Ad Manager / AdMob - location for targeting

[Taras Fedyk]

Hi everyone,

In the app, we use the Mobile Ads SDK for Ad Manager. However, for now, it is used in conjunction with AdMob, not Ad Manager.

Now, it’d be awesome if somebody answered the following questions regarding the location used for targeting. 

1. If the user is under GDPR and hasn’t given GDPR consent, does the Mobile Ads stack automatically determine some approximate IP-based location of the user for targeting purposes? 

2. If the answer to question 1 is “yes”, what is the accuracy of such an approximate location: mainly the city level and sometimes the country level?

3. If the answer to question 1 is “yes”, will such an approximate location be forwarded to the mediated networks?

4. If the user is under GDPR and hasn’t given GDPR consent, will the Mobile Ads stack use a location manually passed to the Mobile Ads SDK via publisherAdRequestBuilder.setLocation()?

Thanks,

Taras

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Taras,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Let me share your inquiries to the rest of the team to get more insight on this. I'll get back to you the soonest they provide their feedback.

Regards,
Teejay Pimentel
Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hey Taras,
My name is Jon, and I'm happy to answer your questions:

1. The Consent SDK does attempt to determine the location of the user, but the SDK is only ever aware of a simple binary "yes" or "no" regarding if they are in the EEA or not. This isn't automatic but happens via the requestConsentInfoUpdateForPublisherIdentifiers call.

 

2. We can't disclose the precise accuracy. If the accuracy is not

 

3. Nothing is forwarded to any mediation networks. You have to use the APIs they provide in their SDKs.

 

4. IYes if the user is under GDPR and hasn't given consent, whatever is passed into setLocation will still be passed to mediation partners and to the Mobile Ads back end, but it will be ignored by Google.

Thanks.

Jon

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[Taras Fedyk]

Hi Jon

Thanks for the answers. Though let's clarify some of them a bit.

1. We don't use the Consent SDK, we use our custom framework for the consent management. However, it looks like it doesn't matter what exactly is used for the consent management in the given context. Since when it comes to the location used for targeting, it's the Mobile Ads SDK and the Mobile Ads backend that are responsible for that. Taking all the above into account, is your answer to my question 1 still "yes"?

2. Your answer to my question 2 seems to be cut at the end: it ends with "If the accuracy is not". So is there something else you omitted?

Regards, 

Taras

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hey Taras, 
If the user is in EEA, by default we use the user's location to serve personalized ads. It is the publisher's responsibility to obtain consent and notify the Mobile Ads SDK if consent was declined. If the publisher uses the Consent SDK and the user declines to give consent, if the user is in the EEA we will not serve personalized ads. 

Sorry about the cutoff of point 2. I meant to say if the accuracy is not high enough you could always default to always requiring consent. 

Hope this helps.

[Taras Fedyk]

Jon,

 

Your answer to my question 1 still isn’t quite clear. I’ll rephrase the question a bit.

Let’s assume the user is in the EEA and the app has notified the Mobile Ads SDK that consent hasn’t been given. If so, ads will not be targeted based on an accurate location of the user (which is personal data). But the question is whether ads will be targeted based on some approximate location (which isn’t personal data). 

So does the Mobile Ads SDK or the Mobile Ads backend automatically determine some approximate location and use it for targeting when an accurate location can’t be used for that purpose?

[Taras Fedyk]

Hey Jon,

So could you reply to my previous post in which I rephrased one of my initial questions a bit (so that everything has been clarified indeed)?

Thanks,

Taras

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hey Taras, 
Sorry for the delay. Yes we still use country and region for targeting purposes when specific location cannot be used.

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