Confusion with admob ad unit ids

3
votes

I followed the tutorial to create an ad banner in my app. This works so far, I can see the test ad. However, the tutorial instructs me to use two different ad-ids in two different locations:

  1. in the activity:

    MobileAds.initialize(this, "ca-app-pub-3940256099942544~3347511713");

  2. in the layout:

    ads:adUnitId="ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/6300978111"

Question 1: What is the difference between the two ids? Why are they different? What's the purpose?

I have created an account at admob and also an ad unit. The ad unit id looks similar to the second one of the two above (it contains a slash). However, I couldn't find anywhere another id with a tilde, like the first one of the two above.

Question 2: Should I just use the one actual ad unit id I have in both locations in the code? If yes, why is this so redundant?

Question 3: My app actually consists of two activities. Can I use the same ad unit id in both activities?

Question 4: Do I have to do the MobileAds initialization in all activities?

1
androidadmob

1 Answers

6
votes

1) The ID you put into the initialize method is your app ID, so each one of your apps is gonna have a different ID. The second one that you set in your banner view is the ad unit ID. Each ad banner should have a different ID.

2) No. They are different.

3) No, you should use one ad unit ID per ad banner. If you want to add two banners, get two IDs from AdMob

4) No, the initialize method should only be called once per launch.

To get the ID with the ~,

  • go to apps.admob.com
  • On the tool bar on the left, click the icon with the 9 little squares
  • In the popup thingy, click "View All Applications" on the bottom right
  • Click on this button to copy the ID for the app you want:

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