Loading multiple native ads in the Google Mobile Ads SDK

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 GADMultipleAdsAdLoaderOptionsand set the numberOfAdsproperty. 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 GADAdLoaderobject, 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.

 - , Mobile Ads Developer Relations