Below are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about partner bidding.
General
What are partner bidding ad units?
Partner bidding enables you to access Google demand as a bidding source in your third-party mediation platform. If you do not use AdMob as your mediation platform, you can set up a partner bidding ad unit to allow Google (Google Ads, Display & Video 360) to bid on your inventory in third-party auctions.
You must create a new partner bidding ad unit in order to access Google demand through real-time bidding on third-party mediation platforms. You can’t reuse your existing standard ad units.
Can I use partner bidding ad units for other integrations?
You can only use partner bidding ad units in supported third-party mediation platforms as a bidding source. Partner bidding ad units can’t be used as waterfall sources in third-party mediation platforms.
You also can’t use partner bidding ad units with AdMob campaigns or in AdMob mediation. If you’d like to use AdMob’s campaign and/or mediation feature, create a standard ad unit instead.
What is the difference between partner bidding and bidding on AdMob?
Partner bidding is a type of ad unit that enables you to use Google as a bidding source in your third-party mediation platform. You should use this ad unit type if you do not use AdMob as your mediation platform and you’d like to access Google demand in your third-party real-time bidding auctions.
Bidding on AdMob is for publishers that use AdMob as their mediation platform. You can set up your mediation waterfall in AdMob to call bidding ad sources to compete in a real-time auction to fill your ad requests. Learn more about bidding on AdMob.How will I receive revenue from Google?
How can I gauge performance of partner bidding ad units?
You can use the partner bidding ready-made report directly in AdMob to analyze the performance of your partner bidding ad units.
To view your partner bidding ready-made report:
- Sign in to your AdMob account at https://apps.admob.com.
- Click Reports in the sidebar.
- Click Partner Bidding in the ready-made reports section.
How do partner bidding ad units work with bidding solutions on other platforms?
Partner bidding ad units allow Google demand to bid for your ad requests in a real-time bidding auction hosted on a third-party mediation platform.
First you’ll need to create the partner bidding ad unit in AdMob. Next, you’ll need to set up Google as a bidding source in your third-party mediation platform.
Google requires that you map your partner bidding ad unit in your mediation platform using the ad unit ID and the app ID. However, you’ll need to refer to your mediation platform for specific instructions on how to set up an ad network and/or map your ad units.
Learn more about how partner bidding works.
Setup
Can I use my existing ad units to enable Google as a bidding source on another platform?
What third-party mediation platforms support partner bidding ad units?
- AdMost
- AppLovin MAX
- Chartboost Mediation
- DT Fairbid
- Gravite
- TopOn
- Unity LevelPlay
What SDK versions and adapters should I use?
We recommend installing the following Google Mobile Ads (GMA) SDKs on your app to use partner bidding:
However, the minimum SDK needed to use partner bidding are:
Check with your third-party mediation platform for their SDK and adapter requirements to use partner bidding.
Why can’t I select certain advanced settings for partner bidding ad units?
Troubleshooting
Why are matched requests and match rate lower for partner bidding ad units?
For partner bidding ad units, the definition of matched requests is the number of times Google wins the Google bidding auction, your third-party bidding auction, and third-party waterfall (if applicable), and returns an ad to the app.
Because matched requests are calculated differently for partner bidding ad units, you may notice a drop in match rate and an increase in show rate on your reports. This does not affect your ad revenue.