Native ads are ad assets that are presented to users through UI components that are native to the platform. They're shown using the same classes you already use in your storyboards, and can be formatted to match your app's visual design.
When a native ad loads, your app receives an ad object that contains its assets, and the app—rather than the Google Mobile Ads SDK—is then responsible for displaying them.
Broadly speaking, there are two parts to successfully implementing native ads: Loading an ad using the SDK and then displaying the ad content in your app.
This page shows how to use the SDK to load native ads.
Prerequisites
- Complete the Get started guide.
Always test with test ads
When building and testing your apps, make sure you use test ads rather than live, production ads.
The easiest way to load test ads is to use our dedicated test ad unit ID for native ads on iOS:
/21775744923/example/native
It's been specially configured to return test ads for every request, and you can use it in your own apps while coding, testing, and debugging. Just make sure you replace it with your own ad unit ID before publishing your app.
For more information about how the Google Mobile Ads SDK's test ads work, see Test ads.
Load ads
Native ads are loaded with the
GADAdLoader
class, which send messages to their delegates according to the
GADAdLoaderDelegate
protocol.
In addition to the system-defined native format, you can also create your
own custom native ad formats
that can be used for direct-sold native ads. Custom native ad formats let you
pass arbitrary structured data to your app. These ads are represented by the
GADCustomNativeAd
class.
Initialize the ad loader
Before you can load an ad, you have to initialize the ad loader.
The following code demonstrates how to initialize a GADAdLoader
:
Swift
adLoader = GADAdLoader(adUnitID: "/21775744923/example/native",
// The UIViewController parameter is optional.
rootViewController: rootViewController,
adTypes: [ .native ],
options: [ ... ad loader options objects ... ])
adLoader.delegate = self
Objective-C
self.adLoader = [[GADAdLoader alloc]
initWithAdUnitID:@"/21775744923/example/native"
// The UIViewController parameter is nullable.
rootViewController:rootViewController
adTypes:@[ GADAdLoaderAdTypeNative ]
options:@[ ... ad loader options objects ... ]];
self.adLoader.delegate = self;
You'll need an ad unit ID (you can use the test ID), constants to pass in the
adTypes
array to specify which native formats you want to request, and any
options you wish to set in the options
parameter. The list of possible
values for the options
parameter can be found in the Setting Native Ad
Options page.
The adTypes
array should contain one or more of the following constants
:
Implement the ad loader delegate
The ad loader delegate needs to implement protocols specific to your ad type.
For native ads, the GADNativeAdLoaderDelegate
protocol includes a message
that's sent to the delegate when a native ad has loaded.
Swift
public func adLoader(_ adLoader: GADAdLoader,
didReceive nativeAd: GADNativeAd)
Objective-C
- (void)adLoader:(GADAdLoader *)adLoader
didReceiveNativeAd:(GADNativeAd *)nativeAd;
The GADCustomNativeAdLoaderDelegate
protocol includes a message that's sent to
the delegate when a custom template ad has loaded.
Swift
func adLoader(_ adLoader: GADAdLoader,
Receive customNativeAd: GADCustomNativeAd)
Objective-C
- (void)adLoader:(GADAdLoader *)adLoader
didReceiveCustomNativeAd:(GADCustomNativeAd *) customNativeAd;
Request ads
Once your GADAdLoader
is initialized, call its loadRequest:
method to
request an ad:
Swift
adLoader.load(GAMRequest())
Objective-C
[self.adLoader loadRequest:[GAMRequest request]];
The
loadRequest:
method in
GADAdLoader
accepts the same
GAMRequest
objects as banners and interstitials. You can use request objects to add
targeting information, just as you
would with other ad types.
Determining when loading has finished
After an app calls loadRequest:
, it can get the results of the request using
calls to:
adLoader:didFailToReceiveAdWithError:
inGADAdLoaderDelegate
adLoader:didReceiveNativeAd:
inGADNativeAdLoaderDelegate
A request for a single ad will result in one call to one of those methods.
Handling failed requests
The above protocols extend the GADAdLoaderDelegate
protocol, which defines a
message sent when ads fail to load.
Swift
public func adLoader(_ adLoader: GADAdLoader,
didFailToReceiveAdWithError error: NSError)
Objective-C
- (void)adLoader:(GADAdLoader *)adLoader
didFailToReceiveAdWithError:(NSError *)error;
Get notified of native ad events
To be notified of events related to the native ad interactions, set the delegate property of the native ad:
Swift
nativeAd.delegate = self
Objective-C
nativeAd.delegate = self;
Then implement
GADNativeAdDelegate
to receive the following delegate calls:
Swift
func nativeAdDidRecordImpression(_ nativeAd: GADNativeAd) {
// The native ad was shown.
}
func nativeAdDidRecordClick(_ nativeAd: GADNativeAd) {
// The native ad was clicked on.
}
func nativeAdWillPresentScreen(_ nativeAd: GADNativeAd) {
// The native ad will present a full screen view.
}
func nativeAdWillDismissScreen(_ nativeAd: GADNativeAd) {
// The native ad will dismiss a full screen view.
}
func nativeAdDidDismissScreen(_ nativeAd: GADNativeAd) {
// The native ad did dismiss a full screen view.
}
func nativeAdWillLeaveApplication(_ nativeAd: GADNativeAd) {
// The native ad will cause the app to become inactive and
// open a new app.
}
Objective-C
- (void)nativeAdDidRecordImpression:(GADNativeAd *)nativeAd {
// The native ad was shown.
}
- (void)nativeAdDidRecordClick:(GADNativeAd *)nativeAd {
// The native ad was clicked on.
}
- (void)nativeAdWillPresentScreen:(GADNativeAd *)nativeAd {
// The native ad will present a full screen view.
}
- (void)nativeAdWillDismissScreen:(GADNativeAd *)nativeAd {
// The native ad will dismiss a full screen view.
}
- (void)nativeAdDidDismissScreen:(GADNativeAd *)nativeAd {
// The native ad did dismiss a full screen view.
}
- (void)nativeAdWillLeaveApplication:(GADNativeAd *)nativeAd {
// The native ad will cause the app to become inactive and
// open a new app.
}
Best practices
Follow these rules when loading ads.
Apps that use native ads in a list should precache the list of ads.
When precaching ads, clear your cache and reload after one hour.
Don't call
loadRequest:
again on aGADAdLoader
until the previous request finishes loading, as indicated byadLoaderDidFinishLoading:
.
Display your ad
Once you have loaded an ad, all that remains is to display it to your users. Head over to our Native Advanced guide to see how.