Get started with AdMob in your Android project

This quickstart guide is for publishers and developers who want to use AdMob to monetize an app that's built with Firebase. If you don't plan to include Firebase in your app, visit the standalone AdMob guide instead.

If you haven't yet, learn about all the benefits of using AdMob, Firebase, and Google Analytics together.

Before you begin

• If you don't already have a Firebase project and a Firebase app, follow the Firebase getting started guide: Add Firebase to your Android project.

• Make sure that Google Analytics is enabled in your Firebase project:

  • If you're creating a new Firebase project, enable Google Analytics during the project creation workflow.

  • If you have an existing Firebase project that doesn't have Google Analytics enabled, you can enable Google Analytics from the Integrations tab of your settings > Project settings.

Step 1: Set up your app in your AdMob account

1. Register your app as an AdMob app.

   1. Sign into or sign up for an AdMob account.

   2. Register your app with AdMob. This step creates an AdMob app with a unique AdMob App ID that you'll need later in this guide.

   You'll be asked to add the Mobile Ads SDK to your app. Find detailed instructions for this task later in this guide.

2. Link your AdMob app to your Firebase app.

   This step is optional but strongly recommended. Learn more about the benefits of enabling user metrics and linking your AdMob app to Firebase.

   Complete the following two steps in the Apps dashboard of your AdMob account:

   1. Enable User Metrics to allow AdMob to process and display curated analytics data in your AdMob account. It's also a required setting for you to link your AdMob app to Firebase.

   2. Link your AdMob app to your existing Firebase project and Firebase app.

      Make sure that you enter the same package name as you entered for your Firebase app. Find your Firebase app's package name in the Your apps card of your settings > Project settings.

Step 2: Add your AdMob App ID to your AndroidManifest.xml file

Add your AdMob App ID to your app's AndroidManifest.xml file by adding the <meta-data> tag as shown below.

<manifest>
    <application>
        <!-- Sample AdMob App ID: ca-app-pub-3940256099942544~3347511713 -->
        <meta-data
            android:name="com.google.android.gms.ads.APPLICATION_ID"
            android:value="ADMOB_APP_ID"/>
    </application>
</manifest>

Step 3: Add and initialize the Mobile Ads SDK

1. Add the dependency for the Google Mobile Ads SDK to your module (app-level) Gradle file (usually <project>/<app-module>/build.gradle.kts or <project>/<app-module>/build.gradle):

   implementation("com.google.android.gms:play-services-ads:23.5.0")
   

2. Before loading ads, call the MobileAds.initialize() method.

   This call initializes the SDK and calls back a completion listener once initialization is complete (or after a 30-second timeout). Call this method only once and as early as possible, ideally at app launch.

   Here's an example of how to call the initialize() method in an Activity:

   Kotlin+KTX

   override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
       super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
       // ...
       MobileAds.initialize(this)
   }
   MainActivity.kt

   Java

   @Override
   protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
       super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
       // ...
       MobileAds.initialize(this);
   }
   MainActivity.java

Step 4: View user metrics and analytics data

After its initialization, the Mobile Ads SDK automatically starts logging analytics events and user properties from your app. You can view this data without adding any additional code to your app or implementing any ads. Here's where you can see this analytics data:

• In the User metrics card of your AdMob account (Home or Apps dashboard), you can view curated user metrics derived from the collected analytics data, like average session duration, ARPU, and retention.

• In the Analytics dashboard of the Firebase console, you can view aggregated statistics and summaries of key metrics. If you add the Firebase SDK for Google Analytics, you can also mark conversions for ad campaigns and build custom audiences in the Firebase console.

Note that to better represent ARPU and ARPPU metrics, you might want to include data from an analytics custom event called ecommerce_purchase in the revenue calculation for these metrics (learn how).

Step 5: (Optional) Use more features of Google Analytics and Firebase

Take advantage of more opportunities and features to improve app monetization and user engagement:

• Add and use the Firebase SDK for Google Analytics

  • Implement custom event logging in your app.

  • Mark conversions for custom ad campaigns.

  • Include ecommerce_purchase event data in the revenue calculation for ARPU and ARPPU metrics.

  To learn more, visit the guide for using Google Analytics and Firebase with AdMob apps.

• Use other Firebase products in your app

  After you add the Firebase SDK for Google Analytics, use other Firebase products to optimize ads in your app.

  • Remote Config enables you to change the behavior and appearance of your app without publishing an app update, at no cost, for unlimited daily active users.

  • A/B Testing gives you the power to test changes to your app’s UI, features, or engagement campaigns to learn if they make an impact on your key metrics (like revenue and retention) before rolling the changes out widely.

• Optimize ad monetization for your app

  Try out different ad formats or configurations with a small subset of users, and then make data driven decisions about implementing the ad for all your users. To learn more, check out the following tutorials:

  • Test new ad format adoption (overview | implementation).

  • Optimize ad frequency (overview | implementation).

Step 6: Choose an ad format to implement in your app

AdMob offers a number of different ad formats, so you can choose the format that best fits the user experience of your app. Click a button for an ad format to view detailed implementation instructions in the AdMob documentation.

Banner

Rectangular ads that appear at the top or bottom of the device screen

Banner ads stay on screen while users are interacting with the app, and can refresh automatically after a certain period of time. If you're new to mobile advertising, they're a great place to start.

Interstitial

Full-screen ads that cover the interface of an app until closed by the user

Interstitial ads are best used at natural pauses in the flow of an app's execution, such as between levels of a game or just after a task is completed.

Native

Customizable ads that match the look and feel of your app

Native ads are a component-based ad format. You decide how and where Native ads are placed so that the layout is more consistent with your app's design. By choosing fonts, colors, and other details for yourself, you can create natural, unobtrusive ad presentations that can add to a rich user experience.

Rewarded

Ads that reward users for watching short videos and interacting with playable ads and surveys

Rewarded (or "reward-based") ads can help monetize free-to-play users.