Why am I seeing Error Code 3: No Ad Config on Android?

[Rogoon]

Hello everyone,

Was directed here from the Ads Manager forums. Looking for some advice on an issue we've been facing.

We have ads setup for both our iOS and Android apps. Last month our ad impressions dropped off on Sep 14th for our Android build. We had recently set up a new unit ID, however, it was loading ads correctly for both apps before the 14th. Now when testing I get the following error when requesting an ad:

​E/ads: {

      "Code": 3,

      "Message": "No ad config.",

      "Domain": "com.google.android.gms.ads",

      "Cause": "null",

      "Response Info": {

        "Response ID": "null",

        "Mediation Adapter Class Name": "",

        "Adapter Responses": []

      }

    }

I thought this was a no fill error but the "no ad config" message makes me think its something else?

I tried the new unit ID on a sample app and ads loaded correctly. I then tried changing the package name of our Android build and ads also loaded fine with the unit ID. I'm not sure why just our package name would be causing issues with ads loading.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

Issues related to package names are usually caused by an improper Authorized Sellers for Apps (aka app-ads.txt) setup. Could you kindly confirm if your publisher ID is already whitelisted in your website's app-ads.txt file? You may check this page for further details on how to do this.
 

Ziv Yves Sanchez Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Rogoon]

Thank you for the reply! 

Looks like we only host an ads.txt right now. Will get the app-ads.txt file set up and see how it goes.

[Rogoon]

Uploaded the correct app-ads.txt file over 24 hours ago, still seeing error 3. 

It looks like our Android app is missing from the "app-ads.txt" tab in Google Ad Manager so we are unable to check if the file has even been found. I can see it in the "mobile apps" tab under Inventory. Not sure what we have to do to get it to show in the other tab. I can see our iOS app listed.

Thank you.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

Thank you for updating us on your concern.

Could you kindly provide the details below (via Reply to author or a direct, private reply to this email) so that I can investigate the issue?

• Ad unit ID/s affected
• App package name
• Link to the app-ads.txt file (as hosted from your website)

[Rogoon]

Sent the info along to you. Thanks again for taking a look!

[Amit Jaiswal]

I am also facing the same issue in my new app. Test ads load ok, but not the live ads.

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[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

Thank you for providing the requested details.

I was able to test your ad unit IDs with our sample app, and can confirm that I was receiving ads from them (see attached screenshots). With that said, I can also confirm that I get an error code 3 (No ad config) whenever I try using the package name you've provided.

Since you are using the Ad Manager alongside AdMob, you may want to check out this page for a primer on app-ads.txt within the context of Ad Manager as well. Kindly note that there may be additional steps (as labeled in that page) that you still need to do within your Ad Manager account in order to get the app-ads.txt feature fully functional.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Amit,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

It seems that you have already created a thread and/or joined other threads regarding your own concern. Kindly continue on your own thread instead so that we can assist you better on it.
 

[Rogoon]

Thank you for confirming things on your end and for the link. 

We thought there may have been an issue with the root domain of our URL. Unfortunately, it's been about 48 hours after updating it and we are still seeing error code 3 "no ad config" and nothing in the Ads Manager console.

The following command seems to return our app-ads.txt file okay. There is a single 302 redirect to a different domain, I don't believe that would be an issue.

curl -iL -A "'Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html).'" our-site.com/app-ads.txt

We ran through the other steps on this page and everything seems in order. We are also using Firebase in our project but haven't linked it with our ads account. Could that be the problem? Running out of ideas. 

[Rogoon]

Wanted to update that the app-ads.txt file has been found, but only for iOS. Android is still missing from the tab on the Ads Manager console.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

I work with Ziv and will assist you. Thank you for the good news regarding the iOS app - it proves your domain is reachable. You may need to give it some more time for Android. 

Regards,

Aryeh Baker Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Yunlong Li]

Oh. I have this issue too!

Does it mean the reason is the lack of app-ads.txt on our website?

So if I add app-ads.txt to our website, Will it is fixed?

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Yunlong,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

That is entirely possible, yes, especially if your app (in the Play Store) links back to your website. You may want to check out this page for further details on how to resolve the same issue. Kindly note that you may have to wait at least 24 hours before your newly-created app-ads.txt file could be crawled and verified by Google.
 

Ziv Yves Sanchez Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Rogoon]

Hi Aryeh,

We waited over the weekend and Android is still giving us error 3. We have the same URL on the Play Store as the Apple App Store. The Android app also doesn't show in our app-ads.txt tab of the Ad Manager console either. Not sure why it isn't getting picked up.  

Thank you.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

The only other suggestion I could think of is to check for Policy issues with Playstore. Since this is an ad inventory issue the correct forum for ad inventory issues is the AdMob Forum.

[Rogoon]

Both the Playstore and Ad Manager console are showing no policy issues. I'll go ahead and make a posting on the AdMob Forum.

Thank you.

[Rogoon]

After further investigation I'm not sure if this is an inventory issue. We have a created a line item in Ad Manager of type "Sponsorship" at 100% and that line item is not delivering. The inventory is there but not being delivered. It's almost like our package name has been put on some kind of blacklist, but we don't have any policy warnings or notices.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

This doesn't look like an SDK issue. I would suggest you reach out to publisher-support as described here - https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/3059042?hl=e. 

[Rogoon]

Sounds good, thank you!

[Rogoon]

When trying to submit our issue on the contact back we keep getting an error.

 "Refresh this page and try again. Sorry, there was a problem with the form."

Is there another support page we can try and use? 

thank you.

On Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 8:44:53 AM UTC-7 mobileadssdkforumadvisor wrote:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

Sorry to hear that you had an issue with posting on another location. If you could share with us where you were posting so that we can also look into it and make sure that you are able to send what you need.

Regards,

William Pescherine Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Rogoon]

Thanks for the response.

https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/3059042?hl=e. 

When submitting the contact us form at the bottom of the page here we keep getting the above mentioned error. 

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

Thank you for the link, I was able to click on it nad was able to post by clicking on the Ask a Question button. Yes it sometimes moves you around a bit and changes tabs. But I was able to post a question to the forum. I would suggest to try again and just make sure you are on the same tab as the form.

[Rogoon]

My apologies, I think I explained it poorly. I believe we are trying to submit a direct ticket to Google Ads Manager support and getting the error. I will reply privately with a screenshot of what we are seeing on our end. 

Thanks!

[Rogoon]

Just want to post an update here.

We set up a Charles proxy and it looks like the Android SDK isn't making calls to the ads server. Not sure if that's in line with the "no ad config" error. Is there some kind of check the SDK makes before it does a request? Why does this check seem to pass when we change the package name?

Very odd. 

[Mars v.]

I'm having the same issue, started somewhere in April... My app with more than 15Million active installs has no interstitials - please help

[Bryar Tanya]

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[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

Thank you for updating us on your concern.

This sounds like it is related to the no ad config that you've been receiving lately. Could you kindly provide the details below (via Reply to author or a direct, private reply to this email) so that I can further investigate the issue?

• Charles logs (SSL proxying must be turned on)
  • One capturing the issue
  • One with a changed package name (i.e. showing an ad request that worked)

 

Ziv Yves Sanchez Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Mars,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

It seems that you've already created your own thread here. Let us continue there instead so that we can better assist you on your concern.
 

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Bryar,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

Kindly create a new thread if you have any concerns with the AdMob SDK.
 

[Rogoon]

Thank you, Ziv. I've sent the information to you privately. Please let me know if it made its way to you.

[Rogoon]

Updating that it seems this is an issue with some kind of block to our app on the server-side. Unfortunately, we do not have an account manager that we can go to and our policy center doesn't show any issues.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

Since every AdMob account is also part of AdSense , and PlayStore violations also cause limiting ad inventory you may want to check your accounts in all those places for issues.

Regards,

Aryeh Baker Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Rogoon]

Thanks for the tip! We use Ad Manager and both the Ads Manager and Play Console show no policy issues.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Rogoon,

Unfortunately this Forum can only support integrating the Mobile Ads SDK into apps and I ran out of possible solutions. I can only refer you to the Ad Manager Forum. that deals with ad inventory issues. This page from that forum on policies and restrictions may be helpful.

[Yunlong Li]

Hi, Bros.
What I am confused about is the iOS APP can be tracking in Google Ad Manager console. But why my Android App cannot be tracked in Google Ad Manage console.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Yunlong,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

I would recommend reaching out to the Ad Manager Help Center for further assistance on your account-related concern, as I'm afraid that we can only assist you with your technical concerns on the AdMob SDK in this forum. You may also refer to this page to learn more about app-ads.txt, in context with the Ad Manager.
 

Ziv Yves Sanchez Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[hamso...@gmail.com]

Am also getting the same error.

When the app is in debug, test ads show very well.

When build and publish, I get an error 'No ad config' for only banner ads. At times Interstitial ads shows very well.

I have app-ads.txt set up and it has been working.

What could be the problem?

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi everyone,

We may be able to help if the cause of the no ads showing is an SDK issue. For us to investigate, via "Reply to author" could you send us your app Id and ad unit Id's affected? You may also send the above mentioned ID's to our testing alias mobileads...@gmail.com with a post on this thread that you have done so.

Regards,

Aryeh Baker Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[hamso...@gmail.com]

Hello, thank you for the reply.

I have sent an email with the App ID and ads IDs as you advised.

Am just here replying to all because I have no permission to reply to author as you said.

Hope you get it, thanks.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi there,

I work along with Aryeh. Allow me to assist you in this.

I've tried your Ad Unit ID, on our sample app and I'm consistently getting a no fill error on my end as well. This error signifies an ad serving issue which means that there is no ads available as of the moment. Please do note that this behavior isn't controlled by the Mobile Ads SDK. With this, I would recommend reaching out to the Product Support Team as the product specialists there can better assist you in this.

Regards,

Teejay Wennie Pimentel Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[hamso...@gmail.com]

I contacted the support team on its forum and here is my post:  https://support.google.com/admob/thread/92253395?hl=en

But its coming to over 24hrs, no response yet. Can I get a direct contact so that I can write to them?

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Hamsoft,

Thank you for responding back. As stated previously, this forum is for helping people with implementing the SDK into the app that they are making. From what we have seen with the information given. The implementation looks ok. But that something on the backend is restricting you at the moment. We are unable to resolve that issue for you but have given you the contact details that we have for the people that can. We understand the need for you to have this fixed as quickly as possible. Just that at the moment we are unable to offer more than what we already have given.

Regards,

William Pescherine Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Project: Film]

same problem for years. people can't even see the test ad. you are passing them. 

stupidity

7 Ocak 2021 Perşembe tarihinde saat 23:18:47 UTC+3 itibarıyla mobileadssdkforumadvisor şunları yazdı:

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi there,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

Kindly create a new thread if you have any concerns with the AdMob SDK.
 

Ziv Yves Sanchez Mobile Ads SDK Team

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