Server-side reward handling

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Raimon PlaySpace

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Jan 9, 2017, 6:32:57 AM1/9/17
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Hello everyone.

We develop videogames using Unity 5. We are using AdMob mediation, for both interstitial ads and rewarded videos.

Regarding rewarded videos, we need our backend to be notified when the user is rewarded, because the user's economy is controlled remotely. We don't want the client to perform this king of logic.

To control the reward logic, it would be very useful to have AdMob invoke a custom callback in our backend, passing the user ID that should be rewarded. Something like https://our.backend.address/api/rewards/admob?userId=<userId>. This should, of course, be signed with a secret key shared by AdMob and our backend and be customisable in the AdMob dashboard.

Is this a feature AdMob is willing to implement? How is reward validation supposed to be performed as of today?

Thanks in advance.


Raimon

Veer Arjun Busani(Mobile Ads SDK Team)

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Jan 9, 2017, 11:04:31 AM1/9/17
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Hi Raimon,

Since we do not persist any user related data, it would not be possible, to implement this via the SDK. The user is stateless and we simply pass the rewarded data when we receive the callback from the mediated ad network. The only possibility for you would be to determine the user yourself and handle this from the client side. Currently, the SDK simply passes the ad requests to and from the mediation ad networks and the whole session is stateless in determining the user.

Thanks,
Arjun Busani
Mobile Ads SDK Team

Raimon PlaySpace

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Jan 9, 2017, 11:54:18 AM1/9/17
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Hi Arjun,

Thank you very much for your quick response.

I understand that right now the only possibility is to perform validation in the client side. However, since this approach is prone to cheating we would like to avoid it when possible.

Of course, implementing something like what I proposed would require modifications in the SDK. We would need methods to set a user id and whatever other necessary parameters when initialising the SDK or when requesting and ad. But that's something we would prefer, as we already do it for other integrations.

That's why I asked whether AdMob would be willing to implement this feature in the near future. Otherwise, there seems to be no way to setup a cheat-proof rewarded video system using AdMob, since there is no trusted server to server communication.

Thanks,

Raimon

Veer Arjun Busani(Mobile Ads SDK Team)

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Jan 9, 2017, 12:05:51 PM1/9/17
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Hi Raimon,

Let me take this up with the team to see if this can be implemented in the future.

Thank you for bringing this up.

Arjun Busani
Mobile Ads SDK Team

Raimon PlaySpace

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Jan 10, 2017, 3:10:54 AM1/10/17
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Thanks Arjun, I really appreciate that.

Best regards,

Raimon

Raimon PlaySpace

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Jan 26, 2017, 7:25:39 AM1/26/17
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Is there any news on this?

We would really like to integrate AdMob mediation in our rewarded video chain.

Please let me know whether the team is willing to implement a server-to-server validation, or whether they know of another solution to our problem.

Thanks a lot!


Raimon

Veer Arjun Busani(Mobile Ads SDK Team)

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Jan 26, 2017, 10:18:35 AM1/26/17
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Hi Raimon,

I still do not have any update and I will have one soon. Will keep you posted.


Thanks,
Arjun Busani
Mobile Ads SDK Team

Raimon PlaySpace

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Jan 27, 2017, 3:41:26 AM1/27/17
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OK, thanks a lot, Arjun.

Thaina Yu

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Aug 2, 2017, 7:16:32 AM8/2/17
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Wish future be soon. This is really a precious feature for reward ads mediation
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Jorge Galvão Miniclip

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Aug 10, 2017, 5:03:38 AM8/10/17
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Hi Arjun,

Any news on this topic?

Thank you!

Deepika Uragayala- MobileAds SDK team

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Aug 10, 2017, 2:06:17 PM8/10/17
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Hi Jorge,

Our team is working on this and it is currently on our roadmap. You can keep an eye out on our release history page for updates and we don't have an ETA for this.

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
Mobile Ads SDK Team

Raimon PlaySpace

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Sep 27, 2017, 3:15:16 AM9/27/17
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Hi everyone,

Is there still no estimated date for this?

Deepika Uragayala- MobileAds SDK team

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Sep 27, 2017, 11:27:08 AM9/27/17
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Hi Raimon,

We are unable to provide any ETA for the releases.You can keep an eye out on our release history page for more updates.

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
Mobile Ads SDK Team

Thaina Yu

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Nov 20, 2017, 8:52:09 PM11/20/17
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How is this progressed. Is it still on the roadmap?

Deepika Uragayala- MobileAds SDK team

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Nov 21, 2017, 1:44:00 PM11/21/17
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Hi Yu,

Thanks for following-up. We don't have any new information to share at this moment. We will update you when this happens.

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
Mobile Ads SDK Team

Thaina Yu

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Feb 12, 2018, 11:02:57 PM2/12/18
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Hello. How is this feature going

mobileadssdk-a...@google.com

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Feb 13, 2018, 2:25:00 PM2/13/18
to Thaina Yu, Google Mobile Ads SDK Developers
Hi there,

We don't have any updates from the team yet.

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
Mobile Ads SDK Team
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On 02/12/18 23:02:56 thai...@gmail.com wrote:
Hello. How is this feature going

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Thaina Yu

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Feb 19, 2018, 3:48:24 AM2/19/18
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Have the update or response yet?

Chad Robinson

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Feb 20, 2018, 4:35:44 PM2/20/18
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Looking for this here as well. There needs to be some way to validate the reward to prevent abuse (faked rewards).

Even if it's out of scope to track user data in some way, or call webhook post-backs on success, at least return back some type of receipt or token that can be decoded with a secret key. A simple JWT would be great but any format will do.

mobileadssdk-a...@google.com

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Mar 21, 2018, 2:25:58 PM3/21/18
to Chad Robinson, Google Mobile Ads SDK Developers
Hi All,

This feature has been launched and you can find more information about this here.

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
Mobile Ads SDK Team
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On 02/20/18 16:35:44 task...@gmail.com wrote:
Looking for this here as well. There needs to be some way to validate the reward to prevent abuse (faked rewards).

Even if it's out of scope to track user data in some way, or call webhook post-backs on success, at least return back some type of receipt or token that can be decoded with a secret key. A simple JWT would be great but any format will do.

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Raimon PlaySpace

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Mar 27, 2018, 6:45:35 AM3/27/18
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Great news! We will give it a try ASAP.

Thanks for the update!

John Elder

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Apr 3, 2018, 5:04:47 PM4/3/18
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Did you end up implementing the SSV with tink RewardedAdsVerfier? Im having an issue where the signature is failing verification but not sure why.

mobileadssdk-a...@google.com

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Apr 4, 2018, 3:02:05 PM4/4/18
to John Elder, Google Mobile Ads SDK Developers
Hi John,

Can you elaborate what issue you are facing with Tink? Do share the logs you might have and we can guide you with the integration. But have you met the prerequisites for this feature?

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
Mobile Ads SDK Team
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Blue Apps

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Apr 4, 2018, 11:55:06 PM4/4/18
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Hello,

I don't see the Server-side verification setting when adding a Rewarded video ad unit. There are only Frequency capping and eCPM floor, as attached screenshot. Is this feature in a limited beta release? How do I participate?

Thank you.


mobileadssdk-a...@google.com

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Apr 5, 2018, 3:35:28 PM4/5/18
to Blue Apps, Google Mobile Ads SDK Developers
Hi there,

I am following-up with the team regarding this and will get back to you shortly.

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
Mobile Ads SDK Team
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Also find us on our blog and Google+ page:
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John Elder

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Apr 5, 2018, 5:06:02 PM4/5/18
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I incorporated the tink library and the RewardedAdsVerifier.

The process reaches this method in EcdsaVerifyJce.java:

public void verify(final byte[] signature, final byte[] data) throws GeneralSecurityException {
Signature verifier = (Signature)EngineFactory.SIGNATURE.getInstance(this.signatureAlgorithm);
verifier.initVerify(this.publicKey);
verifier.update(data);
boolean verified = false;

try {
verified = verifier.verify(signature);
} catch (RuntimeException var6) {
verified = false;
}

if (!verified) {
throw new GeneralSecurityException("Invalid signature");
}
}

Stepping through the code, I see that the exception with the message I get happens on line 36 in the EcdsaVerifyJce class
if (!verified) {
throw new GeneralSecurityException("Invalid signature");
}

the java.security class is harder to debug but I do not see a runtime exception occurring, the signature with the key id is failing successfully validate. I verified that the key_id was the correct one tied the public key, so not sure what my next step should be to debug.

Thanks!

mobileadssdk-a...@google.com

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Apr 6, 2018, 3:07:44 PM4/6/18
to John Elder, Google Mobile Ads SDK Developers
Hi John,

Can you confirm that you have enabled Server Side Validation for your Reward Video Ad Unit ID? If so, can you provide us your Ad Unit ID?

@blueapps

This SSV is in closed beta, if you want to use this feature you need to contact your Technical Account Manager if you have one.

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
Mobile Ads SDK Team

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Also find us on our blog and Google+ page:
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Bratu Alexandru

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Oct 10, 2018, 7:02:24 AM10/10/18
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Hi, 

I have the same problem as @blueapps. I try to activate the server side validation for my add unit but I can not see an enable button. 

I have full access to the Google/firebase account and I did not find any way to join the beta phase for the server side validation. 

Can you please detail on how should I do it?

Thanks

art...@skape.io

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Nov 19, 2018, 4:07:30 PM11/19/18
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We are having the same issue here.
Requests sent from client can be sniffed, if some encryption is used, key must be either hardcoded ot downloaded from server (in both cases it can be accessed).
It would be a quite straightforward solution to get a callback from "trusted source", e.g. admob server.

Yet the admob UI has no option to enable SSV which would solve this breach...

Achouri Zakaria

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Nov 23, 2018, 4:19:16 PM11/23/18
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Hello

I can't find the button to enable the ssv option in my reworded video unit

Thank you

mobileadssdk-a...@google.com

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Nov 27, 2018, 7:37:58 PM11/27/18
to Achouri Zakaria, Google Mobile Ads SDK Developers
The rewarded SSV feature is currently in a closed beta. If you would like to participate, please reach out to your account manager.

- Ram


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Also find us on our blog and Google+ page:
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Kwstas Na

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Jan 11, 2019, 3:40:51 AM1/11/19
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Is it going to be available in iOS sdk too??

Rafael B.C.

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Jan 22, 2019, 9:20:19 AM1/22/19
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This feature sounds very interesting.

Is it already released or still in closed beta?

mobileadssdk...@google.com

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Jan 22, 2019, 8:47:58 PM1/22/19
to Rafael B.C., Google Mobile Ads SDK Developers
This feature is still in closed beta, but will be available publicly on both iOS and Android soon.

- Ram

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Also find us on our blog and Google+ page:
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On 01/22/19 06:20:19 bcr...@gmail.com wrote:
This feature sounds very interesting.

Is it already released or still in closed beta?


El martes, 27 de noviembre de 2018, 16:37:58 (UTC-8), mobileadssdk-a...@google.com escribió:
The rewarded SSV feature is currently in a closed beta. If you would like to participate, please reach out to your account manager.

- Ram


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Also find us on our blog and Google+ page:
    http://googleadsdeveloper.blogspot.com
    https://plus.google.com/115658573333388777174/
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On 11/23/18 13:19:15 th3pro...@gmail.com wrote:
Hello

I can't find the button to enable the ssv option in my reworded video unit

Thank you

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Thaina Yu

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Mar 4, 2019, 3:10:43 AM3/4/19
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Still in closed beta?

Imega Solutions

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Mar 7, 2019, 7:08:44 AM3/7/19
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Hello, 

Is there any release date available? How can we opt to beta version? we don't have account manager assigned.

Thanks

mobileadssdk...@google.com

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Mar 7, 2019, 4:43:19 PM3/7/19
to Imega Solutions, Google Mobile Ads SDK Developers
Unfortunately we cannot provide a date, but we are much closer. The feature is still in beta. Thanks.

Jon

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Kyle Qi

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Mar 10, 2019, 4:03:56 AM3/10/19
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We don't have an account manager assigned either. Our app has many cracked version so client-side verification is not accepted by us. Could you let us know how to join this beta program? thanks

在 2019年3月8日星期五 UTC+8上午5:43:19,mobileadssdk-forumadvisor写道:

Thaina Yu

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Mar 20, 2019, 12:37:04 AM3/20/19
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Still in beta????

Sahaab Zahid

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Mar 21, 2019, 12:51:12 PM3/21/19
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I see that server side verification for rewarded videos option is now visible for me in admob. 

in the android application, this is supposedly added before loading the ad
ServerSideVerificationOptions serverSideVerificationOptions =
       
new ServerSideVerificationOptions.Builder().setUserId("UserId").build();
rewardedAd.setServerSideVerificationOptions(serverSideVerificationOptions);

Kyle Qi

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Apr 18, 2019, 1:07:37 PM4/18/19
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let me guess. this option is disabled by default. right?  and I can't set option if using RewardedVideoAd ?

在 2019年3月22日星期五 UTC+8上午12:51:12,Sahaab Zahid写道:

Kyle Qi

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Apr 30, 2019, 3:34:26 AM4/30/19
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Hello, what's the action type when callback? GET or POST? I'm using a get method waiting for the callback, but the server didn't receive any callback. my unit id is ca-app-pub-2018172951926030/8981118008. Could you help me check it? 


在 2018年3月22日星期四 UTC+8上午2:25:58,mobileadss...@google.com写道:
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