Ad inspector helps you identify issues with your app. Once the issue is identified, you can use the information in this article to learn how to resolve it.
This article provides a guide to understanding and resolving issues related to ad serving within your app using Ad inspector. It covers topics such as SDK adapter problems, bidding ad source issues, and privacy concerns.
In this article
Understand SDK adapter issues
There are two issues you may see when checking the SDK adapter of your third-party ad source. Review the following to understand the issue and what you can do to fix it.
| Issue | What it means | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Adapter not found |
Some third-party ad sources require an SDK and its GMA SDK specific adapter to load and display ads from that source. This error means that the GMA SDK cannot find your third-party adapter or SDK. |
Check that you've installed the SDK adapter correctly. Learn more for Android and iOS. |
| Didn't initialize | Each third-party ad source SDK adapter needs to be explicitly initialized in your codebase with the necessary parameters. |
Make sure you followed the integration guide correctly. Learn more for Android and iOS. For specific initialization errors, please refer to your third-party ad source's documentation. |
Understand bidding ad source issues
- Android: 20.2.0+
- iOS: 8.5.0+
When reviewing the SDK request logs for details about your third-party bidding sources, you may encounter one of the following issues.
| Issue | What it means | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| No SDK signal found | Some ad sources may need an SDK and adapter installed and configured correctly to use bidding. | Make sure you've followed the SDK requirements correctly for Android and iOS. |
| No user consent provided | The ad source may not be eligible for a bid request if the user has not provided the necessary consent. This may be expected behavior. | Learn more about implementing consent tools, such as GDPR, in the Ad Manager policies. |
| No ad returned |
The ad sources may have decided to not bid for the ad request or they may not be eligible to bid for it.
|
Check with your ad source for more details.
If your third-party bidding source is not bidding, there may be an issue with the signal it's collecting.
|
View third-party bidding parameter issues per ad request
When reviewing third-party partner details, you may encounter one of the following errors. Use the table below for what the errors mean and recommended next steps.
| Error message | What it means | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
NO_ERROR |
There is no error. | No action needed. |
ADAPTER_CREATION_FAILURE |
The third-party SDK adapter either wasn't found or didn't initialize. | Verify that the adapter and third-party SDK are imported correctly for Android and iOS. |
SIGNAL_COLLECTION_FAILURE |
The third-party SDK adapter returned a failure during signal collection. This could mean the SDK signal wasn't found or timed out. |
Review the error description provided in Ad inspector for help identifying the cause of the issue. Verify that you've correctly mapped your ad units in your account. Verify that the third-party ad source SDK initialized successfully. Otherwise, refer to your third-party ad source's documentation. |
SIGNAL_COLLECTION_TIMEOUT |
The signal collection for the third-party SDK adapter timed out. |
Verify that the third-party ad source's SDK initialized successfully. Otherwise, refer to your third-party ad source's documentation. |
UNKNOWN_ERROR |
This indicates an unexpected error. |
Unknown errors mean we can't determine the exact cause. Here are a few common issues you can check:
Otherwise, refer to your third-party ad source's documentation. |
ADAPTER_PROTOCOL_ CONFORMANCE_FAILURE |
This means that the third-party SDK adapter is not supported or there is a problem with the adapter's configuration. |
Verify that the adapter and third-party SDK are imported correctly for iOS. This error appears for iOS only. |
Understand privacy issues
You may encounter the following error in the "Privacy" sections of Ad inspector. Review what this means and what you can do to fix it.
| Error message | What it means | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| No privacy details found Update to the latest Google Mobile Ads SDK to see your app/request's privacy details |
This error can occur when the app/request's SDK version is too old for Ad inspector to display the privacy signals. | Update to the minimum Google Mobile Ads SDK version that supports this:
|
Troubleshoot unexpected missing values
When troubleshooting, if you see any instances where the value appears as only a hyphen (–), the signal was determined to be missing. You may need to ensure you've integrated with a Google-certified CMP and your test device is reporting the necessary geographic location.
Using a Google-certified CMP
When serving ads to users in the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK, or Switzerland, you should ensure that you are using a Consent Management Platform (CMP) that has been certified by Google and has integrated with the IAB's Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF).
Ensuring a GDPR-applicable geography
To fully test your consent workflow and view the privacy-related signals in Ad inspector, you must be either in the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, or have configured your CMP to test your app's behavior as though the device was located in the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland. When this is done, the "GDPR Applies" value in the Ad inspector privacy UI should show as "true".
- Publishers that are using the User Messaging Platform (UMP) SDK can follow the Android or iOS instructions to force the required geography on test devices.
- Publishers that are using another Google-certified CMP should work with their CMP provider to understand how to force the required geography for their device.
