Pampers ads cause freeze on iOS AdMob since February 2019

[Lawrence Kesteloot]

In February 2019 I started getting complaints from users that my iOS app was freezing up on them (locking up). I figured it was AdMob (my only ad provider), and I suggested that they turn on "Limit Ad Tracking" in iOS. This solved the problem for everyone who complained. I figured a targeted ad was broken.

In August 2019 the problem started occurring even if "Limit Ad Tracking" was enabled. I gave 10 users promo codes to upgrade (and turn off ads), and all reported that the freeze went away. (I can't reproduce the problem myself, I've never been able to, and it affects only a small fraction of my user.)

After digging for more details, I found:

1. The freeze is actually temporary. It lasts 5 to 20 seconds.
2. During the freeze, the UI is completely unresponsive. Most users hard-kill the app in that time.
3. During the freeze, the AdMob banner is blank.
4. As soon as the AdMob banner gets filled in, the app becomes responsive again.
5. This happens every time the user switches to a different screen.
6. In one case, the ad that came up after the freeze was a multi-image ad from Pampers.

As a desperate move, I went to the AdMob console and blocked all Pampers ads (about 40 of them). The next day some users who had been complaining said that the problem went away, and I've not received a complaint in the week since. (I was getting a few per day.)

I've Googled around and searched this forum and can't find anyone else running into the problem.

So:

1. Had anyone else run into this or heard of a similar problem?
2. Is it possible that I'm doing something wrong in using the AdMob SDK? I've been using it for 10 years and the problem onsets were not correlated with app updates. I'm not doing anything fancy, just a normal banner with a very plain app.
3. Does anyone have any idea what it might have been about Pampers ads that caused this, and how I might approach the problem next time it happens?

Thank you!

Lawrence

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hello Lawrence,

Thanks for reaching out to us. From what you have explained, this seems to be a creative specific issue as this is not reproducible consistently. Please note that the Mobile Ads SDK has no control over the ads being served as well as the behavior of these ads. If you're experiencing the issue with only this specific creative, you may block this ad by utilizing Ad Filters, either by blocking by using their Advertiser URL, or by using the Ad Review Center. However, please note that adding Ad filters may result to lower impressions or lesser ads getting served. I'd also suggest that you report this to the AdMob Product Support Team , by sending the specific creative details, as they are better equipped to handle any serving related concerns.  That said, on this forum, we have seen issues related to bad creatives, but not anything about Pampers as you mentioned. 

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala
Mobile Ads SDK Team
 

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[Lawrence Kesteloot]

Hi Deepika,

> this seems to be a creative specific issue as this is not reproducible consistently

Right.

> the Mobile Ads SDK has no control over the ads being served

That's reasonable.

> as well as the behavior of these ads

That's not reasonable. Are you letting the ad run arbitrary JavaScript in the main thread? If so, can you move it to another thread, or at least monitor it to see if it's locking up the main thread for more than a fraction of a section?

It's bad enough that I have to trust the Admob SDK in my app, but now I have to trust the code written by all ad providers? Remember that users blame me when the app freezes up. I've gotten many one-star reviews as a result of this.

Lawrence

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Lawrence,

We understand your concerns completely. We have shared your concern with the rest of our team to get any insights on what can be done in such scenarios of bad creatives. Our team will get back to you if they have any other suggestions for you.