Network Tracing
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Network tracing lets you see network activities relating to the
Google Mobile Ads SDK. This can be useful in debugging your Google Mobile Ads
implementation.
A key reason to use network tracing instead of tools such as Charles
Proxy is that it will work on all iOS versions and
devices without trusting any third party security certificate profiles. This is
not the case with proxying tools due certificate profile
requirements in place since iOS 10.3.
This guide explains how to enable network tracing for debugging purposes.
Enable tracing
To enable network tracing, set the GADEnableNetworkTracing
key to YES
in
your plist file.
When network tracing is enabled, the Google Mobile Ads SDK logs network events
to the console. You can then provide copies of the logs to our engineers for
analysis as a private reply on the developer
forum.
Logging
Standard platform-appropriate console logs are used to output the network logs.
Console log messages always begin with the string GMA Debug BEGIN
,
GMA Debug CONTENT
, or GMA Debug FINISH
so that it can be searched for or
filtered out. For each network log, the first log message is GMA Debug BEGIN
,
the last log message is GMA Debug FINISH
, and the network log content begins
with GMA Debug CONTENT
. If a network log content is too long to fit on a line,
it is split among multiple lines, each line beginning with GMA Debug CONTENT
.
Sample output
<Your App Name>[2710:30568] <Google> GMA Debug BEGIN
2017-12-06 09:47:09.268020-0800 <Your App Name>[2710:30568] <Google> GMA Debug CONTENT: {
"components" : [
"network_request_31107D12-E54E-45D6-AEA9-4A303C659EDF"
],
"timestamp" : 1512582429267.2629,
"event" : "onNetworkRequest",
"params" : {
"firstline" : {
"uri" : "<encoded text>",
"verb" : "<encoded text>"
},
"headers" : [
{
"name" : "<encoded text>",
"value" : "<encoded text>"
}
]
}
}
2017-12-06 09:47:09.275742-0800 <Your App Name>[2710:30568] <Google> GMA Debug FINISH
You can then provide copies of the logs to our
engineers for analysis.
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Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eNetwork tracing allows debugging of the Google Mobile Ads SDK by revealing network activities.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt works on all iOS versions and devices without needing third-party security certificate profiles, unlike proxying tools.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTo enable, set the \u003ccode\u003eGADEnableNetworkTracing\u003c/code\u003e key to \u003ccode\u003eYES\u003c/code\u003e in your app's plist file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eNetwork event logs are output to the console, starting with "GMA Debug BEGIN" and ending with "GMA Debug FINISH".\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eShare the console logs with Google engineers for analysis to help with debugging.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Network tracing, used for debugging the Google Mobile Ads SDK, works on all iOS versions without needing third-party security certificates. To enable it, set `GADEnableNetworkTracing` to `YES` in your plist file. Network events are logged to the console, with messages starting with `GMA Debug BEGIN`, `GMA Debug CONTENT`, or `GMA Debug FINISH`. These logs can then be provided to engineers for analysis via the developer forum. Each network log includes content, timestamp, and event parameters.\n"],null,["# Network Tracing\n\nSelect platform: [Android](/admob/android/network-tracing \"View this page for the Android platform docs.\") [iOS](/admob/ios/network-tracing \"View this page for the iOS platform docs.\")\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nNetwork tracing lets you see network activities relating to the\nGoogle Mobile Ads SDK. This can be useful in debugging your Google Mobile Ads\nimplementation.\n\nA key reason to use network tracing instead of tools such as [Charles\nProxy](//www.charlesproxy.com) is that it will work on **all** iOS versions and\ndevices without trusting any third party security certificate profiles. This is\nnot the case with proxying tools due [certificate profile\nrequirements](https://support.apple.com/en-nz/HT204477) in place since iOS 10.3.\n\nThis guide explains how to enable network tracing for debugging purposes.\n\nEnable tracing\n--------------\n\nTo enable network tracing, set the `GADEnableNetworkTracing` key to `YES` in\nyour plist file.\n\nWhen network tracing is enabled, the Google Mobile Ads SDK logs network events\nto the console. You can then provide copies of the logs to our engineers for\nanalysis as a private reply on the [developer\nforum](//groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/google-admob-ads-sdk).\n\nLogging\n-------\n\nStandard platform-appropriate console logs are used to output the network logs.\n\nConsole log messages always begin with the string `GMA Debug BEGIN`,\n`GMA Debug CONTENT`, or `GMA Debug FINISH` so that it can be searched for or\nfiltered out. For each network log, the first log message is `GMA Debug BEGIN`,\nthe last log message is `GMA Debug FINISH`, and the network log content begins\nwith `GMA Debug CONTENT`. If a network log content is too long to fit on a line,\nit is split among multiple lines, each line beginning with `GMA Debug CONTENT`.\n\n### Sample output\n\n \u003cYour App Name\u003e[2710:30568] \u003cGoogle\u003e GMA Debug BEGIN\n 2017-12-06 09:47:09.268020-0800 \u003cYour App Name\u003e[2710:30568] \u003cGoogle\u003e GMA Debug CONTENT: {\n \"components\" : [\n \"network_request_31107D12-E54E-45D6-AEA9-4A303C659EDF\"\n ],\n \"timestamp\" : 1512582429267.2629,\n \"event\" : \"onNetworkRequest\",\n \"params\" : {\n \"firstline\" : {\n \"uri\" : \"\u003cencoded text\u003e\",\n \"verb\" : \"\u003cencoded text\u003e\"\n },\n \"headers\" : [\n {\n \"name\" : \"\u003cencoded text\u003e\",\n \"value\" : \"\u003cencoded text\u003e\"\n }\n ]\n }\n }\n 2017-12-06 09:47:09.275742-0800 \u003cYour App Name\u003e[2710:30568] \u003cGoogle\u003e GMA Debug FINISH\n\nYou can then [provide copies of the logs to our\nengineers](//groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/google-admob-ads-sdk) for analysis."]]