Develop Reference

Can I request new ad from onAdFailedToLoad?

During testing of my application, I noticed that I very frequently get ERROR_CODE_NO_FILL for Interstitial Ad. I think that the same situation with real ads might be one of the causes of low income from the application, so I want to increase the rate of showed ads. As the solution, I decided to make requests until I will get some app, so it might take from 5 to 50 requests until I will get out of onAdFailedToLoad. Is it a legitimate way to do this? Won't I get banned by AdMob with such way of getting more ads?
That's what I do in setAdListener in onCreate:
#Override
public void onAdFailedToLoad(int errorCode) {
requestNewInterstitial();
}
And requestNewInterstitial():
private void requestNewInterstitial() {
AdRequest adRequest = new AdRequest.Builder()
.build();
mInterstitialAd.loadAd(adRequest);
}

No, you won't get banned...
You can do this, but don't show the Ad as soon it is loaded, this will be a bombarding of Ads & user won't like that...

Interstitial Ads not loading any longer

I had a code that successfully loaded Admob test Interstitial Ads, but suddenly, without changing anything it doesn't load them any longer.
This happened to me once before and it was because they had changed the unit id needed to show interstitial ads, but now as much as I look it looks that it hasn't been changed.
Maybe, it's just that google has his server for test interstitial Ads down, but I'd like to check.
This is the code that was working just about 30 minutes ago:
MobileAds.initialize(this, "ca-app-pub-3940256099942544~3347511713");
this.interstitialAds = new InterstitialAd(this);
this.interstitialAds.setAdUnitId("ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/1033173712");
this.interstitialAds.setAdListener(new AdListener() {
#Override
public void onAdLoaded() {
canshowad = true;
//interstitialAds.show();
super.onAdLoaded();
}
[...]
});
AdRequest adr = new AdRequest.Builder() .addTestDevice(myTestDevice).build();
interstitialAds.loadAd(adr);
Now it doesn't matter how much I wait, onAdLoaded never fires, as a the interstitial ad is never loaded.
Ironically, I'm also displaying a banner and the banner displays nicely.
What could be happening?

Admob Not showing ads on real devices only showing on Test devices only

private void showInterstitialadd() {
mInterstitialAd = new InterstitialAd(MainActivity.this);
// set the ad unit ID
mInterstitialAd.setAdUnitId(getString(R.string.interstitial_full_screen));
AdRequest adRequest = new AdRequest.Builder()
.build();
// Load ads into Interstitial Ads
mInterstitialAd.loadAd(adRequest);
mInterstitialAd.setAdListener(new AdListener() {
public void onAdLoaded() {
showInterstitial();
}
});
}
private void showInterstitial() {
if (mInterstitialAd.isLoaded()) {
mInterstitialAd.show();
}
}
I am using the above function for showing Ads....and its working absolutely fine on my test device but when I remove that .addTestdevice().....and run on any other devices it does not shows up....

There may be no issue in your code but AdMob doesn't show ads on real device quickly. You have to wait for few days. Before that, you have to enter some details like address and payment account detail in your AdMob account.
Don't worry they guide via email.
After you enter details, wait for few days, you will be notified in AdMob account that ads are showing.
In my case, it takes 2 days and, only Banner and Interstitial ads were activated at that time and video ads still do not get loaded.
So if ads are showing on test device then it will also be showing in the real device. The only thing you have to do is complete AdMob account setup and wait.
Also, don't forget to remove .addTestdevice() code before checking on real device.

How google ads are shown on Android?

I did some testing with ads on my device and then pushed app to the play with with production unit ID. After a while when the version was available on play I deleted the debug build from my device and installed from playstore .
The code is same as what developer site suggests
mInterstitialAd = new InterstitialAd(callerActivity);
mInterstitialAd.setAdUnitId(callerActivity.getString(R.string.interstitial_ad_unit_id));
AdRequest adRequest = new AdRequest.Builder().build();
mInterstitialAd.loadAd(adRequest);
if (mInterstitialAd.isLoaded()) {
Log.i(TAG," Interstitial Add :Loaded");
mInterstitialAd.show();
}
else {
Log.i(TAG,"Could not load Interstitial Add");
}
But surprisingly I see following in logs
2:38.743 16617-16617/com.osfg.tictactoe I/Ads﹕ Starting ad request.
06-17 18:22:38.743 16617-16617/com.osfg.tictactoe I/Ads﹕ Use AdRequest.Builder.addTestDevice("235F7FAA8F49FF2CAA1DD2FAFE6B9E8A") to get test ads on this device.
06-17 18:22:40.529 16617-16617/com.osfg.tictactoe I/GamePlayOnClickListener﹕ Game Over. Some player won
06-17 18:22:43.551 16617-16617/com.osfg.tictactoe I/GamePlayOnClickListener﹕ Could not load Interstitial Add
06-17 18:22:43.551 16617-16617/com.osfg.tictactoe I/GamePlayOnClickListener﹕ Resetting game
It is still using my device as test device? Not sure what is happening here. Anyone has any prior experience on this? I know it calculates the hash but does it store it on admob server but again this is client call. How would it know? I am confused. Any suggestion is appreciated.

Most likely you're encountering this issue because mInterstitialAd.loadAd(adRequest); is calling a background thread to load a new ad, but you're checking to see if the ad has been loaded immediately. You don't give that background thread a chance to connect to the server, get the ad, etc.
To fix this, you need to place your code for when the ad has been loaded inside an AdListener, like so:
mInterstitialAd.setAdListener(new AdListener() {
#Override
public void onAdLoaded() {
Log.i(TAG," Interstitial Add :Loaded");
}
#Override
public void onAdFailedToLoad(int error) {
Log.i(TAG,"Could not load Interstitial Add");
}
}
mInterstitialAd.loadAd(adRequest);
The if statement if (mInterstitialAd.isLoaded()) is for checking at a later time if the ad has been loaded, such as after the user does some action. Not when an activity begins or anything similar.

onFailedToRecieveAd(Invalid Ad Request) message with AdMob

I've been trying to get AdMob to work for some time on my app. I keep getting onFailedToRecieveAd(Invalid Ad Request) message in the log. I've paired down my test application to this:
AdView adView;
LinearLayout ll;
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
adView = new AdView(this, AdSize.BANNER, "pub-2...............");//inserted my 16 digit pub id here
adView.setGravity(Gravity.TOP | Gravity.CENTER_HORIZONTAL);
ll = new LinearLayout(this);
ll.setOrientation(LinearLayout.VERTICAL);
ll.addView(adView);
setContentView(ll);
AdRequest adRequest = new AdRequest();
adRequest.addTestDevice("3...............");// 16 digits, tried other strings as
// follows:
//for addTestDevice I've tried several numbers, including the 16 digit device
// number given me by my "device id" application, the "0123456789ABCDEF" device number
// given by my console and device windows, the "CECE.........................." 32 digit
// device number my logcat file told me to use in a logcat message,
// "AdRequest.TEST_EMULATOR"
// which an admob example in the docs said to use, "9774d56d682e549c" which another
// admob docs example said to use.
adView.loadAd(adRequest);
I've also tried adView.loadAd(new AdRequest()); using no device id as in another one of the google admob example apps.
nothing has worked to show anything, it's not even creating space for the ad, just the onFailedToRecieveAd(Invalid Ad Request) message in the logcat
I've also included the necessary permissions and "com.google.ads.AdActivity" in the manifest.

Wow, after days of frustration and posts to various forums I've found the answer.
You have to go to your account on the Admob website to set up your specific app for the admob ads and get a new longer publisher number. My publisher number only started with 'pub-......' where my new number is longer and starts with 'ca-app-pub-.......'. I was curious about this from the start when I saw the 'ca-app-pub' preface in an example banner ap.
Nowhere on the Google Admob "Google Mobile Ads SDK" development site in the "banner ads 1" instructions (https://developers.google.com/mobile-ads-sdk/docs/admob/fundamentals?hl=en_US#android) does it mention having to go back to your admob account to set up your specific app for ads and get a new publisher number.
The stupid mistakes are the hardest to fix.

Be carefull with the id, there are 2 codes: the editor number (like this: pub-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) and the other is the banner id (like this: ca-app-pub-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxx) (this one you need to use)
You need to use the last one, if you use the first doesnt work:)

It is not unusual to get a failed to receive ad. This is a normal message essentially saying that there are no ads to serve for your app at this point in time.
It means that your Admob integration is working, you are getting a response back from the server. As your app sends more requests it will be more likely to receive ad impressions.

Have you tried requesting an ad without setting the test device ID?
adView.loadAd(new AdRequest());
Try adding the following lines of code to get more info about the failure:
// Set AdListener
adView.setAdListener(new AdListener() {
#Override
public void onFailedToReceiveAd(Ad ad, ErrorCode error) {
System.err.println("Ad failed: " + ad.toString() + error.toString());
}
#Override
public void onReceiveAd(Ad ad) {
System.out.println("Ad received: " + ad.toString());
}
});