Google Ad Manager Mobile In-app quick guide

Google Ad Manager is a great way for publishers to start monetizing their apps. It's a rich targeting, reporting, and optimization engine. Whether you’re interested in running direct sold ads, indirect ads or house ads, Google Ad Manager gives you the sophisticated controls to deliver the right ads, to the right users, at the right time. This article talks briefly about what Google Ad Manager Mobile In-app has to offer.

If you’re new to Google Ad Manager, please read the Google Ad Manager overview.

If you don't have a web presence and only want to traffic ads to apps, consider AdMob.

Grow your business with a trusted partner

  • Powered by Google’s ad technology
    Google has helped millions of developers grow their digital businesses for over a decade. Our proven technology stack offers not only sophisticated and comprehensive state-of-the-art features for directly sold ads via Google Ad Manager, but also provides tight integration with the programmatic capabilities of Ad Exchange for backfill and dynamic allocation.
  • Cross-platform capability
    Google Ad Manager Mobile In-app can be used with the main platforms, Android and iOS, with support for leading game engines such as Unity and Cocos2d-x.
  • One SDK for ads
    If you have already integrated Google Mobile Ads (GMA) SDK in your mobile apps, you don’t need to make any changes. GMA SDK can be used for Google Ad Manager, Ad Exchange, and AdMob ads. Also, Google Play services pushes automatic performance improvements to Android apps without additional SDK changes. However, you would need to manually update the iOS SDK frequently to take advantage of the latest capabilities.

Understand users

  • Create and upload audience segments
    Create audience segments based on user behavior and activity by including audience pixels. Upload first party advertising IDs (Apple IDFA / Android AdID) or PPIDs to audience segments for targeting and reporting. Also, integrate third-party audience data from your audience partners. Learn more

    Only available in Google Ad Manager 360.

  • Use advertising IDs to improve user targeting
    If users allow, the GMA SDK passes the Android Advertising ID and Apple IDFA for interest-based targeting. You can use a macro to pass this over a secure connection to third parties. Learn more
  • Limit ad impressions per user
    Frequency caps help you limit how often a line item is served to the same user. You can specify the number of impressions that will be delivered to a single user in a specific period of time and apply multiple rules if needed. Learn more

Maximize ad revenue

  • Maximize earnings
    Earn more with our ad service, which includes free SDK mediation to automatically improve your earnings, and access to millions of advertisers in real-time through Google’s demand from Ad Exchange via Google Ad Manager.

    The mediation mentioned above is a legacy version of the Mediation feature. We recommend that you use the newer version of Mediation for mobile apps instead.

  • Start now
    The SDK can be installed quickly and easily. If you’re an existing Google Ad Manager publisher, you will find that trafficking for mobile applications is not so different from trafficking for web. Get started with implementation.

Serve cutting-edge creatives that offer the best user experience and performance

  • Implement innovative ad formats with ease
    • Show banners and interstitials of various sizes. The GMA SDK also supports IAB standards such as MRAID creatives and handles rendering the banner and interstitials on different screen sizes. Learn more
    • Use creative templates and customize them to create professional-looking creatives specific to apps without having to create them from scratch. Learn more
  • Render native ads that are seamless with content
    • Native ads match both the form and function of the user experience in which they’re placed. They match the visual design of the experience they live within, and look, feel, and behave like natural content on the publisher property in which they’re displayed. Learn more

Leverage Google Ad Manager’s powerful targeting, ad serving, and reporting capabilities

  • One platform to serve everywhere
    Google Ad Manager allows you to manage, deliver, and report on all of your web, mobile, and video advertising in one platform.
  • Use mobile-specific targeting
    In addition to the standard use of ad units and placements, use operating system and device targeting to easily target individual apps, sections of apps, or groups of apps. Also, pass extra signals such as location to enhance the selection of geo-targeted line items. Learn more
  • Make informed business decisions based on reports
    • Report across all screens on impressions, clickthrough rate (CTR), conversions, and more using Ad Manager reporting.
    • Track app install or in-app conversions.
    • Use features such as optimized creative rotation and automatic delivery optimization to deliver the most effective ads to the most responsive users. Learn more

Where do I begin?

Implementing the Google Mobile Ads SDK usually is a shared effort between mobile application developers and ad operations staff. This guide provides step-by-step instructions for each role and each platform (Android and iOS). In the following articles, you'll also find links to other resources to help with the setup process.

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