Integrate the WebView API for Ads

AI-generated Key Takeaways

• The web view APIs for ads make app signals available to tags in your WebView to improve monetization and protect advertisers.

• Communication with the Google Mobile Ads SDK (beta) is triggered by ad events from AdSense code, Google Publisher Tag, or IMA for HTML5.

• You need to initialize the Google Mobile Ads SDK (beta) and pass an application ID, either your AdMob ID or a specific web view ID.

• You must register the web view by calling registerWebView() on the main thread.

• A test URL is provided to verify a successful integration.

The web view APIs for ads makes app signals available to the tags in your WebView, helping to improve monetization for the publishers that provided the content and protect advertisers from spam.

How it works

Communication with the GMA Next Gen SDK only happens in response to ad events triggered by any of the following:

• AdSense code
• Google Publisher Tag
• IMA for HTML5

The SDK adds message handlers to the registered WebView to listen for these ad events. For a better sense of how this works, view the source code of the test page.

Prerequisites

• GMA Next Gen SDK version 0.6.0-alpha01 or higher.

Pass the application ID to the SDK

If you already have an AdMob application ID, initialize the GMA Next Gen SDK with your existing application ID.

If you don't have an AdMob application ID, pass in InitializationConfig.WEBVIEW_APIS_FOR_ADS_APPLICATION_ID as the application ID when you initialize the GMA Next Gen SDK.

Kotlin

MobileAds.initialize(
    this@MainActivity,
    // Use this application ID to initialize the GMA Next Gen SDK if
    // you don't have an AdMob application ID.
    InitializationConfig.Builder(InitializationConfig.WEBVIEW_APIS_FOR_ADS_APPLICATION_ID)
        .build(),
  ) {
    // Adapter initialization complete.
  }

Java

MobileAds.initialize(
    this,
    // Use this application ID to initialize the GMA Next Gen SDK if
    // you don't have an AdMob application ID.
    new InitializationConfig.Builder(InitializationConfig.WEBVIEW_APIS_FOR_ADS_APPLICATION_ID)
        .build(),
        initializationStatus -> {
          // Adapter initialization is complete.
          });

Register the web view

Call registerWebView() on the main thread to establish a connection with the JavaScript handlers in the AdSense code or Google Publisher Tag within each WebView instance. This should be done as early as possible, such as in the onCreate() method of your MainActivity.

Kotlin

import android.webkit.CookieManager
import android.webkit.WebView
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.MobileAds

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
  lateinit var webView: WebView

  override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
    webView = findViewById(R.id.webview)

    // Let the web view accept third-party cookies.
    CookieManager.getInstance().setAcceptThirdPartyCookies(webView, true)
    // Let the web view use JavaScript.
    webView.settings.javaScriptEnabled = true
    // Let the web view access local storage.
    webView.settings.domStorageEnabled = true
    // Let HTML videos play automatically.
    webView.settings.mediaPlaybackRequiresUserGesture = false

    // Register the web view.
    MobileAds.registerWebView(webView)
  }
}

Java

import android.webkit.CookieManager;
import android.webkit.WebView;
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.MobileAds;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
  private WebView webView;

  @Override
  protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    webView = findViewById(R.id.webview);

    // Let the web view accept third-party cookies.
    CookieManager.getInstance().setAcceptThirdPartyCookies(webView, true);
    // Let the web view use JavaScript.
    webView.getSettings().setJavaScriptEnabled(true);
    // Let the web view access local storage.
    webView.getSettings().setDomStorageEnabled(true);
    // Let HTML videos play automatically.
    webView.getSettings().setMediaPlaybackRequiresUserGesture(false);

    // Register the web view.
    MobileAds.registerWebView(webView);
  }
}

Test your integration

Before using your own URL, we recommend that you load the following URL to test the integration:

https://google.github.io/webview-ads/test/#api-for-ads-tests

The test URL shows green status bars for a successful integration if the following conditions apply:

• WebView connected to the GMA Next Gen SDK

Next steps

• Gather consent in WebView. The Web view APIs for Ads doesn't propagate consent collected in the mobile app context using IAB TCF v2.0 or IAB CCPA compliance frameworks to the tags in your web views. If you're interested in implementing a single consent flow as the owner of both the WebView and its corresponding web content being monetized, work with your consent management platform to gather consent in the WebView context.