Author Archives: Chris Jones

Clarification around Pop-Unders

At Google, we value users, advertisers and publishers equally. We have policies in place that define where Google ads should appear and how they must be implemented. These policies help ensure a positive user experience, as well as maintain a healthy ads ecosystem that benefits both publishers and advertisers.

To get your attention, some ads pop up in front of your current browser window, obscuring the content you want to see. Pop-under ads can be annoying as well, as they will "pop under" your window, so that you don't see them until you minimize your browser. We do not believe these ads provide a good user experience, and therefore are not suitable for Google ads.

That is why we recently clarified our policies around pop-ups and pop-unders to help remove any ambiguity. To simplify our policies, we are no longer permitting the placement of Google ads on pages that are loaded as a pop-up or pop-under. Additionally, we do not permit Google ads on any site that contains or triggers pop-unders, regardless of whether Google ads are shown in the pop-unders.

We continually review and evaluate our policies to address emerging trends, and in this case we determined that a policy change was necessary.

As with all policies, publishers are ultimately responsible for ensuring that traffic to their site is compliant with Google policies. To assist publishers, we’ve provided guidance on best practices for buying traffic.

Source: Inside AdSense


Introducing AdSense Native ads

Today we’re introducing the new AdSense Native ads -- a suite of ad formats designed to match the look and feel of your site, providing a great user experience for your visitors. AdSense Native ads come in three categories: In-feed, In-article, and Matched content*. They can all be used at once or individually and are designed for:

  • A great user experience: they fit naturally on your site and use high quality advertiser elements, such as high resolution images, longer titles and descriptions, to provide a more attractive experience for your visitors. 
  • A great look and feel across different screen sizes: the ads are built to look great on mobile, desktop, and tablet. 
  • Ease of use: easy-to-use editing tools help you make the ads look great on your site.

Native In-feed opens up new revenue opportunity in your feeds
Available to all publishers, In-feed ads slot neatly inside your feeds, e.g. a list of articles or products on your site. These ads are highly customizable to match the look and feel of your feed content and offer new places to show ads.

Native In-article offers a better advertising experience
Available to all publishers, In-article ads are optimized by Google to help you put great-looking ads between the paragraphs of your pages. In-article ads use high-quality advertising elements and offer a great reading experience to your visitors.

Matched Content* drives more users to your content 
Available to publishers that meet the eligibility criteria, Matched content is a content recommendation tool that helps you promote your content to visitors and potentially increase revenue, page views, and time spent on site. Publishers that are eligible for the “Allow ads” feature can also show relevant ads within their Matched content units, creating an additional revenue opportunity in this placement.

Getting started with AdSense Native ads 
AdSense Native ads can be placed together, or separately, to customize your website’s ad experience. Use In-feed ads inside your feed (e.g. a list of articles, or products), In-article ads between the paragraphs of your pages, and Matched content ads directly below your articles.  When deciding your native strategy, keep the content best practices in mind.

To get started with AdSense Native ads:

  • Sign in to your AdSense account
  • In the left navigation panel, click My ads
  • Click +New ad unit
  • Select your ad category: In-article, In-feed or Matched content

We'd love to hear what you think about these ad formats in the comments section below this post.

Posted by: Violetta Kalathaki - AdSense Product Manager

*This format has already been available to eligible publishers, and is now part of AdSense Native ads.

Source: Inside AdSense


AdSense now understands Urdu

Today, we’re excited to announce the addition of Urdu, a language spoken by millions in Pakistan, India and many other countries around the world, to the family of AdSense supported languages.

The interest for Urdu language content has been growing steadily over the last few years. AdSense provides an easy way for publishers to monetize the content they create in Urdu, and help advertisers looking to connect with the growing online Urdu audience to reach them with relevant ads.

To start monetizing your Urdu content website with Google AdSense:

  1. Check the AdSense program policies and make sure your website is compliant. 
  2. Sign up for an AdSense account 
  3. Add the AdSense code to start displaying relevant ads to your users. 
Welcome to AdSense!



Posted by: AdSense Internationalization Team

Source: Inside AdSense


Introducing page-level enforcements and a new Policy center

As a publisher you face many challenges. One of the broadest and most encompassing of these is growing your user base while making sure your content remains high-quality and policy compliant. Your feedback has helped us understand this challenge, and we’re always working to improve. A few weeks ago, we announced two new AdSense features: page-level enforcements and a new Policy center. Today, we’re excited let you know that these features are available globally for all AdSense publishers.

Page-level enforcements for more granular policy actions
To allow more precise enforcements, and provide you with feedback about policy issues as we identify them, we’re introducing page-level enforcements. A page-level enforcement affects individual pages where violations of the AdSense Program Policies are found. As a result, ad serving is restricted or disabled on those pages. Ads will continue to serve where no policy violations have been found, either at the page- or site-level.

When a new policy violation on one of your pages is identified, you’ll receive an email notification and ad serving will be restricted on that page. As this is a new feature, you may already have current page-level enforcements that were not surfaced through these email notifications. To make sure you’re not missing anything, head over to the new Policy center to review existing violations.

After you've addressed all policy violations on a page, you may request a review (previously known as an “appeal”). Reviews typically take one week but can sometimes take longer. We'll restore ad serving on the affected page or pages if a page is reviewed at your request and no policy violations are found. Alternatively, you can simply remove the AdSense ad code from that page and the page-level enforcement will disappear from the Policy center in about a week.

More transparency with the new AdSense Policy center

The AdSense Policy center is a one-stop shop for everything you need to know about policy actions that affect your sites and pages. You’ll be able to see:
  • Non-compliant page(s) or site(s)
  • Why a page or site is non-compliant
  • Steps needed to make your page or site compliant 
  • Steps to request a review of the actioned page(s) or site(s)


Follow these steps to see your current page-level enforcements, and request a review of the actioned page(s):
  1. Sign in to your AdSense account.
  2. In the left navigation panel, click Settings, then click Policy center.
  3. In the "Page-level enforcements" section, find the site or sites that have page-level violations and click Show details.
  4. In the "Page" section, click the Down arrow to learn more about the enforcement, the violation(s) on the page, and how to fix them. 
  5. Click Request review and tick the box after you’ve made sure the violations on the page are fixed.
Our beta participants provided a lot of great feedback and suggestions on how to make the AdSense Policy center as useful as possible. We’re constantly looking to improve the clarity with which we communicate our policies and policy enforcements, so let us know what you think through the ”Send feedback” link in the AdSense menu.

Learn more about these updates in the AdSense Help Center or head over to the Policy center to try it out.

Posted by: John Brown, Head of Publisher Policy Communications, 
Richard Zippel, Publisher Quality Product Manager and 
Nick Radicevic, AdSense Product Manager

Source: Inside AdSense


AdSense Beginner’s Frequently Asked Questions





What is AdSense?

In short, AdSense is a free, simple way to make money by placing ads on your site.

Google’s ad network connects advertisers looking to run their ads on the web with publishers like you, looking to monetise your website, making it simple for everyone to succeed. AdSense connects publishers and advertisers, giving AdWords advertisers the opportunity to bid on ad space on websites like yours. 

By working with an ad network like AdSense, you can spend less time marketing and selling your advertising space and more time focused on creating the best content for your users. Learn more in the AdSense 101 article.

What do I need to sign up for AdSense?

As a site owner, you’ll need pages with unique content that's relevant to your visitors and that provides a great user experience. Before you apply to AdSense, make sure your site's pages are ready by visiting the AdSense Help Center. If you’re ready to turn your #PassionIntoProfit, sign up for AdSense today.

How do I know if I’m eligible to join the AdSense network?

Before applying for an account, make sure that the site you own has been active for at least six months, and complies with the AdSense program policies.

AdSense also works with products such as Blogger and YouTube to allow you to create host partner accounts. To be eligible for a hosted AdSense account via Blogger or YouTube, you must first meet certain eligibility requirements. Learn more about signing up for an AdSense account via YouTube.

How do I monetize my YouTube channel using AdSense?

To start earning money from your video content, you’ll need to apply for an AdSense account to link to your YouTube account. Follow these steps to become eligible to receive payments:
  1. Make sure your YouTube account is enabled for monetization. 
  2. Submit your application to create a new AdSense account to link with your YouTube account. Once approved, you'll see a "Host account" label on your AdSense homepage.
  3. If you also have your own non-host site where you’d like to show ads, then you’ll need to submit a one-time application form to tell us the URL of your site (you only need to complete this step if you want to monetize your site, and don’t need to take this action to earn money from your YouTube videos).
Providing that your site is following the AdSense program policies and you’ve completed 5 steps to getting paid, Google will send your first payment the month after your account exceeds $100 in earnings.

How can AdSense help me grow my online business?

AdSense helps you to create a revenue stream from the valuable content you host on your site. AdSense saves you time with a quick and easy setup allowing you to focus on the elements of your business that require your focus.

It’s like an automatic car -- it removes most of the manual adjustments, allowing you to cruise along with less effort. You still need regular “tune ups” to get optimal performance, but you won’t need to shift gears to get from point A to point B.

What is DoubleClick Ad Exchange?

DoubleClick Ad Exchange gives you real-time access to the largest pool of advertisers.The main difference between DoubleClick Ad Exchange and AdSense is that AdSense does a lot of the technical settings and optimization work for you, such as automating the sale of all your ad space to the highest bidder. With DoubleClick Ad Exchange you manage these adjustments yourself, controlling exactly how your inventory is sold.

As an example, DoubleClick Ad Exchange allows you to choose which ad space is for public sale and which is reserved for private auctions. This additional input from you helps you to get the best results from DoubleClick Ad Exchange.

Another important distinction is that through AdSense, demand is primarily from AdWords advertisers, whereas DoubleClick Ad Exchange pulls demand from multiple sources. This means that in addition to AdWords advertisers, you can also access other major ad networks and agencies. Check out the more comprehensive list of differences at our Help Center.

Should I use DoubleClick for my site?

Check out our Choosing the right tools for you article to figure out if solutions from DoubleClick are right for your site.

Can I use AdSense to monetize my WordPress site?

WordPress doesn’t allow advertising on their free hosting plan (WordPress.com). If you’d like to show ads on your WordPress hosted site, then you’ll need to switch to a self-hosted WordPress.org domain. Visit our product forum and learn how to make this switch.

Can I monetize multiple sites under a single AdSense account?

Yes! AdSense allows you to add multiple sites in association to the same account. This will enable you to monitor the inventory on your sites from the same place, saving you valuable time. Here’s how to set up multiple sites on your account:

  1. Sign in to your AdSense account.
  2. In the left navigation panel, click Settings.
  3. Click My sites.
  4. Click Add.
  5. Enter the URL of the site that you'd like to add (e.g., example.com). If you're unsure which URL to enter, check the section on formatting the URLs of your sites below.
  6. Click Add site.
  7. Your site is added to your site list with a status of "verified".
Check out the Help Center for more info on this!

I’d like help growing my business with AdSense, does AdSense offer performance growth tips?

Yes it does! When setting up your account, simply check the box beside the “I’d like to receive performance suggestions” message.

If you already have an account, go to the Settings tab and check the “Performance Suggestions” box.

If I’m not using AdSense yet, how can I receive performance tips?

Follow AdSense on social media for daily tips on how to optimize your account and product updates; Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.

Also, watch the AdSense Optimization Library playlist on YouTube to learn AdSense best practices, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel.



How do I get more traffic to my site?

First, you’ll want to take advantage of the options within Google Search Console to make sure your site is visible for search users. The AdSense Help Center has all the information you’ll need to submit your site for index, diagnose any problems, and identify which keyword queries are driving traffic to your site.

Next, follow the Long-term revenue framework, a tool often used by our AdSense optimization experts, to better understand the four levers that can help you grow and develop your site.




Also, catchy titles are a way of pushing referral traffic from social media platforms, and Brandon Gaille wrote a great guest-blog for us that lays out how to approach naming your content.

Be sure to follow AdSense best practice policies when planning your strategy, to avoid violations on your account. It’s important to know that in order to maintain ad serving on your site and keep an AdSense account active, it's the responsibility of the publisher to keep up to date with, and adhere to, the AdSense program policies.

How do I increase clickthrough rates (CTR) in AdSense?

Please see our recent response to this question on Quora where Symone Gamble shared her best practices.

What are responsive ad units?

Responsive ad units automatically control the size of your ads using a single piece of ad code. They also allow ads to be resized after a screen orientation change. Using a responsive ad unit will allow your site to show the most appropriate ad size according to your user's device, and will help you to maximize your revenue potential. Learn more about how responsive ad units work and then check out how to customize responsive ads to match the style of your site.



How can I make my site load faster?

Tools like PageSpeed Insights and Mobile-Friendly Test can be used to audit the speed of your site, identify possible problems, and even suggest solutions. From there, follow these 5 tips to improve page speed published on the Inside AdSense blog and then print out the Ultimate Page Speed Infographic for mobile-specific advice.

Why do I have invalid traffic deductions in my AdSense account?



How do I stop my site getting hacked?

HTTPS protocol ensures your servers are talking to who they are expected to be talking to and the conversation cannot be interrupted by anyone else, and that content cannot be altered in transit.

Make sure your software is up to date: this might seem common sense, but up-to-date software means there are no holes or faults that might make you vulnerable to people with a less than honourable intention.

Passwords: Using safe, secure, and complex passwords will protect the security of your site. Avoid words that contain common words, names of friends, family and pets as these are all easily attainable using social media, leaving yourself at risk. Don’t forget to change your password regularly; set yourself a reminder to change your password every few months.

What can I do if a site that I don't own is using my AdSense code?

Since site code is readily available to anyone who inspects your page, it's possible for someone to copy your ad code and paste it on a site you don’t own. In this case, if the ad code ends up on a site that violates the AdSense program policies, your account will receive a policy warning.

To prevent this, site authorization is an optional feature that lets you identify your verified sites as the only sites that are permitted to use your Google ad code.

Learn more about site authorization on the AdSense YouTube channel.

How to stop certain ads from appearing on my site?

The AdSense 101: You’re in control video will show you how to control the ads displayed on your site.

Why is there a decline in my AdSense revenue?

If your earnings have taken a dip, we recommend you check 4 engagement metrics in the performance tab of your AdSense account:
  1. Clickthrough rate (CTR)
  2. Cost per click (CPC)
  3. Page revenue per thousand impressions (page RPM)
  4. Page views
Here’s a few resources to help you identify the potential causes, and nextstep solutions to solve them.
What are AdSense experiments and how can I run an experiment?

AdSense recently introduced automatic experiments, which allow you to take a back seat as Google runs A/B tests on a small portion of your traffic. To enable the feature, just visit the "Experiments" page on your Optimization tab, and switch on "automatic experiments".

The opportunities generated from these experiments will appear in the “Opportunities” page on your Optimization tab. They'll be labelled "verified by experiment,” so you’ll know they’re backed by data and tailored to your site and users.



Posted by: Jay Castro from the AdSense team

Source: Inside AdSense


Google I/O: New Ways to Put Users at the Center of Your Apps and Payments

I/O is a magical time at Google. Every year, thousands of developers gather in Google's backyard to share new product ideas and learn about our latest innovations in computing.

We're meeting at an exciting time for the developer community. It's a time when consumers have more choices than ever before—like where to shop, what to watch, which games to play and how to communicate with friends and family. Your product needs to stand out. You need tools to help your business grow. And you need to make sure your users are happy.

We think we can help.

This afternoon, my team and I will share 3 new innovations for developers to make it easy for users to pay for your services, build profitable businesses and grow your user base. Check out our live stream here or at the end of this post.
Enabling users to pay with Google

Starting today, our suite of payment solutions will be expanding. The Google Payment API enables merchants and developers to turbocharge checkout conversion by offering your users an easy way to pay with credit and debit cards saved to their Google Account. Users will have multiple Google payment options at their fingertips, like a credit or a debit card previously saved via Android Pay, a payment card used to transact on the Play Store or a form of payment stored via Chrome. And they'll be able to use these saved payment options in third-party apps and mobile sites, as well as on Google Assistant when they are on-the-go.
Paying with Google for Panera Bread on Google Assistant

For users, this means faster checkout. Now they'll never miss a deal because they're stuck on a bus and don't want to pull out their credit card in front of strangers. They'll no longer experience the pain of stumbling on a sale that ends at midnight when they're tucked in bed with their credit card out of reach. Users can save time and headache by using credit and debit cards they've already saved to their Google Account whenever they see the option to pay with Google on supported apps or sites.

For developers, this API is a significant innovation that can enable faster checkout, drive more conversions, increase sales and reduce abandoned carts—all with a simple integration. Learn more about our Google Payment API here.
Earn more from your apps with the brand new AdMob
People turn to their mobile devices throughout the day to shop, communicate and stay entertained. For developers, in-app purchases are one way to monetize. Ads are another way.
AdMob was built to support the app ecosystem. With over 1 million apps across iOS and Android, AdMob has paid over $3.5 billion dollars in ads revenue to developers. But there's more we can do to help you succeed.

Today, we're introducing a completely redesigned AdMob. Rebuilt from the ground up, AdMob is now simpler to use and delivers richer insights about your users' in-app experiences.

Simpler to use: We've applied Material Design to all aspects of the AdMob look and feel to deliver an easy-to-use and intuitive experience across the entire platform—on mobile and desktop. You'll get more done in less time. Below you can see how easy it is to pick an app that you're monitoring, check out its key metrics and then quickly take action to fine-tune its performance.

Redesigned AdMob experience

Deeper insights:
We've also integrated Google Analytics for Firebase into the core of the redesigned AdMob so you have quick access to the metrics that matter most for your business. Once you linkyour AdMob and Firebase accounts, you'll have access to detailed ad revenue data and user insights like time spent in the app and in-app purchases—all in one place.

Google Analytics for Firebase dashboard in AdMob
Know your user, find your user with Universal App Campaigns
Earning money from your app is one piece of the puzzle. You also need to think about how to grow your user base.

Google's app innovations have delivered over 5 billion installs from ads and we are now helping developers drive over 3 billion in-app events per quarter—like users adding something to their cart or reaching level 3 of a game. Developers have gravitated toward Universal App Campaigns (UAC) as the "one stop shop" campaign type that scales your reach and maximizes app installs across Google's largest properties: Google Play, Search, YouTube, Gmail and the Display Network. UAC uses Google's machine learning technology to evaluate numerous signals in real time, refining each ad to help you reach your most engaged users. We're continuing to double down on UAC, with all new innovations being built into UAC to make app promotion even more effective.
Engage users in key moments of discovery with new UAC placements in Google Play 
Android reaches more than 2 billion active devices every month, with Google Play available in 190+ countries around the world. It's the place users come to discover new apps and games. Beyond searching for apps to try, users are increasingly browsing the Play store and finding recommendations for new apps. 
To help those users discover more of your apps, we are introducing new ad placements on the home and app listing pages in the Google Play Store. These new placements, available exclusively through UAC, help you reach users in "discovery mode" as they swipe, tap and scroll in search of their next favorite app. 
New ad placements reach users browsing in Google Play

Discover more of your best users with new bidding options in UAC 
Some users are more valuable to your business than others, like the players who level-up in your game or the loyal travelers who book several flights a month. That's why we're expanding Smart Bidding strategies in UAC to help you acquire more of these high-value users. Using Smart Bidding, you can tailor bids for your unique business goals - target cost per acquisition (tCPA) or target return on ad spend (tROAS). UAC delivers the right users based on your objectives: installs, events and, coming soon, value. This update starts rolling out to iOS and Android developers and advertisers in the coming months. 
Introducing App Attribution Partners, a new measurement program 
Many developers rely on third-party measurement providers to measure the impact of ads and gain valuable insights about how users engage with your app. To help you take action on these insights in a faster and more seamless way, we are introducing App Attribution Partners, a new program designed to integrate data from 7 global companies right into AdWords.

Welcome to adjust, Adways, AppsFlyer, Apsalar, CyberZ, Kochava and TUNE... we're thrilled to have them onboard!

AdWords' integration with these partners ensures that you have consistent, reliable and more granular data where you review app metrics. Now you can take action with confidence and stay on top of your business performance.
As consumers live more of their lives online, it's increasingly important for developers to build user-centric experiences in everything that you do—from the apps you design, to the experiences you deliver, to the ways you help people transact. We know it's not always easy, so Google is here to help.

We look forward to continuing on this journey with you.

Posted by Sridhar Ramaswamy, Senior Vice President, Ads and Commerce

Source: Inside AdMob


AdMob is heading to Google I/O 2017

Google I/O 2017 is one week away (May 17-19th), and we’ll be there. Google I/O brings together developers from around the globe for an immersive experience focused on exploring the next generation of tech.

This year there will be dozens of talks discussing important topics that matter to you like design & development, growing your business, the latest in mobile tech, and more. We’ll also give you a look into “what’s next” for AdMob.

Be sure to catch the keynotes to be the first to hear about the latest AdMob innovations:

Wednesday, May 17th

Google Keynote
10:00 AM PST, 5:00 PM GMT
Join Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, as he gives a “first look” into all the latest and greatest technology innovations at Google.
Watch the livestream | Add to Calendar

Growth & Monetization Keynote
3:00 PM PST, 10:00 PM GMT
Hear from Sridhar Ramaswamy, SVP of Ads & Commerce, on how new ads and monetization innovations can help you build a customer-centric business.
Watch the livestream | Add to Calendar

Here are some of the other key sessions to check out at I/O 2017:

Wednesday, May 17th

Analytics with Firebase: Overview and Updates

4:00 PM PST, 11:00 PM GMT

Analytics is at the core of your ability to build great apps, grow your user base and earn more money. In this session we will show you what's new with Firebase and how we are building simpler and more powerful reporting that gives you real-time insights into what is happening in your app.

Watch the livestream | Add to Calendar

Thursday, May 18th

Build Great Monetization Experiences with the ALL NEW AdMob 

4:30 PM PST, 11:30 PM GMT

Successful developers use a combination of payments, ads, and sophisticated analytics to earn more from their apps. In this session we will show you how AdMob has strengthened its platform to give you a more holistic picture of those revenue sources with deeper insights and a more intuitive user experience.

Watch the livestream | Add to Calendar

Friday, May 19th

AdMob and Firebase: Better Together 

8:30 AM PST, 3:30 PM GMT

Come learn how AdMob and Firebase seamlessly work together to help you optimize and generate more advertising revenue in your app. This session dives into how you can use AdMob and Firebase to understand how ads impact user experience, how different audiences interact with ads, and how to think about lifetime value.

Watch the livestream | Add to Calendar

Find your Apps’ Best Users with Google’s Machine Learning 

10:30 AM PST, 5:30 PM GMT

In this session we will show you the data you need, the best mathematical models for calculating lifetime value (LTV), and how machine learning is the missing link that converts LTV into actual high value users for your app.

Watch the livestream | Add to Calendar

You can check out the complete Google I/O 2017 agenda here.

If you can’t attend in person, visit an I/O extended event near you! We’ll be live tweeting and sharing posts from the event on our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ channels, using the hashtags #io17. We hope to see you there!

Posted by: Duke Dukellis, Product Manager, AdMob

Source: Inside AdMob


Cheetah Mobile Improves User Ad Experience While Increasing App Performance with AdMob’s Native Video Ads

Seven years ago, Cheetah Mobile began as a small company of ten employees that built software for PCs. Today, they are a leading developer with over one thousand employees. Their popular apps Clean Master and Battery Doctor have been downloaded by millions around the world and Clean Master itself has over 600 million MAU worldwide.

The Problem

With an ever growing user base, Cheetah Mobile needed to find creative ways to help them reach their global user base while monetizing their apps with innovative new ad formats. They needed to be able to use diversified high-quality ads to improve their revenue while also preserving the user-focused experience of their apps.

The Solution

Cheetah Mobile work with Google, using AdMob to find new ways to improve the performance of their apps. Cheetah expanded on their use of native display ads by introducing the newly launched native video format. By doing this, Cheetah was able to diversify the ad mix and increasing user engagement by tapping into the branding power of video. Opting in to video ads alongside display ads resulted in higher overall performance.

The Results

By implementing these simple changes and taking advantage of Google newest native ad format, Cheetah Mobile saw a lift in eCPM’s of +34% and were able to increase their revenue by +31%. By placing video ads optimally within the flow of the app - on the results page after the intended user action was complete - Cheetah was able to maintain a highly engaging, but non-intrusive ad experience. Customizing the video ads to match the look and feel of their apps further ensured that introducing new ads did not disrupt the user experience.

“Native ads are the leading format in utility apps, and video ads are the next big thing in mobile advertising. AdMob provided the perfect solution for both: native video ads. The performance we have seen from AdMob is very encouraging and has already resulted in a revenue boost.“ -- Chen Yong , SVP of Cheetah Mobile.

To check out our other success stories, visit us at at the AdMob website. Remember to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages.

Posted by Jessica O'Brien, Mobile Product Specialist

Source: Inside AdMob


Mobile Ads Garage: Episode 15 – Mediation adapters

A new episode of The Mobile Ads Garage has hit 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.

After hearing from publishers that you’d like a smoother path to integrating mediation, AdMob has worked with a bunch of network partners to open the source for their mediation adapters. For those of you unfamiliar with the our mediation platform, mediation adapters allow the Mobile Ads SDK to interface with third-party ad SDKs to fetch third-party ads on your behalf.

Open source mediation adapters have a few key benefits. First, there are now two repositories on GitHub with adapter source that publishers can refer to for a look at the inner working of the adapters themselves. Second, it allows AdMob to take those adapters up to bintray, where they can be targeted with jCenter packages and CocoaPods. That means that instead of hunting down individual JAR files, publishers can simply add a line to their podfile or build.gradle, and get the adapter they need!

Included in this video is a breakdown of the new resources, as well as screencasts of Android Studio and Xcode that show how to import adapters for several networks.

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 share 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.

Remember to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ pages.

Posted by: Ram Parameswaran, Mobile Ads Developer Relations

Source: Inside AdMob


How to test your rewarded ads

Have you started using AdMob rewarded video, but feel like you could be getting more out of it?

We know it can be hard to get it right the first time, so we recommend A/B testing when implementing rewarded video in your app. Why? Because rewarded video gives you so much more flexibility and even the smallest tweaks can make a huge difference in your app revenue or give you peace of mind that you’re improving your user experience. With that in mind, here are four steps to help you run an effective A/B test.

1. Start with a defined goal and a hypothesis: Step back and decide on a single hypothesis that has the most potential to improve your business and start there. So where should you start testing?  One good place is the design elements in your ad template and how it can impact greater user ad engagement.For example, if you have a hypothesis that font sizes impact clarity and user engagement then you could create two variations with different font sizes (10pm and 13pm) to test key metrics like click through rates, ad revenue and of course, app exit rates. Meanwhile, key metrics to look for would be click through rate, ad revenue, and app exit rates.

Example variables that you could test are:

  • Font size
  • Ad size
  • Reward settings
  • Ad placement within app

2. Remember to test only one variation at a time for it to be a true A/B test: The testing stage will require two variations of your app screen – the current version and your re-designed version. When creating these variations, using an A/B testing platform will make it easy to design, run, and monitor your tests.

3. Run the experiment: Time to test your results. Set up your app to randomly show your original set-up to half of your users (i.e., the “control group”) and the second variation to the other 50% (i.e.,  the “experimental group”). By using a control group, you’re collecting baseline data to compare against your results. Without it, you can’t tell the difference between the response to your new designs or other variables, like seasonal chance.

4. Make a decision: Once the experiment is done, it’s time to crunch the data. First thing to do is to revisit your initial goal and hypothesis, and make that all-important final calls on whether the new variation is worth changing. Don’t be too hasty to lock in a new look. If the changes are significant, it’s smart to run the experiment over several time periods to ensure the results aren’t due to seasonality, or other variables.

As you continue to run more tests, remember that even with helpful tools, testing takes time and resources. Don’t waste time testing elements that won’t significantly impact your goal. Use app analytics data to help uncover spots in your app with a lot of opportunity and potential (think: screens with high traffic, high engagement, or large user drop off, for example). A good idea might be to have a devoted team member spend 25% of their time on monitoring analytics, identifying ad optimization ideas, and testing them.

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

The AdMob Team

Source: Inside AdMob