Tag Archives: AdMob

Understand Active View to Increase the Value of Your AdMob Ads

We’ve been advancing measurement standards across the ad industry with Active View, Google’s ad viewability measurement solution, for some time. Introduced in 2012, we’ve been extending Active View reporting across our ad platforms, including DoubleClick, so publishers can get an accurate measure of ad viewability.

Now available in AdMob for the first time, Active View metrics in the AdMob Network report help you understand what portion of your AdMob ads are viewable long enough to potentially be actionable by users. With this data you can increase the viewability of your ads by optimizing how they appear in your app. At this time, the Active View metrics in the AdMob Network report are only for display ads, with metrics for video ads coming soon.

What is ad viewability?
Generally, viewability is the percentage of ads considered viewable by users out of the total number of ads measured. It’s important because it helps advertisers to understand what percentage of their ads are potentially actionable. Google’s Active View metric counts an ad as viewable if a minimum of 50% of the pixels of the ad are on screen for at least one continuous second for display ads, or two continuous seconds for video ads.

Think about this experience on your mobile app. If you place your ads near the bottom of a long screen where users are unlikely to scroll, then your total number of viewable impressions is likely to be lower than if you had placed the ad higher up the screen.

In the report, metrics include the percentage of measurable impressions (eligible impressions that could be measured with Active View), and the percentage of viewable impressions (the percentage of measurable Active View-eligible impressions that were viewable). You can find more details about additional metrics in this AdMob help center article.

View Active View metrics for your app in the AdMob Network report (top right) 
What are the benefits for the ad industry and app developers?
More insights into viewability provide benefits for the ad industry overall. Advertisers get an accurate picture of what percentage of their ads are being seen by users. Based on this knowledge they can create better ads which are more engaging to users, and also gain insight into which apps are providing the most value to them. For advertisers who are paying by the impression, this can result in more efficient ad campaigns.

Developers stand to benefit by being able to create well-integrated ad experiences in apps to improve user experience which can lead to higher monetization. For example, developers can use this data to place ads in positions where they are more viewable, while still keeping app content engaging and easy to access.

Explore and stay tuned
We invite you to check out the new Active View metrics in your AdMob account, and come back to the Inside AdMob blog next week for the start of a new five-part series on ad viewability.

Until then, for more tips on app monetization, follow our Twitter and Google+ pages.

Posted by Sarah Faulkner, Product Manager, AdMob

Source: Inside AdMob


Managing your time effectively in the #AdMobSAC16

Here are some pointers for managing your time as your team gets started in the #AdMobSAC16.

  • January to February: 
    • Organize your team; if you haven’t found a team, utilize Collabfinder to ensure you find the best team possible.
    • Assign tasks and deliverables for people according to their strengths.
    • Brainstorm your ideas for your app.
    • Put together your strategy for project completion. 

      Tip: This is also a good time to familiarize yourself with the AdMob app policy, which can be found in the AdMob Help Center.

  • March: As springtime approaches, your team should be in the heart of building the application. Focus on:
    • Design work and developing the basic elements of the app.
    • Aim to have a working prototype by the end of the month.
    • Don’t forget to integrate AdMob ads into your app. This is a key requirement.
    • Open it up for testing among a small group of trusted developers who are willing to provide detailed feedback.Start thinking your app’s promotional strategy.

      Tip: A large portion of #AdMobSAC16 is scored on the success of your app (such as the number of downloads and ratings - check the judging criteria for the full details) - you will need to give yourself enough time to put effort into promoting your app.

  • April: 
    • Complete final testing and make refinements based on user feedback. Your app should be high quality, and part of that is responding to user suggestions. 
    • Release your app on an app store and start promoting it.
    • Remember to submit your app and AdMob account ID to AdMob so we know you’ve built it.
  • May to June:
    • Continue promoting your app. Think about creative ways to do it. 
    • Now will be the time to start readying your business report, which is due on June 28, 2016 by 5:00PM PST. The Challenge website already has a recommended template on it.
    • Remember, your project will be reviewed by a panel of app experts from Google, so your business report will need to be thorough and of professional-level quality. 
Be sure to visit the AdMob website to register. Follow us on AdMob G+ and Twitter and keep an update on #AdMobSAC16 too, for regular updates on the challenge.


Posted by Jeff MinerAdMob Student App Challenge Team

Source: Inside AdMob


App Monetization Insights: How Hydro Coach rapidly reached 22 new markets

We created The No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization to help you answer a burning question, “What’s the best way to monetize my app?”. Our new 5-part blog series provides additional tips straight from successful app developers.

Hydro CoachThis week, meet Christoph Pferschy, the app developer and designer behind Hydro Coach. Hydro Coach is a drink reminder and water intake tracker that’s been growing in popularity, now receiving over 5,500 downloads a day. Check out these tips from Christoph.

1. Start small to get big


Christoph is best known for his app Hydro Coach, but his company, Codium App Ideas, has a bigger vision. In his words, they’re on a mission “to create useful and high-quality health-related apps that are combinable to a single health & fitness system.”

But right now, Christoph is focusing on just one app – Hydro Coach. Why?

Because he believes the best way to accomplish a big goal is to focus on a critical piece and nail it. He chose Hydro Coach because he’s personally benefited from drinking more water and he saw that there was less competition in the space.

Now that his business is growing, he’s begun moving forward with his larger plan, connecting with other services and platforms. For example, he explains, “we’ve connected Hydro Coach to Google Fit to synchronize users’ weight and we’re also very proud to be featured as a partner app with Samsung’s S Health,” syncing all drink inputs with their platform.”

Consider Christoph’s approach to building a company: start small to get big. Focusing on too much, too early, might not allow you to build an app experience that user’s love.

2. Assess users’ needs before choosing a business model


Settle on a business model for your app before it launches. Spend time assessing your users’ needs and your business goals to get there. Start by asking yourself guiding questions that will help narrow down the decision for you like, “Who is your audience?”, “What value does your app provide?”, and “How do you intend to promote your app?”. Learn more about these guiding questions and business models in our No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization.

Once you do choose your business model, consider continually improving your app’s user experience, especially when it affects monetization. Christoph is meticulous about providing the best experience for all of his users, explaining,

“We try to improve each user experiment segment with small and careful changes over time. For example, we’ve fine-tuned the algorithm that determines when, how and how often ads are displayed, thanks to Manuela (our AdMob consultant). We also invest in small things that mean a lot to our users, like being sure to say ‘Thank you’ after a user makes an in-app purchase and making the flow after a purchase as smooth as possible. It all adds up.”

As you look through your app, be methodical when choosing your overarching monetization strategy. Once you’ve chosen your model, focus on tweaking the user experience and providing the best possible monetization flow.

3. Consider having your users help with localization


Christoph has done an amazing job getting Hydro Coach fully translated into 22 languages. His secret weapon? His users.

As he explains, “It’s no secret that translating the app is the first and most important step. So here’s my tip: ask your users to help translate. It results in a high-quality translation because people who are already using your app have the needed context and interest. There are several services for this that you can use, but you’ll be surprised how many people love to help.”

If you found these tips helpful, don’t forget to check out The No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization. Also, stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter and Google+ pages.

Posted by Joe Salisbury, Product Specialist, AdMob

Source: Inside AdMob


Tips on how you can prevent invalid activity on your apps

Invalid activity is an important topic we'd like to discuss in today's post.

Invalid activity consists of any clicks or impressions that may artificially inflate an advertiser's costs or a publisher's earnings. Invalid activity covers intentionally fraudulent traffic as well as accidental clicks.

Publishers can take many preventative steps to prevent invalid activity on their accounts. If we find invalid activity in your app(s), you may be at risk for account suspension or disablement. We may also refund revenue generated from invalid clicks to affected advertisers.

Publishers must not artificially inflate the impressions or clicks the ads receive, either through automated or manual means. Clicks on Google ads must result from genuine user interest.

We understand that a third party may generate invalid activity on your ads without your knowledge or permission. However, ultimately, it is your responsibility as the publisher to ensure that the activity on your ads is valid.

Here are some tips on how you can prevent invalid activity on your ads:

  • Don't click on your own ads. This includes manually clicking on your live ads and employing automated means, including but not limited to robots or other deceptive software. Testing your live ads by clicking on them is not allowed. Please use test ads (available for Android, iOS, or Windows Phone) to avoid generating invalid impressions and clicks.
  • Don't encourage or ask your friends, family, co-workers, etc. to click on your ads.
  • Don't encourage or ask general users to click on your ads. This includes asking for users to support your app, offering rewards to users for clicking ads, and promising to raise money for third parties for such behavior.
  • Make sure your ad implementations don't encourage accidental clicks. User flow is very important to consider when implementing your ads. For instance, interstitial ads unexpectedly surprising the user, and close proximity of banner ads to other elements within an app, are some of the biggest causes of accidental clicks. Check out our AdMob implementation guidance for more information.
  • Avoid partnering with untrusted / low-quality parties. Some publishers have had issues with invalid activity when partnering with low-quality ad networks or app promotion sites in efforts to increase traffic to their app, which may increase the likelihood of ads being viewed or clicked. Again, it is ultimately the publisher's responsibility to ensure that the activity on their ads is valid. To help determine the source of your visitors, we recommend using Google Analytics for AdMob. For more information please visit our AdMob Help Center.
Posted by Danielle Chang
AdMob Policy Team

Source: Inside AdMob


Trouble Finding a team? Try the AdMob Student App Challenge Collabfinder

For many students, the AdMob Student App Challenge is an exciting opportunity to showcase their app-building prowess, or a new way to display their entrepreneurial skills. However, since the contest is a both a developer and business contest, you may be having difficulty forming the right team or worse yet, considering not participating because of it.

Enter the AdMob Student App Challenge Collabfinder group. This tool allows you to find like-minded students who are interested in participating in the Challenge, who may not have been able to form a team yet. For students with a mind towards business or an app idea, here’s a way to find someone with a passion for app development that you can work together with. Or for someone who already has the skills to build the app, but is not as business-oriented, find a teammate who can help with putting a business plan behind the app idea.

Be sure to visit the AdMob website to learn more and register. Follow us on AdMob G+ and Twitter and keep an update on #AdMobSAC16 too, for regular updates on the challenge.

Posted by Jeff Miner
External Communications, AdMob Student App Challenge

Source: Inside AdMob


Not your average app building competition: The AdMob Student App Challenge

Did you know that there are more mobile devices than people? In 2014, there were 7.4BN* devices and an estimated 7.2 billion people. Mobile is quickly becoming the most popular way to get online, even exceeding the time spent on desktop computers**. This has contributed greatly to the growth of the app ecosystem, with consumers spending on average 37 hours a month*** on mobile apps. As apps are becoming more prominent in our everyday lives, it’s more important now than ever to learn app development.

That’s why we’re launching the second AdMob Student App Challenge, an app building competition open to students around the world. If you’re a student who loves to code or has a great idea for a mobile app, this is your chance to build an app, learn how to make money from it, and win awesome prizes. The prizes will include a week-long trip to San Francisco and a visit to the Googleplex.


To win the challenge, you’ll need to build a great app (either Android or iOS) and create a sound business plan that shows how you managed the project, gained users, and leveraged AdMob to make money. The contest will be judged by a panel of app industry leaders. To learn more about the judges, visit here.

The winning team will receive:
  • An all expenses paid, week-long trip to San Francisco, including a visit to the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA 
  • A featured spot on the Google Play Store 
  • A promotional video starring you and your app 
  • A healthy amount of Google schwag, including a new Google device 

Last year’s global winner was Phani Gaddipati, who created Stacks Flashcards, an app that lets people create electronic flashcards on any subject, quiz themselves and analyze their performance. Check out his video to learn more.

In addition to one overall winner, the finalist from each of the four global regions (North America, Latin America, Europe Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific) will receive Google devices and see their app featured on the AdMob website.

The challenge starts today, and you’ll have until June 28, 2016 to build your winning app. Be sure to visit the AdMob website to learn more and register. Follow us on AdMob G+ and Twitter and keep an update on #AdMobSAC16 too, for regular updates on the challenge. .

Best of luck -- we can’t wait to see what you build!

Posted by Henry Wang
Product Marketing, AdMob

* Cisco, Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update 2014–2019 White Paper, February 2015
** eMarketer, US Time Spent with Media, October 2014
*** Nielsen, Smartphones: So Many Apps, So Much Time, July 2014

Source: Inside AdMob


[New eBook] Download The No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization

Originally posted on the Inside AdMob Blog.

There are many questions to answer when developing a new app. One of the most important being, “what’s the best way to make money?”

Research firm Canalys predicts that by 2019, there will be 6.9 billion mobile phones in the world, in the hands of nearly 75% of the Earth’s population.* With growing demand in new markets and so many options for monetization, answering this question can be complicated.

Today we’re launching a new ebook “The No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization”, the latest in our No-nonsense series. This guide is designed for app developers starting to consider how to monetize their app. It provides a comprehensive overview of app monetization and shares helpful examples and practical tips to get you started.

In 10 minutes you’ll learn:
  • What the seven primary app monetization models are and the pros and cons for each
  • How to choose the right monetization strategy for your app
  • Important considerations to keep in mind when implementing your monetization plan

Download a free copy here.

The No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization

Also, within the next few weeks, we’ll be releasing blog posts with app developers sharing candid stories and helpful tips on app monetization. Our next post will highlight the tactic Christoph Pferschy, the app developer behind Hydro Coach, used to scalably release 22 localized versions of his app.

Until then, for more tips on app monetization, be sure to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter and Google+ pages.

Posted by Joe Salisbury, Product Specialist, AdMob

* Canalys 2015, “Worldwide smart phones forecast overview 2015-2019”


Consider your contexts when mediating

For Android developers, Context objects can be tricky. To start with, android.content.Context has a zillion subclasses, some of which are really specific (I’m looking at you, NotificationCompatSideChannelService). On top of that, there are a bunch of available calls to retrieve the current Context, all of which seem slightly different. Once you start talking about passing these objects from one part of an app to another, which happens during AdMob mediation, it can get confusing in a hurry. In order to keep things straight, engineers building Android custom events and mediation adapters need to make sure they’re handling Contexts properly.

If you’ve ever built a custom event or mediation adapter for AdMob, you’re probably familiar with these two methods: 


requestInterstitialAd(Context context, 
                      CustomEventInterstitialListener listener,
                      String serverParameter,
                      MediationAdRequest mediationAdRequest,
                      Bundle customEventExtras)

requestInterstitialAd(Context context,
                      MediationInterstitialListener listener,
                      Bundle serverParameters,
                      MediationAdRequest mediationAdRequest,
                      Bundle mediationExtras)

They’re from the CustomEventInterstitial and MediationInterstitialAdapter interfaces, respectively, and are used to request interstitial ads from custom events and adapters. Both include a Context parameter that can be used to retrieve information about the execution environment, query permissions, and access user preferences. In most cases, that object ends up being the Activity an app is displaying when its ad request is made (Activity is a subclass of Context), but that’s not guaranteed.

For example, consider an app that switches quickly from one Activity to another, and occasionally shows an interstitial ad during one of the transitions. Requesting a new ad in each onCreate method will likely waste resources, so offloading that work to a separate class that lives outside the Activity lifecycle is a common solution. Because that class isn’t an Activity, though, it can’t use itself as a Context, and instead must request interstitials using the Application object (another Context subclass). If the app uses custom event and adapter classes that were only tested with Activity objects, they might break!

The best practice here is to make sure to test your custom events and adapters with both Activity and Application objects prior to releasing them. A reliable custom event needs to operate the same no matter which is provided, and the same goes for adapters. If, for some reason, the SDK you’re adapting just can’t work with an Application object as the context parameter, you can always trap this using instanceof and log the error: 


    @Override
    Public void requestInterstitialAd(Context context,  
                      CustomEventInterstitialListener listener,
                      String serverParameter, 
                      MediationAdRequest mediationAdRequest,
                      Bundle customEventExtras) {
    if (!(context instanceof Activity)) {
        Log.w(“Example”, “Context not an Activity. Returning error!”);
        listener.onAdFailedToLoad(AdRequest.ERROR_CODE_INVALID_REQUEST);
    }

    // ... code to request an ad using the Activity context ...
}

If you have technical questions about activities, contexts, or anything else relating to the Google Mobile Ads SDK, stop by our forum.

 - , Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Reach your most valuable customers with Customer Match

Did you know that you can reach past website visitors and app users? Let's say you’re a travel brand. You can now reach people who have joined your rewards program as they plan their next trip. For example, when these rewards members search for “non-stop flights to new york” on Google.com, you can show relevant ads at the top of their search results on any device right when they’re looking to fly to New York. And when those members are watching their favorite videos on YouTube or catching up on Gmail, you can show ads that inspire them to plan their next trip.

Behind the scenes, this works by adding people to a UserList.

Prior to v201509 there were four different types:

  • BasicUserList: Remarketing to people who took specific actions (such as purchasing shoes) on your website or app.
  • RuleBasedUserList: Remarketing to people who follow advertiser-defined rules. The rule can be as simple as all visitors to your website (which is the easiest way to start remarketing).
  • LogicalUserList: Combining two or more user lists. For example, customers who purchased shoes and/or visited specific pages of your website at specific times.
  • SimilarUserList: Remarketing to people that share similar interests and behaviors with those in other user lists. For example, you can reach new potential customers that share similar interests and behaviors with those who purchased shoes on your website.

A SimilarUserList is automatically created by Google for each UserList based on a variety of factors, such as the number of people on the original list, how recently these people joined the original list, the types of sites that these people browsed and whether the original list is your own. This process may take up to 4 days once the seed list is created.

You can target or exclude user lists at the ad group level, but you can only exclude them at the campaign level.

As a reminder, please have a look at the policy for advertising based on interests and location and the policy for remarketing lists for search ads.

Customer Match

v201509 introduced a new user list type: CrmBasedUserList. It enables you to create a user list using your customers’ email addresses.

Suppose you have an existing database of email addresses of your newsletter subscribers for “people who love shoes”. With a CrmBasedUserList you can reach these subscribers and adjust your bidding accordingly, present different ads, and more. You can use a SimilarUserList of your subscribers list to potentially find new customers who share similar behaviors and interests.

Each CrmBasedUserList must have an optOutLink to provide a link to the page where people can manage their preferences for receiving email messages from the advertiser, including opting out of the advertiser email messages.

Before using this targeting strategy, please take the time to read our policy page.

A CrmBasedUserList can be used for targeting on the Search network, YouTube and Gmail, whereas a SimilarUserList of a CrmBasedUserList can only be used for targeting on YouTube and Gmail.

Keep the following points in mind when using a CrmBasedUserList:

  • Advertisers must collect email addresses as 1st party. For example, an agency can submit email addresses on behalf of an advertiser if the advertiser collected the email addresses directly from its customers.
  • Email addresses can be from Gmail or non Gmail addresses as long as they are associated with a Google account. We recommend adding all available email addresses to maximize the size of the result.
  • Ads will serve only when the user list has at least 1,000 active members. Active members are those who have used Google Search, YouTube, or Gmail at least once over the last 30 days.

If you want to read more about CrmBasedUserList, have a look at our guide and code examples.

As always, feel free to visit us or ask questions on the AdWords API Forum or our Google+ page.

, AdWords API Team

Announcing v201511 of the DFP API

If I asked you "why do you love this time of year?", I might get back a variety of responses ranging from "the fall foliage where all the leaves change color," or "turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie," or perhaps the most obvious answer since the advent of steamed milk - "pumpkin spice lattes." For me, it's none of those things. The reason why I get uncomfortably excited every year when November rolls around is because the DFP release & deprecation schedule aligns perfectly so that the last release of the year happens right about now. So without further ado, I present you with the latest and greatest version: v201511.

Trafficking Updates

We've been going back and cleaning up our APIs to make them simpler and easier to use. Remember that target platform unification change we made? Now that you've switched over to using TargetPlatform.ANY (and why should you miss out on that sweet mobile traffic because of a pesky ENUM?) we've removed it entirely from the LineItem and AdUnit objects. On the creatives front, Template and Custom creatives now use CreativeAssets for associated assets.

Sales Manager Updates

On the sales manager front, we've exposed a few reporting dimension attributes: PROPOSAL_FLAT_FEE and PROPOSAL_LINE_ITEM_FLAT_FEE, which represent the billing setting for the flat fee checkbox in the UI. In addition, if setting deliveryRateType and roadblockingType are things that you have been wishing for, consider your wish granted. In v201511, you can now set DeliverySettings on ProductTemplates.

See full release notes here.

As a reminder, with each new release comes a new deprecation. If you're using v201411 or earlier, it's time to look into upgrading. v201408 will be sunset at the end of November 2015, and v201411 will be sunset at the end of February 2016. If you have any questions about upgrading, let us know on the developer forum.

 - , DFP API Team