which AdMob features you'd like to learn more about. The comment sections for the videos are open, and you're welcome to toss out ideas for new episodes and examples you'd like to see. If you have a technical question relating to something discussed in one of the episodes, you can bring it to our support forum.

Until next time, be sure to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages.

 - Andrew Brogdon, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Today we're excited to announce iOS and Android sample projects that display AdMob Native Express ads in a feed. These samples address a common use case for monetizing apps with feeds or lists of content. The iOS (Swift and Objective-C) apps display Native Express ads in a UITableView and the Android app shows them in a RecyclerView.

Native Express ads work well in lists of content for two reasons. First, impressions are not counted until the ad is on screen, which enables you to preload the ads ahead of time. Preloading can help with optimizing scroll performance by making sure the ad is ready to be displayed when the user scrolls through the list. Second, you have more control over the styling of the ads, allowing you to create presentations that fit naturally with your content.

You can check out these sample apps by downloading them from our iOS and Android GitHub repos, and you can see them being coded in the Mobile Ads Garage YouTube series. Episode 11 walks you through the implementation for adding native ads into an Android RecyclerView. Episode 12, which will cover the implementation of native ads in an iOS UITableView, is due out next week.

If you have any questions or feedback regarding our SDK, feel free to contact us through our forum.

 - Tristan Emrich, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

On February 1, 2017, we will implement a new deprecation policy for the IMA SDKs for iOS and Android. The Flash and HTML5 SDKs are unaffected by this policy because they are downloaded at runtime, so all developers are always using the latest version.

Each release will be deprecated 12 months after its successor is released.

As of February 1, 2017, the following SDK versions will no longer be supported:

• IMA Android prior to version 3.1.3
• IMA iOS prior to version 3.1.0

If you are currently on one of these versions, we strongly suggest upgrading to the latest version before the new policy takes effect.

Once an SDK version is deprecated, we cannot guarantee that version will continue to work. If we receive reports of crashes related to a deprecated version of the IMA SDK, we may discontinue serving ads to that version. We will also no longer field support requests for these versions on the IMA SDK support forum.

To maintain support, publishers on the latest version of an SDK will have 12 months to move to a new version once its successor is released. To "support" an SDK means we will investigate bugs in that SDK version and work on fixes. If a bug fix requires a change to the library itself, the fix will be applied to the newest version.

For a list of supported SDK versions and their deprecation dates, see the new deprecation schedule pages for iOS and Android. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us via the support forum.

 - Shawn Busolits, IMA SDK Team