Mobile Ads SDK integration

System: YAN, Adfox

Integrating the Yandex Mobile Ads SDK into an app is the first step to ad impressions and revenue. Once the SDK is integrated, you can choose an ad format to be used for your app monetization, such as banner ads or rewarded ads, and perform its setup.

Prerequisites

To prepare your app, follow the steps described in the next sections.

App requirements

  • Use Android Studio 2021 or higher.
  • Use Android Gradle Plugin 7.3.1 or higher.
  • Check that your app's build file uses the following values:
    • MinSdkVersion 21 or higher.
    • CompileSdkVersion 31 or higher.

Set up the app in your Yandex Advertising Network account

Here's how to register your app in the Yandex Advertising Network:

  1. Log in or register your account in the Yandex Advertising Network.
  2. Register your app in the Yandex Advertising Network.

Set up your app

  1. Add support for the Google and central Maven repositories to the project configuration.

    Depending on the project build settings, these repositories can be added either to the project's build.gradle file or to the repositories section of the settings.gradle file as shown below:

    // Project-level build.gradle file
    buildscript {
        repositories {
            google()
            mavenCentral()
        }
    }
    
    allprojects {
        repositories {
            google()
            mavenCentral()
        }
    }
    
    // Project-level settings.gradle file
    pluginManagement {
        repositories {
            google()
            mavenCentral()
            gradlePluginPortal()
        }
    }
    dependencyResolutionManagement {
        repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
        repositories {
            google()
            mavenCentral()
        }
    }
    
  2. Add a dependency on the Yandex Mobile Ads SDK to a Gradle file at your app's module level, usually app/build.gradle:

    dependencies {
      implementation 'com.yandex.android:mobileads:7.0.1'
    }
    
  3. Set up permission to use an advertising ID (for apps using SDK versions older than 4.5.0).

    How to set up permission to use the ad ID

    The ad ID is a unique identifier provided by Google Play services for displaying ads to users who opt in to personalized ads. Users can opt out of ad personalization or reset their ID in the settings. In this case, advertising networks won't be able to use the ID to select relevant ads for the user.

    If your app runs a Yandex Mobile Ads SDK version below 4.5, add com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID to the AndroidManifest.xml file:

    <manifest>
        <application>
        <!-- For apps targeting Android 13 or higher & Yandex Mobile Ads SDK versions lower than 4.5.0 -->
            <uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID"/>
        </application>
    </manifest>
    

    As of version 4.5.0, the Yandex Mobile Ads SDK adds com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID by default. Because of this, you don't have to specify it in the application's main manifest. The permission allows you to use an ad ID to select more relevant ads from advertising networks.

    You can delete the permission if necessary. For example, if a policy does not allow the use of an ID for ad selection, such as the Families Policy.

    To keep the permission from being added to the application's main manifest, add the following code to AndroidManifest.xml:

    <manifest>
        <application>
            <uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID" tools:node="remove"/>
        </application>
    </manifest>
    

    Warning

    Lack of permission and access to the ID may impact your revenue, because your app may serve less relevant ads.

Initialize the Yandex Mobile Ads SDK

Successful integration of the Yandex Mobile Ads SDK is an important prerequisite for a correct library integration. By default, the SDK is initialized automatically when you run your app. This speeds up ad loading and, hence, increases your app monetization revenue.

If you need to set up privacy policies for personal data on your app, make sure to do this before initializing the Yandex Mobile Ads SDK.

You can set up these policies using the AndroidManifest.file or directly before you initialize the SDK manually.

COPPA setup

In case of automatic initialization, to notify the Yandex Mobile Ads SDK of the app's use by a child, add the following code to the AndroidManifest.xml file:

<manifest>
    <application>
        <!-- Disable the use of child's personal data for app monetization.  -->
        <meta-data
          android:name="@string/yandex_mobileads_age_restricted_user"
          android:value="true" />
    </application>
</manifest>

Manual SDK initialization

If necessary, you can initialize the library on your own using the initialize() method after disabling auto initialization:

<manifest>
    <application>
        <!-- Disable automatic sdk initialization.  -->
        <meta-data
            android:name="com.yandex.mobile.ads.AUTOMATIC_SDK_INITIALIZATION"
            android:value="false" />
    </application>
</manifest>

We recommend adding the initialization code to the onCreate method of the Application class. Make sure to set up the privacy policies for personal data before you initialize the SDK:

class MyApplication : Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
        // Configure the user data privacy policy before sdk init
        MobileAds.initialize(this) {
            // Now you can use ads
        }
    }
}
public class MyApplication extends Application {
    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
       super.onCreate();
        // Configure the user data privacy policy before sdk init
        MobileAds.initialize(this, () -> {
            // Now you can use ads
        });
    }
}

Testing SDK integration

You can see if your library is successfully integrated using the built-in SDK integration testing tool.

To test your SDK integration, rebuild the project after adding the dependency and initializing the SDK.

Launch Logcat and search for the "Yandex Ads" keyword.

That command will generate a log with information about the SDK integration status. If the integration is successful, you'll get a notification. If an error occurred during integration, the logs will contain a detailed message about what caused it and how to fix it.

mobileads$ adb logcat | grep 'Yandex Ads' -i
[Yandex Ads]  I  Yandex Mobile Ads 7.0.1 integrated successfully
[Yandex Ads]  I  Yandex Mobile Ads 7.0.1 initialized successfully

Indicator of an outdated library version

Note

The indicator is available in debug mode.

The indicator of an outdated version of the Yandex Mobile Ads SDK is displayed as a toast when initializing the library or loading ads.

Issue details are also logged to the app logs.

Sample logs:

***************************************************************************************
* The integrated version of the Yandex Mobile Ads SDK is outdated.                    *
* Please update com.yandex.android:mobileads to the latest version.                   *
* Learn more about the latest version of the SDK here:                                *
* https://yandex.ru/dev/mobile-ads/doc/android/quick-start/android-ads-component.html *
* Changelog: https://yandex.ru/dev/mobile-ads/doc/intro/changelog-android.html        *
***************************************************************************************

To disable the indicator's display, call the enableDebugErrorIndicator method set to false:

MobileAds.enableDebugErrorIndicator(false)

Tip

We don't recommend that you disable validation for the outdated SDK version indicator. Make sure to use the latest library version to maximize your ad revenue.

Lint check for the latest SDK version

A Lint check for the latest SDK version is run when building the app's release version.

Lint checks are performed by calling the lintVitalRelease gradle task. The task crashes if the ad SDK version is outdated.

The check prevents building an app if a newer SDK version has been released.

To disable the latest SDK version check, use the standard gradle code for disabling Lint checks (for more information, see the Android documentation).

android {
    lintOptions {
        disable 'MobileAdsSdkOutdatedVersion'
    }
}

Next steps

Once you have successfully integrated the Yandex Mobile Ads SDK, you can proceed to implementing your ad formats.

Choose one of the following types of ads that best suits your app:

Ad format

YAN

Adfox

Description

Adaptive inline banner

Adaptive inline banners are a flexible format of banner advertising, providing maximum efficiency by optimizing the size of the ad on each device.

The banner height is selected automatically and can reach the height of the device screen.

Typically, this format is used in feed-based apps or others where it's acceptable to primarily focus user attention on ads.

Adaptive sticky banner

That is a small, automatically updated ad placed at the top or bottom of the app screen. It does not overlap the main app content and is often used in game apps.

The height of the sticky banner is determined automatically, adapting to the device screen size and not exceeding 15% of the screen height.

Interstitial ads

Interstitial advertising is a full-screen ad format embedded within the app content during natural pauses, such as transitioning between game levels or completing a target action.

When users see interstitial ads, their attention is entirely focused on the ads, which results in a higher cost for such impressions.

Overuse of this format can worsen user interaction.

Rewarded ads

Rewarded ads are a popular full-screen ad format, where the user receives a reward for viewing the ad.

The display of this ad type is activated by the user, for instance, to receive a bonus or additional life in a game.

High user motivation makes this ad format the most popular and profitable in free apps.

Native ads

Native advertising is an ad type where the layout can be defined on the app side. This feature allows you to change the visual style of ads and their placement, considering the app design specifics.

Ad rendering is performed with native platform tools, which enhances ad performance and quality.

You can set the layout of your native ads using a template or manually. If you choose to use a template, the ad layout will be set on the SDK side.

App open ads

App open ad is a special advertising format for monetizing your app's splash screens. The ads can be dismissed at any time and are designed to display when users bring your app to the foreground, either at launch or when returning it from the background.

Ad feed

Ad feeds are units that consist of a sequence of ads. Feeds can be added to your app as its main content, or they may come after the existing content. Feeds may contain dozens of ads, which are loaded sequentially (several ads are loaded at once).

InStream ads

InStream is an ad format that lets you monetize your app by serving ads while video content is playing.

An InStream ad consists of a scenario with multiple video blocks. The type of video unit in an InStream scenario determines how the video ad should be played relative to the main video content.