Rewarded Ads

Rewarded ads are ads that users have the option of interacting with in exchange for in-app rewards. This guide shows you how to integrate rewarded ads from Ad Manager into an iOS app.

The Google Mobile Ads SDK designed a new and improved set of rewarded ad APIs. The new rewarded API is an improvement over the legacy API because it allows you to

Cache multiple ads. The legacy rewarded API only lets you load one ad at a time, and you can't load a second ad until the first one finishes. The new rewarded API lets you cache multiple ads at the same time.
Access the reward value at ad load time. The legacy API only provides access to the reward when it's time to grant the user the reward. For apps that use the reward value from the Ad Manager UI, this improvement enables you to show the user their reward before they watch the ad.

Migrating from the legacy rewarded API? Make sure to update your mediation adapters to the latest version, as the adapters had to migrate as well.

Prerequisites

Google Mobile Ads SDK 7.42.2 or higher.

Import the Google Mobile Ads SDK.

Create a rewarded ad object

Rewarded ads are requested and shown by GADRewardedAd objects. The first step in using one is to instantiate it and set its ad unit ID. For example, here's how to create a GADRewardedAd in the viewDidLoad: method of a UIViewController:

Swift

import GoogleMobileAds
import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController, GADRewardedAdDelegate {
  /// The rewarded video ad.
  var rewardedAd: GADRewardedAd? override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    rewardedAd = GADRewardedAd(adUnitID: "ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/1712485313")
  }
}

Objective-C

@import GoogleMobileAds;
@import UIKit;

@interface ViewController ()

@property(nonatomic, strong) GADRewardedAd *rewardedAd;

@end

@implementation ViewController
- (void)viewDidLoad {
  [super viewDidLoad];

  self.rewardedAd = [[GADRewardedAd alloc]
      initWithAdUnitID:@"/6499/example/rewarded-video"];
}

Always test with test ads

When building and testing your apps, make sure you use test ads rather than live, production ads. Failure to do so can lead to suspension of your account.

The easiest way to load test ads is to use our dedicated test ad unit ID for iOS rewarded ads:

/6499/example/rewarded-video

It's been specially configured to return test ads for every request, and you're free to 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 Mobile Ads SDK's test ads work, see Test Ads.

Load an ad

To load a rewarded ad, call loadRequest:completionHandler: on a GADRewardedAd object:

Swift

rewardedAd?.load(GADRequest()) { error in
  self.adRequestInProgress = false
  if let error = error {
    print("Loading failed: \(error)")
  } else {
    print("Loading Succeeded")
  }
}

Objective-C

@import GoogleMobileAds;
@import UIKit;

@interface ViewController ()

@property(nonatomic, strong) GADRewardedAd *rewardedAd;

@end

@implementation ViewController

- (void)viewDidLoad {
  [super viewDidLoad];

  self.rewardedAd = [[GADRewardedAd alloc]
      initWithAdUnitID:@"/6499/example/rewarded-video"];

  DFPRequest *request = [DFPRequest request];
  [self.rewardedAd loadRequest:request completionHandler:^(GADRequestError * _Nullable error) {
    if (error) {
      // Handle ad failed to load case.
    } else {
      // Ad successfully loaded.
    }
  }];
}

This code loads a rewarded ad with the provided DFPRequest and completion block. Upon successful completion of the ad request, the completion block will be executed with a nil GADRequestError parameter. If ad load failed, the non-nil error object provides failure information.

Show the ad

Before displaying a rewarded ad to users, you must present the user with an explicit choice to view rewarded ad content in exchange for a reward. Rewarded ads must always be an opt-in experience.

To show a rewarded ad, check the isReady property on GADRewardedAd to verify that it's finished loading, then call presentFromRootViewController:delegate:. Here's an example of how to do this in one of the action methods in a UIViewController:

Swift

@IBAction func doSomething(sender: UIButton) {
  if rewardedAd?.isReady == true {
     rewardedAd?.present(fromRootViewController: self, delegate:self)
  }
}

Objective-C

@import GoogleMobileAds;

@import UIKit;

@interface ViewController () <GADRewardedAdDelegate>

@property(nonatomic, strong) GADRewardedAd *rewardedAd;

@end

@implementation ViewController
- (IBAction)doSomething:(id)sender {
  ...
  if (self.rewardedAd.isReady) {
    [self.rewardedAd presentFromRootViewController:self delegate:self];
  } else {
    NSLog(@"Ad wasn't ready");
  }
}

Receive ad event notifications

The GADRewardedAdDelegate provided in the presentFromRootViewController:delegate: method gets called when rewarded ad events occur. Each of the methods in GADRewardedAdDelegate corresponds to an event in the lifecycle of a rewarded ad. The rewardedAd:userDidEarnReward: method requires an implementation but all other methods for the class are marked as optional, so you only need to implement the methods you want. This example implements each method and logs a message to the console:

Swift

/// Tells the delegate that the user earned a reward.
func rewardedAd(_ rewardedAd: GADRewardedAd, userDidEarn reward: GADAdReward) {
  print("Reward received with currency: \(reward.type), amount \(reward.amount).")
}
/// Tells the delegate that the rewarded ad was presented.
func rewardedAdDidPresent(_ rewardedAd: GADRewardedAd) {
  print("Rewarded ad presented.")
}
/// Tells the delegate that the rewarded ad was dismissed.
func rewardedAdDidDismiss(_ rewardedAd: GADRewardedAd) {
  print("Rewarded ad dismissed.")
}
/// Tells the delegate that the rewarded ad failed to present.
func rewardedAd(_ rewardedAd: GADRewardedAd, didFailToPresentWithError error: Error) {
  print("Rewarded ad failed to present.")
}

Objective-C

/// Tells the delegate that the user earned a reward.
- (void)rewardedAd:(GADRewardedAd *)rewardedAd userDidEarnReward:(GADAdReward *)reward {
  // TODO: Reward the user.
  NSLog(@"rewardedAd:userDidEarnReward:");
}

/// Tells the delegate that the rewarded ad was presented.
- (void)rewardedAdDidPresent:(GADRewardedAd *)rewardedAd {
  NSLog(@"rewardedAdDidPresent:");
}

/// Tells the delegate that the rewarded ad failed to present.
- (void)rewardedAd:(GADRewardedAd *)rewardedAd didFailToPresentWithError:(NSError *)error {
  NSLog(@"rewardedAd:didFailToPresentWithError");
}

/// Tells the delegate that the rewarded ad was dismissed.
- (void)rewardedAdDidDismiss:(GADRewardedAd *)rewardedAd {
  NSLog(@"rewardedAdDidDismiss:");
}

Using GADRewardedAdDelegate to preload the next rewarded ad

GADRewardedAd is a one-time-use object. This means that once a rewarded ad is shown, the object can't be used to load another ad. To request another rewarded, you'll need to create a new GADRewardedAd object.

A best practice is to load another rewarded ad in the rewardedAdDidDismiss: method on GADRewardedAdDelegate so that the next rewarded ad starts loading as soon as the previous one is dismissed:

Swift

override func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()
  rewardedAd = createAndLoadRewardedAd()
}

func createAndLoadRewardedAd() {
  rewardedAd = GADRewardedAd(adUnitID: "ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/1712485313")
  rewardedAd?.load(GADRequest()) { error in
    if let error = error {
      print("Loading failed: \(error)")
    } else {
      print("Loading Succeeded")
    }
  }
  return rewardedAd
}

func rewardedAdDidDismiss(_ rewardedAd: GADRewardedAd) {
  rewardedAd = createAndLoadRewardedAd()
}

Objective-C

- (void)viewDidLoad {
  [super viewDidLoad];
  self.rewardedAd = [self createAndLoadRewardedAd];
}

- (GADRewardedAd *)createAndLoadRewardedAd {
  GADRewardedAd *rewardedAd = [[GADRewardedAd alloc]
      initWithAdUnitID:@"/6499/example/rewarded-video"];
  DFPRequest *request = [DFPRequest request];
  [rewardedAd loadRequest:request completionHandler:^(GADRequestError * _Nullable error) {
    if (error) {
      // Handle ad failed to load case.
    } else {
      // Ad successfully loaded.
    }
  }];
  return rewardedAd;
}

- (void)rewardedAdDidDismiss:(GADRewardedAd *)rewardedAd {
  self.rewardedAd = [self createAndLoadRewardedAd];
}

Loading multiple rewarded ads

To load multiple rewarded ads, follow the steps outlined in the create a rewarded ad object and load an ad sections for each ad you intend to load. The code snippet below demonstrates how to load two rewarded ads for two distinct ad placements.

Swift

override func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()
  rewardedAd1 = createAndLoadRewardedAd("first-ad-unit-id")
  rewardedAd2 = createAndLoadRewardedAd("second-ad-unit-id")
}

func createAndLoadRewardedAd(adUnitId) {
  rewardedAd = GADRewardedAd(adUnitID: adUnitId)
  rewardedAd?.load(GADRequest()) { error in
    if let error = error {
      print("Loading failed: \(error)")
    } else {
      print("Loading Succeeded")
    }
  }
  return rewardedAd
}

Objective-C

- (void)viewDidLoad {
  [super viewDidLoad];
  GADRewardedAd *gameOverRewardedAd = [self
    createAndLoadRewardedAdForAdUnit:@"/6499/example/rewarded-video"];
  GADRewardedAd *extraCoinsRewardedAd = [self
    createAndLoadRewardedAdForAdUnit:@"/6499/example/rewarded-video"];
}

- (GADRewardedAd *)createAndLoadRewardedAdForAdUnit:(NSString *) adUnitId {
  GADRewardedAd *rewardedAd = [[GADRewardedAd alloc] initWithAdUnitID:adUnitId];
  DFPRequest *request = [DFPRequest request];
  [rewardedAd loadRequest:request completionHandler:^(GADRequestError * _Nullable error) {
    if (error) {
      // Handle ad failed to load case.
    } else {
      // Ad successfully loaded.
    }
  }];
  return rewardedAd;
}