Integrate AdColony with mediation

This guide shows you how to use the Google Mobile Ads SDK to load and display ads from AdColony using mediation, covering both bidding and waterfall integrations. It covers how to add AdColony to an ad unit's mediation configuration, and how to integrate the AdColony SDK and adapter into a Unity app.

Supported integrations and ad formats

The AdMob mediation adapter for AdColony has the following capabilities:

Integration
Bidding
Waterfall
Formats
Banner
Interstitial
Rewarded

Requirements

  • Unity 5.6 or higher
  • Latest Google Mobile Ads SDK
  • [For bidding]: Google Mobile Ads mediation plugin for AdColony 1.0.5 or higher (latest version recommended)
  • To deploy on Android
    • Android API level 21 or higher
  • To deploy on iOS
    • iOS deployment target of 12.0 or higher
  • A working Unity project configured with Google Mobile Ads SDK. See Get Started for details.
  • Complete the mediation Get started guide

Step 1: Set up configurations in AdColony UI

Sign up and log in to your AdColony account. Add your app to the AdColony publisher dashboard by clicking the Setup New App button.

AdColony setup new app

Fill out the form and click Create at the bottom of the page to add your app to AdColony.

Android

AdColony create app

iOS

AdColony create app

Once your app is created you can obtain your App ID by navigating to Monetization > Apps under your app's Basic App Information section.

Android

AdColony app id

iOS

AdColony app id

Next, create a new Ad Zone by clicking the Setup New Ad Zone button in the Ad Zones section of your App's page. We recommend creating a new Ad Zone for mediation with AdMob even if you already have one.

Android

AdColony set up zone

iOS

AdColony set up zone

For additional instructions on creating an ad placement, select the tab corresponding to your preferred ad format.

  1. Set Zone is Active? to Yes.

  2. Enter a Name for your Ad Zone.

  3. Choose Banner as the Ad Zone Size.

  4. Enter a value for the Daily play cap.

Interstitial

  1. Set Zone is Active? to Yes.

  2. Enter a Name for your Ad Zone.

  3. Choose Preroll/Interstitial as the Zone Type.

  4. Enter a value for the Daily play cap.

Rewarded

  1. Set Zone is Active? to Yes.

  2. Enter a Name for your Ad Zone.

  3. Choose Value Exchange/V4VC as the Zone Type.

  4. Set Client Side Only? to Yes and enter a Virtual Currency Name, Daily Max Videos per User and Reward Amount.

  5. Enter a value for the Daily play cap.

Click the Create button when finished to create the Ad Zone.

Once the Ad Zone is created, you can locate your Zone ID under the Integration section of the Ad Zone. The Zone ID will be used in the next step.

AdColony zone id

Locate your AdColony API Key

Bidding

This step isn't required for bidding integrations.

Waterfall

You will need your AdColony API Key for setting up your AdMob ad unit ID. Navigate to Account Settings in your AdColony publisher dashboard to locate your API Key.

AdColony settings

Turn on test mode

To enable test ads on AdColony, go to your AdColony dashboard and navigate to Monetization > Apps. Select your Zone for which you would like to enable test ads under the Ad Zones section of your app. Test ads can be enabled by checking Yes to Show test ads only? under the Development section.

AdColony test

Step 2: Set up AdColony demand in AdMob UI

Configure mediation settings for your ad unit

Android

For instructions, see step 2 in the guide for Android.

iOS

For instructions, see step 2 in the guide for iOS.

Add AdColony to GDPR and US state regulations ad partners list

Follow the steps in GDPR settings and US state regulations settings to add AdColony to the GDPR and US state regulations ad partners list in the AdMob UI.

Step 3: Import the AdColony SDK and adapter

Download the latest version of Google Mobile Ads mediation plugin for AdColony from the download link in the Changelog and extract the GoogleMobileAdsAdColonyMediation.unitypackage from the zip file.

In your Unity project editor, select Assets > Import Package > Custom Package and find the GoogleMobileAdsAdColonyMediation.unitypackage file you downloaded. Make sure all the files are selected and click Import.

Then, select Assets > Play Services Resolver > Android Resolver > Force Resolve. The External Dependency Manager library will perform dependency resolution from scratch and copy the declared dependencies into the Assets/Plugins/Android directory of your Unity app.

Step 4: Implement privacy settings on AdColony SDK

Under the Google EU User Consent Policy, you must ensure that certain disclosures are given to, and consents obtained from, users in the European Economic Area (EEA) regarding the use of device identifiers and personal data. This policy reflects the requirements of the EU ePrivacy Directive and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). When seeking consent, you must identify each ad network in your mediation chain that may collect, receive, or use personal data and provide information about each network's use. Google currently is unable to pass the user's consent choice to such networks automatically.

The Google Mobile Ads mediation plugin for AdColony version 2.6.1 added the AdColonyAppOptions class with the SetPrivacyFrameworkRequired() and SetPrivacyConsentString() methods, to let you to pass consent to the AdColony SDK. The following sample code demonstrates how to pass consent information to the AdColony adapter, which are then used in AdColony’s initialization method. These options must be set before you initialize the Google Mobile Ads SDK to ensure they get forwarded properly to AdColony's SDK.

using GoogleMobileAds.Api.Mediation.AdColony;
// ...

AdColonyAppOptions.SetPrivacyFrameworkRequired(AdColonyPrivacyFramework.GDPR, true);
AdColonyAppOptions.SetPrivacyConsentString(AdColonyPrivacyFramework.GDPR, "myPrivacyConsentString");

See AdColony's Consumer Privacy article and Privacy Laws implementation guide for more details and the values that can be provided in the method.

US states privacy laws

U.S. states privacy laws require giving users the right to opt out of the "sale" of their "personal information" (as the law defines those terms), with the opt-out offered via a prominent "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" link on the "selling" party's homepage. The U.S. states privacy laws compliance guide offers the ability to enable restricted data processing for Google ad serving, but Google is unable to apply this setting to each ad network in your mediation chain. Therefore, you must identify each ad network in your mediation chain that may participate in the sale of personal information and follow guidance from each of those networks to ensure compliance.

The Google Mobile Ads mediation plugin for AdColony version 2.6.1 added the AdColonyAppOptions class with the SetPrivacyFrameworkRequired() and SetPrivacyConsentString() methods, to let you to pass consent to the AdColony SDK. The following sample code demonstrates how to pass consent information to the AdColony adapter, which are then used in AdColony's initialization method. These options must be set before you initialize the Google Mobile Ads SDK to ensure they get forwarded properly to AdColony's SDK.

using GoogleMobileAds.Api.Mediation.AdColony;
// ...

AdColonyAppOptions.SetPrivacyFrameworkRequired(AdColonyPrivacyFramework.CCPA, true);
AdColonyAppOptions.SetPrivacyConsentString(AdColonyPrivacyFramework.CCPA, "myPrivacyConsentString");

See AdColony's Consumer Privacy article and Privacy Laws implementation guide for more details and the values that can be provided in the method.

Step 5: Add required code

Android

No additional code is required for AdColony integration.

iOS

SKAdNetwork integration

Follow AdColony's documentation to add the SKAdNetwork identifiers to your project's Info.plist file.

Step 6: Test your implementation

Enable test ads

Make sure you register your test device for AdMob and enable test mode in AdColony UI.

Verify test ads

To verify that you are receiving test ads from AdColony, enable single ad source testing in ad inspector using the AdColony (Bidding) and AdColony (Waterfall) ad source(s).

Optional steps

Android

Permissions

For optimal performance, AdColony recommends adding the following optional permissions into the AndroidManifest.xml file located under the Assets/Plugins/Android/GoogleMobileAdsPlugin directory of your Unity project.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.VIBRATE" />

iOS

No additional steps are required for iOS integration.

Network-specific parameters

The AdColony mediation package supports additional configuration and request parameters, which can be passed to the adapter using the AdColonyMediationExtras and AdColonyAppOptions classes.

The AdColonyMediationExtras class includes the following methods:

SetShowPrePopup(bool)
Sets whether or not to show a popup before showing an ad. Set to false if you don't want to show a popup before ads display.
SetShowPostPopup(bool)
Sets whether or not to show a popup after showing an ad. Set to false if you don't want to show a popup after ads display.

The AdColonyAppOptions class includes the following methods:

SetUserId(string)
Sets the User ID for the AdColony SDK that provides further analytics to the AdColony Ad Server.
SetTestMode(bool)
Sets whether or not to enable test mode for the AdColony SDK.

Here's a code example of how to set these configurations and ad request parameters:

// Set app-level configurations
AdColonyAppOptions.SetUserId("myUser");
AdColonyAppOptions.SetTestMode(true);

// Set ad request parameters
AdColonyMediationExtras extras = new AdColonyMediationExtras();
extras.SetShowPrePopup(true);
extras.SetShowPostPopup(true);

AdRequest request = new AdRequest.Builder()
        .AddMediationExtras(extras)
        .Build();

Error codes

If the adapter fails to receive an ad from AdColony, publishers can check the underlying error from the ad response using ResponseInfo under the following classes:

Android

com.jirbo.adcolony.AdColonyAdapter
com.google.ads.mediation.adcolony.AdColonyMediationAdapter

iOS

GADMAdapterAdColony
GADMediationAdapterAdColony

Here are the codes and accompanying messages thrown by the AdColony adapter when an ad fails to load:

Android

Error code Reason
100 The AdColony SDK returned an error.
101 Invalid server parameters (e.g. missing Zone ID).
102 An ad was already requested for the same Zone ID.
103 The AdColony SDK returned an initialization error.
104 The requested banner size does not map to a valid AdColony ad size.
105 Presentation error due to ad not loaded.
106 Context used to initialize the AdColony SDK was not an Activity instance.

iOS

Error code Reason
0 - 3 AdColony SDK returned an error. See documentation for more details.
101 Invalid server parameters (e.g. missing Zone ID).
102 Root view controller presenting the ad is nil.
103 The AdColony SDK returned an initialization error.
104 The AdColony SDK does not support being configured twice within a five second period.
105 Failed to show ad.
106 Zone used for rewarded is not a rewarded zone on AdColony portal.

AdColony Unity Mediation Plugin Changelog

Version 2.6.3 (In Progress)

  • Fixed a duplicate definition warning for MediationExtras.

Version 2.6.2

Version 2.6.1

  • Updated the privacy APIs from the AdColonyAppOptions class to the following methods to support GDPR and CCPA:
    • SetGDPRRequired(bool) -> SetPrivacyFrameworkRequired(AdColonyPrivacyFramework, bool)
    • IsGDPRRequired() -> GetPrivacyFrameworkRequired(AdColonyPrivacyFramework)
    • SetGDPRConsentString(string)-> SetPrivacyConsentString(AdColonyPrivacyFramework, string)
    • GetGDPRConsentString() -> GetPrivacyConsentString(AdColonyPrivacyFramework)
  • Supports AdColony Android adapter version 4.8.0.1.
  • Supports AdColony iOS adapter version 4.9.0.2.
  • Built and tested with the Google Mobile Ads Unity Plugin version 7.4.1.

Version 2.6.0

Version 2.5.0

Version 2.4.1

Version 2.4.0

Version 2.3.0

Version 2.2.0

Version 2.1.0

Version 2.0.3

Version 2.0.2

Version 2.0.1

Version 2.0.0

Version 1.0.6

Version 1.0.5

  • Moved the following methods from the AdColonyMediationExtras Builder class to the AdColonyAppOptions class:
    • SetGDPRRequired()
    • SetGDPRConsentString()
    • SetUserId()
    • SetTestMode()
  • Added the following methods to the AdColonyAppOptions class:
    • IsGDPRRequired()
    • GetGDPRConsentString()
    • GetUserId()
    • IsTestMode()
  • Removed the SetZoneId() method from the AdColonyMediationExtras Builder class.
  • Supports AdColony Android adapter version 3.3.10.1.
  • Supports AdColony iOS adapter version 3.3.7.2.

Version 1.0.4

  • Updated the plugin to support the new open-beta Rewarded API.
  • Supports AdColony Android adapter version 3.3.8.1.
  • Supports AdColony iOS adapter version 3.3.6.1.

Version 1.0.3

  • Supports AdColony Android adapter version 3.3.5.1.
  • Supports AdColony iOS adapter version 3.3.5.0.

Version 1.0.2

  • Supports AdColony Android SDK version 3.3.4.
  • Supports AdColony iOS SDK version 3.3.4.
  • SetTestMode() from the AdColonyMediationExtras Builder class is now ignored for Android. Publishers can now request test ads from AdColony for Android by specifying a test device via AddTestDevice() from the AdRequest Builder class.
  • Added the following methods to the AdColonyMediationExtras Builder class:
    • SetGDPRRequired()
    • SetGDPRConsentString()

Version 1.0.1

  • Supports AdColony Android SDK version 3.3.0-unity.
  • Supports AdColony iOS SDK version 3.3.0.

Version 1.0.0

  • First release!
  • Supports AdColony Android SDK version 3.3.0.
  • Supports AdColony iOS SDK version 3.3.0.