GDPR consent and Admob initialization

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Hello everyone,
I have a few questions about GDPR consent and AdMob initialization.

There is a next info: "By default, the Google Mobile Ads SDK initializes app measurement and begins sending user-level event data to Google immediately when the app starts. This initialization behavior ensures that you can enable AdMob user metrics without making additional code changes." (https://developers.google.com/admob/android/privacy/gdpr#delay_app_measurement)

As far as I understand, Admob SDK collects user data immediately after starting the game (or after initializing the admob plugin):
1. Is this related to GDPR consent or not?
2. Should I ask GDPR consent before Admob.init() or after? Does sequence matter or not?
3. Should the plugin be initialized only if GDPR  consent is obtained? Is GDPR consent related to plugin initialization?
4. Can I initialize the plugin and ask for GDPR consent afterwards?
5. If I have "DELAY_APP_MEASUREMENT_INIT" in my manifest and I ask for consent before initializing the plugin -> the user will NOT consent -> no user-level event data will be sent? How does it work?

Thank you for help :)

[Deisei in Deutschland]

6.  Can I initialize the AdMob plugin regardless of GDPR user consent?

пʼятниця, 18 серпня 2023 р. о 10:21:41 UTC+2 Deisei in Deutschland пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hi Deisei,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Please see our responses below.

1. Is this related to GDPR consent or not?

• Yes

2. Should I ask GDPR consent before Admob.init() or after? Does sequence matter or not?

• You should initialize the Mobile Ads SDK first

3. Should the plugin be initialized only if GDPR  consent is obtained? Is GDPR consent related to plugin initialization?

• You will need to initialize the Mobile Ads SDK first regardless if you've obtained the consent or not yet

4. Can I initialize the plugin and ask for GDPR consent afterwards?

• This is the right approach. Initializing the Mobile Ads SDK first

5. If I have "DELAY_APP_MEASUREMENT_INIT" in my manifest and I ask for consent before initializing the plugin -> the user will NOT consent -> no user-level event data will be sent? How does it work?

• The UMP SDK handle the rest automatically for you. You will just need to follow our guide here: https://developers.google.com/admob/ios/privacy

6.  Can I initialize the AdMob plugin regardless of GDPR user consent?

• Yes

This message is in relation to case "ref:_00D1U1174p._5004Q2nthyi:ref"

Thanks,
 

Mobile Ads SDK Team

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Thanks for your answers. But I'm still not sure. From the link you sent (just for Android):

https://developers.google.com/admob/android/quick-start#initialize_the_mobile_ads_sdk

There is next info: " If you need to obtain consent from users in the European Economic Area (EEA), set any request-specific flags, such as tagForChildDirectedTreatment or tag_for_under_age_of_consent, or otherwise take action before loading ads, ensure you do so before initializing the Google Mobile Ads SDK."

But you said I have to obrain consent from users AFTER initializing. Which info is correct?

Thanks :)

пʼятниця, 18 серпня 2023 р. о 15:51:53 UTC+2 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Deisei in Deutschland]

And can I ask to explain a bit more about: "... the Google Mobile Ads SDK initializes app measurement and begins sending user-level event data to Google immediately when the app starts." (https://developers.google.com/admob/android/privacy/gdpr#delay_app_measurement) 

1. Is this  user-level event data also subject to GDPR consent?
2. If the user chooses not to consent, will the data be sent or not?
3. How can I deal with this? Is it managed by the "UMP SDK"?

Currently, as I understand it, I need to do 3 steps:
1. Ask for GDPR consent. I don't know the user's solution, and I don't need to, the Ads SDK will take care of that.
2. Initialize the AdMob plugin.
3. Load and show ads.

Correct me please if I'm wrong.

пʼятниця, 18 серпня 2023 р. о 16:09:20 UTC+2 Deisei in Deutschland пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hello,

You will have to obtain consent before initializing the Google Mobile Ads SDK as the consent data will set the type of ads to be served on your app.

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Thanks. What about another message? Can I ask you to check it as well?

пʼятниця, 18 серпня 2023 р. о 22:41:38 UTC+2 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Deisei in Deutschland]

I mean this message:

Can I ask to explain a bit more about: "... the Google Mobile Ads SDK initializes app measurement and begins sending user-level event data to Google immediately when the app starts." (https://developers.google.com/admob/android/privacy/gdpr#delay_app_measurement) 

1. Is this user-level event data also subject to GDPR consent?

2. If the user chooses not to consent, will the user-level event data be sent or not?

[Deisei in Deutschland]

I'll duplicate the message once more, because the last one looks weird...

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hi Deisei,

Thank you for the followup questions. Please see our responses below.

1. Is this user-level event data also subject to GDPR consent?

• Yes. if your app requires user consent before these events can be sent, you can delay app measurement until you explicitly initialize the Mobile Ads SDK or load an ad.

2. If the user chooses not to consent, will the user-level event data be sent or not?

• No

3. How can I deal with this? Is it managed by the "UMP SDK"?

• Yes, this is also being handled by UMP SDK

This message is in relation to case "ref:_00D1U1174p._5004Q2nthyi:ref"

Thanks,
 

Mobile Ads SDK Team

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Thank you for your answer. So I have to do the following steps:
1. Ask the user for GDPR consent
2. Initialize the AdMob plugin
3. Show ads

I'm not sure if I need to delay app measurement, so I'll add it to my manifest just to be safe and calm.

Now that must be correct, right? :)

середа, 23 серпня 2023 р. о 16:26:21 UTC+2 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hi Deisei,

You will need to initialize the Mobile Ads SDK first. Please see simplified steps below.

1. Initialize the SDK
2. Ask for consent
3. Load and Show ads 

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Hello,

previously you said I have to ask for consent first, then initialize the sdk. Same info is there: https://developers.google.com/admob/android/quick-start#initialize_the_mobile_ads_sdk

середа, 23 серпня 2023 р. о 20:31:26 UTC+2 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hello Deisei,

That should be correct. For clarification, this should be the order:

1. Ask for consent
2. Initialize the SDK
3. Request and Load ads 

Let us know if you encounter any issues.

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Hello,

Idk if you got my last message, but it is not displayed here, so I'll duplicate it.

Thank you for your help. Now it makes sense for me :)

Just to be sure. First step "1. Ask for consent" means GDPR consent, right?

четвер, 24 серпня 2023 р. о 07:49:58 UTC+2 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hello Deisei,

Yes. This means the GDPR consent. Feel free to reach back to us if you have any other concerns or inquiries.

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Good. Thank you for help :)

Best regards,
Deisei Team

четвер, 24 серпня 2023 р. о 21:37:47 UTC+2 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Hello. I have a few more questions:

Case in point: I have NOT initialized the AdMob plugin and NOT asked for GDPR consent -> then I try to load some interstitial -> nothing happens (this is normal behavior as I understand it, because plugin was not initialized).
So the questions are:
1. Since I have NOT initialized the plugin, the plugin is inactive and no user data will be sent, right?
2. In this case, it doesn't matter that I did NOT ask for GDPR consent because the AdMob plugin was not initialized. Makes sense?

Best regards,
Deisei Team

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hi,

Thank you for your response.

You're correct that nothing will happen if you request ads without initializing the SDK first. Since you didn't initialize the SDK, this will only affect how your ads will show, as per our documentation (https://developers.google.com/admob/android/quick-start#initialize_the_mobile_ads_sdk), before loading ads, have your app initialize the Google Mobile Ads SDK by calling MobileAds.initialize() which initializes the SDK and calls back a completion listener once initialization is complete, or after a 30-second timeout. This needs to be done only once, ideally at app launch.

Then, if the user of your app is in European Economic Area (EEA), you still need to obtain consent and set any request-specific flags, such as tagForChildDirectedTreatment or tag_for_under_age_of_consent, or otherwise take action before loading ads, ensure you do so before initializing the Google Mobile Ads SDK. 

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Hi,
ok, so:
1. If I don't initialize the sdk then load/show interstitial does nothing. Correct ?
2. What about user data? I'll duplicate the questions:
2.1 Since I have NOT initialized the plugin, the plugin is inactive and NO user data will be sent, right?
2.2 In this case, it doesn't matter that I did NOT ask for GDPR consent because the AdMob plugin was NOT initialized. Correct?

Best regards,
Deisei Team

пʼятниця, 1 вересня 2023 р. о 21:52:16 UTC+2 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Deisei in Deutschland]

clarification for 2.2. I mean, If I did NOT initialize the plugin, then I DON'T need to ask user for GDPR consent, because NO user data sends. Correct?

Best regards,
Deisei Team

пʼятниця, 1 вересня 2023 р. о 21:58:48 UTC+2 Deisei in Deutschland пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hi Deisei,

Yes, both of your insights are correct.

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Hi,

just for clarification. Both, means 1., 2.1 and 2.2? So all three?

Best regards,
Deisei team

понеділок, 4 вересня 2023 р. о 09:13:06 UTC+2 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hello,

Yes. This means all three of your inquiries.

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Good. Thanks :)

Best regards,
Deisei Team

вівторок, 5 вересня 2023 р. о 00:11:23 UTC+2 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hello,

We're glad we could be of help. Feel free to reach back to us if you have any further concerns or inquiries.

[Ayyappa J]

OMG!

I was going through the complete post and I feel how confused "Deisei in Deutschland" would be when he saw the replies about "First Consent or First Initialise" :D
To summarise,

1. Trigger UMP Consent Update/Load methods and show consent form as required

2. Call SetRequestConfiguration with consent status, age restricted, age directed etc flags set in RequestConfiguration

3. Initialise AdMob SDK

Please confirm if the above assumption is right or not.

One question I have is what happens to ad preferences requested above in countries  if COPPA/GDPR are not actually applicable? Will AdMob SDK ignores those flags if COPPA/GDPR is not applicable automatically even though we set?

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hi Ayyappa J,

Thank you for contacting the Mobile Ads SDK support team.

I will check with our team regarding your query and one of my team members will reach out to you once we have an update on this. Meanwhile, your patience is highly appreciated.
 

This message is in relation to case "ref:!00D1U01174p.!5004Q02nthyi:ref"

Thanks,
 

Mobile Ads SDK Team

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Hi, I have a one more question.

1. ask for GDPR consent
2. initialize AdMob plugin
3. reset GDPR consent and ask user for GDPR consent again*

Should I reinitialize AdMob plugin once more after step 3?

четвер, 4 січня 2024 р. о 14:35:17 UTC+1 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hello Deisei,

The Google Mobile Ads SDK just needs to be initialized once.  If you need to obtain consent from users in the European Economic Area (EEA), ensure you do so before initializing the Google Mobile Ads SDK. See our documentation on how to do that with UMP SDK as your CMP.


Regards,
Joshua

ref:!00D1U01174p.!5004Q02nthyi:ref

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Hi, thank you for fast response.

I mean another thing. I'll try to explane once more. As far as I understand, as a developer I have to give an option for user to change his mind about GDPR consent. So I have a button "reset consent" to reset consent state. That means user can re-open GDPR consent form few times.

So my question: do I need to reinitialize AdMob plugin after every GDPR consent form pop-up?

понеділок, 8 січня 2024 р. о 05:32:04 UTC+1 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hello Deisei,

Thanks for the follow-up.

Per my previous email, the Google Mobile Ads SDK just needs to be initialized once. Therefore, you don't need to reinitialize it after every GDPR consent form pop-up.

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Hello, I see. Thank you :)

середу, 10 січня 2024 р. о 10:45:42 UTC+1 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Just to be sure I understand you correctly.

The user can reset the GDPR consent multiple times. This means that the user can choose to "agree" to GDPR consent when starting the application -> AdMob SDK will be initialized immediately afterwards. After some time of using the app, the user may choose to reset GDPR consent and select "disagree" this time (the user can do this reset as many times as he wants and whenever he wants to), but I do NOT need to re-init the AdMob plugin after that, correct?

середу, 10 січня 2024 р. о 17:40:23 UTC+1 Deisei in Deutschland пише:

[Deisei in Deutschland]

So, in summary. It doesn't matter if the user has changed his GDPR consent answer/settings. If I've initialized the AdMob plugin once, I don't need to re-init it. Correct?

Best regards,
Deisei Team

середу, 10 січня 2024 р. о 18:45:38 UTC+1 Deisei in Deutschland пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hello Deisei,

Once the Google Mobile Ads SDK gets initialized, it doesn't need to be initialized again.

You can refer to our documentation and banner example on the implementation of checking initializing status before requesting ads.

[Deisei in Deutschland]

Hello,
correct me if I'm wrong. I don't need to re-init the AdMob plugin even if the user has clicked on GDPR consent reset and changed his response to it, correct?

Best regards,
Deisei Team

неділю, 14 січня 2024 р. о 08:55:58 UTC+1 Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor пише:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hello Deisei,

As long as the Google Mobile Ads SDK has been initialized, you won't need to initialize it again.