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Ads by AdMob

AdMob Overview

AdMob is the most popular ad network for monetizing mobile apps today. Apps with large audiences can use AdMob to not only generate revenue for the creator but in some cases (like with AdMob Rewarded Video), create better user experiences than the alternative (e.g. in-app purchases to play a new game level).
We highly recommend that you only add ads to your app after you have a large audience of users (otherwise, you won't generate much revenue anyway).
AdMob is a
component. While all Thunkers can add AdMob to their app projects and live test the ads in their apps, only PRO Thunkers can download and publish apps with AdMob.
All apps must be approved by Thunkable subject to our review guidelines. If you are a PRO Thunker, you can submit your app for review here. Once approved, apps can be downloaded and published without further review.
Thunkable reserves the right to change an app's approval status subject to any violation of our guidelines.

Getting Started

You need an AdMob account to show ads in your project.
Once you have an AdMob account, you will need to paste the following into the AdMob section of your Project Settings:

Review Guidelines

Thunkable has partnered with AdMob to ensure that apps created on our cross-platform use ads to monetize apps in a way that both provides high quality traffic to advertisers and a high quality user experience for end users of apps.
All apps with AdMob must be first approved by Thunkable before they can be downloaded or published. AdMob has its own policies that an app must comply with including but not limited to:
  • Inappropriate content that advertisers do not want to be associated with e.g. copyrighted, adult
  • Invalid activity that lowers the quality of traffic to advertisers e.g. ad placements that encourage clicks
Thunkable will review apps for compliance with AdMob policies but will specifically reject apps that are:
  • Incomplete apps - apps that are still in their early stages and won't show how ads will be used in the app
  • Earning apps - apps that encourage users to clicks ads in exchange for some form of payment
  • Auto-impression apps - apps that repeatedly load banner ads in the background of apps
Once approved, apps can be downloaded and published without further review.
Thunkable reserves the right to change an app's approval status subject to any violation of our guidelines.

Ad Formats

​
Banner ad
Interstitial ad
Rewarded video ad
Description
Banner ads are rectangular image or text ads that occupy a spot within an app's layout. They stay on screen while users are interacting with the app, and can refresh automatically after a certain period of time. If you're new to mobile advertising, they're a great place to start.
Interstitial ads are full-screen ads that cover the interface of their host app. They're typically displayed at natural transition points in the flow of an app, such as between activities or during the pause between levels in a game. When an app shows an interstitial ad, the user has the choice to either tap on the ad and continue to its destination or close it and return to the app.
Full-screen video ads that users have the option of watching in full in exchange for in-app rewards.
Recommended for
Single-screen apps
Multi-screen apps
Multi-level games
Limit
1 per screen
1 per app
1 per app
AdMob banner ads are the simplest ad format to implement and are recommended for beginners.
Drag and drop the component onto any screen. You may need to re-position banner ad to the bottom or top of the screen using the Vertical Alignment property of the Screen.
That's it. There's no blocks needed.
The first banner ad will load when ready and will reload a new ad every minute.

Interstitial Ad

Interstitial ads are recommended after a user has completed a task in your app. We don't recommend showing an interstitial ad right after the app opens and the user has not spent any time in your app.
To show an interstitial app, you need to first add the component and then add the Show Ad block after the appropriate event in your app.

Properties

You can set the following as properties of your Interstitial ad:
  • The Name of the AdMob component
  • The Ad Unit ID (Android)
  • The Ad Unit ID (iOS)
  • Whether Test Mode is enabled for this ad component

Blocks

Events

Use the when Ad Open and when Ad Close blocks to trigger events to happen when the interstitial ad opens or closes.

Actions

Use the Show Ad block to show an interstitial ad in your app. If there is an error, the error block will catch and return it.

Properties

Use these blocks to set and get the Android Ad Unit ID of your interstitial ad.
Use these blocks to set and get the iOS Ad Unit ID of your interstitial ad.
Use these blocks to set and get the Test Mode status of your interstitial ad.

Rewarded Video Ad

Rewarded video ads are recommended after a user has completed a heavy task in your app and would be willing to watch a long video to continue.
To show a rewarded video app, you need to first add the component and then add the Show Ad block after the appropriate event in your app. You'll then want to add a Reward User event to reward your user in the app.

Properties

You can set the following as properties of your Rewarded Video ad:
  • The Name of the AdMob component
  • The Ad Unit ID (Android)
  • The Ad Unit ID (iOS)
  • Whether Test Mode is enabled for this ad component

Blocks

Events

Use the when Ad Close block to trigger events to happen when the interstitial ad closes.

Actions

Use the Show Ad block to show the ad video, and the Reward User block to reward the user after displaying the video.

Properties

Use these blocks to set and get the Android Ad Unit ID of your Rewarded Video Ad.
Use these blocks to set and get the iOS Ad Unit ID of your Rewarded Video Ad.
Use these blocks to set and get the Test Mode status of your Rewarded Video Ad.

Live Test

For your convenience, we have provided a test Ad Unit ID for you to see how a particular ad format may appear in your app.
During live test, all AdMob ads will be set to test mode = true, which means clicks and impressions will not be counted. This is true even if you add your own Ad Unit ID and set test mode = false.

Download and Publish

Only
members can download and publish apps with AdMob

Submit for Review

All apps with AdMob must be approved by the team at Thunkable (submit your app here). Once approved, apps can be downloaded and published without further review.
Thunkable reserves the right to change an app's approval status subject to any violation of our guidelines.

Create an Ad Unit ID

To set your ads live, you'll need to first create an AdMob account. Once you have created your account, you'll need to set up an app and create an Ad Unit ID. (It may take up to an hour for Ad Unit ID to be activated and start showing ads)
Below is a visual walkthrough of the steps after you have created your AdMob account:
The Ad Unit ID should begin with ca-app-pub-xxx
Enter your Ad Unit ID into the properties panel of your AdMob component. Make sure you enter the right Ad Unit ID for the appropriate ad format

Set test mode = false

To protect the integrity of your account, we have by default set test mode = true.
When you are ready activate your ads when you download or publish, you'll simply need to set test mode = false.

iOS and AdMob Permissions

With iOS 14.5, your app users will be asked if they consent to an advertising identifier being used to show them personalized ads. This is what the dialog looks like:
You can set a personalized Tracking Usage Description in your Project Settings.
If this permission is declined, your app will still show ads. These will be more generic ads and won't be targeted at the user. If the user has turned off the Allow Apps to Request to Track property in their device settings, this permission will be declined by default and they will not see this dialog.

Troubleshooting

If you are not seeing ads appear in your app, it may be due to the following reasons:
  • Your AdMob account has been disabled due to a policy violation. Please sign in to your AdMob account
  • Your AdMob component property test mode = true. To activate, you'll need to flip the switch to test mode = false
  • Your Ad Unit ID has not yet been activated. This may take up to a few hours
  • You have entered the App ID or the Publisher ID instead of the Ad Unit ID which begins with ca-app-pub-xxx
  • Please check the mobile device internet connectivity or disable ad blockers on the mobile device
  • Your setup is correct. The issue is that AdMob does not always have an ad to return for every request. This may happen particularly if you have just registered your AdMob publisher ID, as it takes some time and multiple requests before the new ID starts returning ads
  • ​Check the community forum for other potential errors​
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