Game Ads

---
name: game-ads
description: Add or fix advertising in a mobile game or app — AdMob, Google Ad Manager, and mediation through AppLovin MAX, Unity LevelPlay/ironSource or Liftoff. Covers banner, interstitial, rewarded, rewarded interstitial, app open and native formats, placement and frequency design, eCPM and fill, GDPR/DMA consent with the UMP SDK, Apple ATT, COPPA and the Google Play Families ads policy, test ad units, and how ads coexist with a remove-ads purchase. Use when integrating an ad SDK, choosing formats, diagnosing low revenue or no fill, or checking ad policy compliance for a kids' app.
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: "1.0.0"
  specs-verified: "2026-09-24"
---

# Game Ads

Ads are a product decision before they are an integration. The SDK takes a day; the placement
design decides whether the game survives its own monetization.

## Decide first

### 1. Should this game have ads at all?

| Signal | Lean |
|---|---|
| Premium unlock already converts, small audience, kids' game | **No ads.** Ads in a paid kids' game are a policy minefield and a review magnet, and cannibalize the unlock. |
| Large free audience, short sessions, low intent to pay | Ads, mostly rewarded |
| Mid-size audience, some payers | Hybrid: rewarded ads + a "remove ads" or premium purchase |

If you sell a premium unlock, a **remove-ads entitlement is mandatory**, and buying it must remove
ads instantly without a restart. See the `game-iap` skill for the entitlement plumbing.

### 2. Which formats?

| Format | Player cost | Use when | Avoid when |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Rewarded** | Opt-in, positive | extra life, double coins, hint, skip a wait | never a reason to avoid it — this is the format to start with |
| **Rewarded interstitial** | Opt-out with a countdown | natural transition where a reward makes sense | kids' apps |
| **Interstitial** | Forced | between levels, after a run ends | during gameplay, on app start, before the first interaction |
| **Banner** | Persistent screen space | menus, low-attention screens | over gameplay controls; anchored banners eat safe-area space on notched phones |
| **App open** | Forced at launch/resume | resume after a long background | cold start before your own loading screen; this is a top rejection cause |
| **Native** | Blends in | shop lists, level select | anywhere it could be mistaken for a game button — that is a policy violation |

**Hard rule: never place an ad where a mis-tap is likely.** Accidental clicks get your AdMob
account limited or disabled, and that is far more expensive than the lost impression.

### 3. Direct AdMob or mediation?

Start with AdMob alone. Add mediation when you have enough daily impressions that a second
network's bid actually competes — below roughly 50k daily impressions the extra SDKs,
consent surface and crash risk cost more than the eCPM lift.
Details: `references/mediation-and-networks.md`

## Integration order that avoids rework

1. **Consent first.** UMP SDK, before any ad request. If you bolt consent on later you will have
   shipped requests that had no legal basis, and the fix is a forced update.
2. **Test ad unit IDs only, until release.** Never hit production units during development —
   Google treats self-clicking as invalid traffic and suspends accounts without much dialogue.
3. One format end to end (rewarded), including the reward-not-granted path.
4. Then the rest.

Android specifics and code order: `references/admob-integration.md`

## Consent, privacy and children

This is where ads go wrong legally rather than technically. Full detail in
`references/consent-and-kids.md`. The load-bearing facts:

- **UMP SDK call order, every launch**: `getConsentInformation` →
  `requestConsentInfoUpdate` → `loadAndShowConsentFormIfRequired` → check `canRequestAds()`
  **before** initializing the ads SDK / requesting an ad. Also expose a persistent
  "Privacy options" entry point when `getPrivacyOptionsRequirementStatus()` says it is required.
- **iOS**: App Tracking Transparency is separate from UMP consent. No IDFA without ATT
  authorization, and the ATT prompt must follow your own explanation screen, not precede it.
- **Child-directed**: AdMob's `setTagForChildDirectedTreatment(TRUE)` disables interest-based
  ads and remarketing and stops transmission of the advertising ID.
  `setTagForUnderAgeOfConsent(TRUE)` disables personalized ads for under-age-of-consent users.
  Never set both to true — the child-directed setting wins, and Google applies the most
  conservative treatment. Also set `setMaxAdContentRating("G")` for a children's game.
- **Google Play Families policy**: apps whose target audience includes children may only use
  **self-certified ad SDKs** from Google's published list (AdMob/Ad Manager, Unity Ads,
  ironSource, Vungle and about ten others). A non-certified SDK may only serve users you have
  established are adults via a neutral age screen. Ads must be age-appropriate, and the Play
  Console target-audience and ads declarations must match what the app actually does.
- **Apple**: the Kids Category forbids behavioural advertising outright, and as of 2026 Apple's
  age-rating system (4+/9+/13+/16+/18+) plus the Declared Age Range API change what you may serve
  to whom in several jurisdictions.

## Diagnosing revenue problems

| Symptom | First checks |
|---|---|
| No fill / no ads at all | New ad unit (can take hours to serve), app not yet linked to a store listing, consent not obtained so `canRequestAds()` is false, test device flag left on, ad unit ID typo |
| eCPM collapsed | Geo mix shifted, consent rate dropped (non-personalized pays far less), personalization disabled by a tag you set, seasonal January drop |
| Revenue fine, retention falling | Interstitial frequency too high — cap it and measure D1/D7, not just ARPDAU |
| AdMob account warnings | Invalid traffic from your own testing, or a placement that invites mis-taps |

Metric that matters: **ARPDAU held against D7 retention**. Ads that raise ARPDAU while cutting
retention lose money over a month. `references/placement-and-economics.md`

## Sources

Verified 2026-09-24:
- [AdMob privacy & UMP](https://developers.google.com/admob/android/privacy)
- [AdMob targeting / child-directed tags](https://developers.google.com/admob/android/targeting)
- [Play Families ads policy & certified SDKs](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9283445)
- [App Review Guidelines 1.3 Kids Category](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#kids-category)