Unofficial Google Products Help Centre

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. 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. Example of ad appearing outside of “safe area” on iPhone X 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 th...

In today's post, we'll be discussing AdMob account suspensions due to invalid traffic. We have found that there are two types of publishers who may have invalid traffic issues with their accounts. The first are publishers who may unintentionally send invalid traffic to their accounts, typically by testing on live ads. For those, we hope that increased transparency into our policies and processes can decrease these unintentional violations and help our publishers play by the rules. The second are publishers who intentionally bypass our rules, ending up with a variety of invalid traffic issues in order to artificially inflate their ad revenue. That’s why we work hard to maintain a policy compliant ecosystem for our publishers, advertisers, and users. In short, if you play by the rules, AdMob is here to help you grow your business. We receive many questions about account suspensions, so let's go through the top questions about this process and steps you can take to help keep...

In today’s topic, we’re exploring how you can help stay compliant with AdMob policies when using the AdMob interstitial ad format. If you have ever received a policy message for “Layout encourages accidental clicks - Interstitial Ads”, or have had trouble with implementing interstitials to trigger on time, read ahead for our best practices. App layouts that encourage accidental clicks are a common policy issue for publishers. When implementing interstitial ads within a mobile app, there may be a slight delay in when the ad gets triggered after a user selects an action. In the example below we can see that an interstitial ad launches unexpectedly with a delay on the second screen after the page has already loaded. This delay can occur due to carrier latency when requesting the interstitial ad. Carrier Latency causing a delay in the interstitial ad Pre-loading your interstitial ads will allow you to avoid latency when the ad is displayed to the user. In the corrected example below, th...

All views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author, and not that of Google. This guest post is from Sreeraman Thiagarajan, a Google Developers Expert in the app marketing and monetization space and a published author on the Economic Times . Sreeraman is featured as our guest blogger to share insights and tips from his experience to help AdMob developers grow their earnings. If you’re new to AdMob, be sure to sign up here . In the introductory post we saw how AdMob lets app developers take control of monetizing their apps - here’s the second part on optimization and measuring. Optimizing revenue and volume: A counter question I often get goes like this “But other networks offer better eCPM (more dollar for every one thousand impressions served), why must I choose AdMob?” Answer for this lies in understanding two metrics and the two respective fundamentals behind each of these metrics. The first metric is ‘fill rate’ which means how many relevant ads can the a...

Many game developers use other successful titles (whether their own or from another developer) as examples of how to best design a game or monetize. This can be a smart move, especially when it comes to user interface elements like control scheme, player progress, and currency economics. However, when it comes to knowing what is the best way to monetize your app, copying other apps may leave you with money on the table. It's tempting to look at how successful titles in the app market are making money and mimic it. If it works so well for those games, you might say, it should work just as well for my game. While true in some cases, not all titles can bank on the exact same rhythm of in-app purchases and a sprinkle of rewarded video ads to meet revenue targets. So what can you do? Focus on what makes your game different-- from the art design to the leveling-- and experiment with in-app purchase and ad placements to fit to amplify this experience. Oh, and here’s where a little out of ...

From time to time, you may encounter Google Play policy issues with your apps. The Google Play policy team has been working hard to provide you with the resources and support you need to resolve policy issues. If the app review team notices a policy issue with your app or app update, you’ll receive an email with the subject line “Notification from Google Play.” (If you didn’t receive this email, make sure to update your email address on the account details page in your Developer Console.) The policy notification email includes the policy your app violated and the steps you need to take to resolve the issue. If your app is rejected, you can fix the issue and submit the app again for another review - you don’t need to reach out to the policy support team. If you disagree with a policy violation, or if you’d like help resolving your policy issue, you can always contact our support team. Simply use the contact details in the notification email or click on the question mark at the botto...

In a previous blog post , we introduced the Google Play Developer Policy Center. To go along with making the policies more accessible and useful to developers, the policy team has created an engaging video to help developers stay on the right side of Google Play policy. Here are the 10 tips to stay on the right side of Google Play policy; Review the Policy Center: It’s recommended that you review the Policy Center whenever you're unsure if your app violates policy. Describe your app appropriately: Take the time to describe your app appropriately in order to avoid metadata policy violations. Remember that every translation of your app description needs to be compliant with the metadata policy. Use images you have the rights to: Your app icon and any graphic assets in your Store Listing should only include images you have the rights to use. If you have been granted permission to use assets owned by others, you can notify the app review team using this form . Make sure that ...

To maximize your app’s revenue potential, you’ll want to make sure your app is compliant with Google Play policies. If your app violates Google Play policy, ad serving can be disabled, so it’s a good idea to regularly review policy updates. The Developer Policy Center (found at play.google.com/policy ) was launched earlier this year and includes: Policies organized by themes, such as Monetization & Ads, Privacy & Security and Restricted Content Visual examples and detailed guidelines for the most common violations A simplified layout to help you navigate more intuitively on mobile or desktop An Updates section to help keep you informed of recent additions to Google Play policy  You can select a specific policy to learn more about it. Stay tuned to learn more about policy best practices - we’ll be posting a short video highlighting 10 tips to stay on the right side of Play policy. Until next time, be sure to stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter , L...

Whether you're just starting out on AdMob or already have several successful apps under your belt, you'll almost inevitably want to test ads on your app to see if they're working properly. Today, we're here to provide helpful tips to help ensure you're compliant with AdMob policies . Ultimately, it is your responsibility as the publisher to ensure that the activity on your ads is valid. Publishers may not click on their own live ads, even for testing purposes, or use any other means to inflate impressions and/or clicks artificially. During app development and testing, please use test ads. If you need to render live ads before launch, avoid clicking on them. If you're showcasing your app to friends, family and/or beta testers, ask them to avoid clicking on live ads. Example of Test Ads Your AdMob account may be suspended for invalid activity if one or more users are repeatedly clicking on live ads in your apps, including for testing reasons. If, after the de...

Today we’re launching a new eBook called "The No-Nonsense Guide to Native Ads" , the latest in our No-Nonsense series. This guide is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of native ads and share practical tips and best practices for implementing native ads in your app. Over the last several years, app users have raised their expectations for a high quality app UX. To meet these expectations, ad formats have evolved accordingly. The most fitting new format that meets these higher expectations is native ads – ads that match the look and feel of the surrounding app content. And as spending on native ads is expected to grow to $21 billion in 2018, this presents a huge opportunity for publishers to enhance their user experience and tap into new revenues. In the eBook, you’ll learn: Guiding design principles that will help you better implement native ads  Practical tips and best practices for implementing native ads with lots of examples  Tips on how to set up a proper A/B...

At AdMob, we know how important user experience is to creating a great app. Consistent patterns, refreshing simplicity and polished, thoughtful design make for happy users and potentially higher ad engagement rates. Native advertising is the next step in meeting user’s UX expectations. Native ads are less jarring than traditional ads and fit in with app content more naturally, providing a better user experience. Now, that’s smart business. Here are four ways you can make UX a priority both within your app and ad experience. 1. Consistency Sometimes it’s good to be predictable. By sticking to consistent UX patterns in your app, you can help users focus less on navigating and more on your app’s content and value. Don’t surprise your user with new elements – stick to a steady user flow like swiping left on a news app to exit an article or navigate the headline feed. Use consistent design elements like dedicated font sizes, colors, buttons, and screen sizes. Same goes for your users’ a...

AdMob’s native ads express is a quick and simple way to set up and monetize your native ads effectively. Three developers share their success stories of switching to native and growing both their revenue and business. 1. Word Search by Pink Pointer Word nerds all over the globe can’t get enough of Word Search (also known as Word Find, Word Seek or Word Sleuth), a Latin American word search puzzle game with more than 22,000 puzzles, distributed in 37 languages. How they use native ads: Native ads work well in content feeds, so Pink Pointer uses them in their feed of entertaining word search puzzles. When users log in to play, they see a list of all available puzzles. The native ad is embedded within this list, making it attractive, easy to spot, but never obtrusive. Results: By replacing banners at the top of the page, Thiago Lopes Rosa of Pink Pointer saw an increase of 50% in CTR and 90% in RPM - helping to maximize revenue, without compromising user experience. Tip from devel...

Have you started using AdMob native ads, 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 native ads in your app. Why? Because native ads give 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 to look at is design elements on your ad template and how it can impact greater user ad engagement. For example, a simple variation like changing font sizes (10px to 13px) would lead you to hypothesize that a larger font size will increase user engagement with the ad and make the call to...

Every day in India, millions of people jump on a train to get to where they want to go. SmartApps India created a must-have local app to make this journey easier. This fast, convenient app - Indian Railway IRCTC Train PNR - allows users to check the live status of their train, browse rail schedules, book seats and even order snacks and meals for their journey. Super handy. Using native to boost revenue:  Looking for an ad solution to closely match the look and feel of their app, SmartApps chose to monetize with AdMob native ads. After implementing just one AdMob native ad, SmartApps grew their ad revenue by 55%. Smart placement:  When scanning through train schedules and available seats, app users are shown a list of information cards. This feed presented SmartApps with a golden opportunity to show non-obtrusive, yet visible, native ads to users. “We made good use of the various template customization options available on the native ad express dashboard,” says SmartApps Ind...

Native is the next big thing in mobile advertising with spending on native ads expected to grow to $21 billion in 2018 . This is a huge potential opportunity for app developers, but how can you use native ads to help boost your UX and monetize your app? Here’s a quick overview of what native advertising is, and how you can get started. What’s Native? Native advertisements match both the form and function of the user experience in which they’re placed. They also match the visual design of the app they live within. Native ads augment the user experience by providing value through relevant ads that flow within the context of surrounding app content. Put simply; native ads fit in. Native advertising isn’t a new thing. Since the golden days of wireless radio and daily newspapers, advertisers have looked for innovative ways to match up their brands and messages with the environment in which they’re served to consumers. In the digital advertising world, Google was one of the first “native” ad...

“This experience has been life changing. From a hobbyist, who would have at most written apps used by a few friends, I have now an app used by millions, every day! It is just unbelievable... I am extremely grateful for this opportunity, and it has been the defining story of my life!” - Mohan Noone Dr. Mohan Noone is a Neurologist who was interested in programming. In 2011, he came across a service that provided live updates on train schedules and envisioned bringing that information to mobile devices. With that spark of inspiration, Noone purchased an Android book to start learning code. As he was building his app, he made sure that it was simple, functional and compact to create the best user experience. After listing his app on the Google Play store, he saw his app Indian Railway Train Status grow to over 5M downloads in just 3 years. Today, the app has over 500K daily active users. The problem Several months after the app was released, Noone looked for ways to monetiz...

"With AdMob taking care of the revenue part, we can focus on doing the fun part, which is making great games for our users.” - Tenny Woo, Direct and Frankie Lee, CTO After working 20 years in a job that didn’t tap into his passion, Tenny Woo decided to quit in 2011 and start developing gaming apps to express his creativity. Today, he’s the managing director of Balloon Island, a successful Hong Kong-based mobile gaming company with more than 1M downloads and popular games like Ultimate Jewel, Star Gems and Lollipops series. The problem Balloon Island develops apps for both Android and iOS to make their games more widely accessible. Woo knew that it was important to sustain and grow his company. Woo decided to turn to AdMob because of its reputation for publisher support and global reach. The solution To keep user experience intact, Balloon Island used a combination of banner ads and interstitials, showing only relevant ads. After implementing ads, Balloon Island took advantage of A...

Global sporting events tend to cause multi-national companies to spend more on marketing, and with all eyes on football this season, we want to make sure you’re maximizing your apps potential. Here are some tips to help you started. Let your fans know you’re taking part - promote your app early.  You’ve built a great app. Now, let’s make sure your audience knows where to find you. Try promoting your apps using  AdWords  or by creating free  house ads  with AdMob. If you’re publishing your app in Google Play, check out  The Secrets to app success on Google Play . You’ll find features, tips, and best practices to help you build an effective strategy to improve promotion, reach and retention of your apps and games. Advertise in the best format at the right place. You’ve got your promotion plan in place. Now, let’s make sure we get the formats and placement sorted. The AdMob Help Center is a great resource to learn more about the  ad formats  availabl...

Founded in 2011, Sohomob is a Hong Kong based company that’s well known for its successful mobile board game apps. They take pride in delivering high-quality games to users and focus on making the games beautiful, easy to use and functional. As a result, Sohomob’s games have attracted players from all over Asia, with Battle Ludo earning over 10M downloads. “AdMob is the most comprehensive and reliable product in the market” - Daniel Ho, co-founder, Sohomob The problem To build a sustainable business, Sohomob needed a way to monetize its growing user base without interfering with social gameplay. The solution Turning to AdMob because of its reputation for global reach, Sohomob implemented a variety of ad formats including banners, interstitials and videos. To avoid interfering with gameplay, Sohomob showed ads only in between levels and at natural breaks. This helped them engage users without disrupting the gaming experience. Sohomob also leveraged AdMob mediation and a d network opti...

For this week’s “App Monetization Insights” post, we’d like to share an excerpt from AdMob’s newest eBook, The No-nonsense Guide to In-app Ads (download it here ). This guide is designed to provide a practical introduction to in-app advertising for developers exploring ads for the first time. The excerpt we’re sharing today covers how an ad network works and how it can help your app business. Enjoy! Ad networks do the hard work of bringing together the parties that participate in online advertising, making it simpler for everyone involved to succeed. They build relationships with businesses looking to advertise and apps looking to make money by selling ads. Through an ad network, advertisers can get access to lots of different inventory in apps at scale. And, they also help app developers find advertisers quickly. You can spend less time marketing your advertising space and more time focused on creating the best app for your users. Take a look at this simplified illustration showing ho...