Simultaneous "no fill" and "Internal error" on a test ad (device has a test id)

[LVeecode]

• SDK version: Google-Mobile-Ads-SDK (7.50.0) 
• Devices: iPhone X and iPhone 8, iOS 13 and 13.1.1

The devices' ids are added to both GADMobileAds.sharedInstance().requestConfiguration.testDeviceIdentifiers and request.testDevices.
AdMob used to serve test ads to both of these devices.

Now requesting an ad on either of them produces 2 errors:
1. <Google> <Google:HTML> The ad request returned a no fill for the particular slot.

2. In the didFailToReceiveAdWithError: Error Domain=com.google.admob Code=11 "Request Error: Internal error." UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Request Error: Internal error.}

This coincided with "invalid traffic concern" email I received, which may be a cause of "no fill" error, but doesn't account for the "Internal error"
Or, alarmingly, since the request no longer functions like a test ad ("no fill" is impossible for a test ad, they are guaranteed to load) this may be the cause of "invalid traffic concern", if this is a problem with test devices not being properly recognized as test devices.

To re-iterate: there are two problems, test ads are failing to load, which according to the documentation is impossible. And secondly there is an internal error.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi there,

Thank you for reporting this to us. It's odd that you've encountered such errors when using our test ads. To verify on my end, I've also tested all test ad units for all ad formats using our sample apps and I was able to load test ads on our iPhone 8 test device. That said, could you try again if you still encounter the issue? If yes, could you share your test project privately (via Reply privately to author option) for me to further investigate?

Regards,
Mark Albios
Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[LVeecode]

Hi, thank you for the quick response.

There are two ways to request test ads, one is to use test ad units, another one is to add your device's id to the list of test ids. The hotlink in your response directs to "enable test devices" so I assume there is no misunderstanding, you are aware I am using the test devices approach, not the test ad units one.

Test ad units work without a problem, the issue is reproducible when using my publisher and ad unit ids. 

I have privately sent you the test project with my ids so you can observe the issue.

Another thing that I've noticed: to reproduce "internal error" you need to set GADMultipleAdsAdLoaderOptions() to ask for at least 2 ads.

If you do not use multiple ads option, there is a different error, "Request Error: No ad to show".

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi there,

Thank you for providing additional details of your concern and for sharing your sample app in private. Indeed, I was able to recreate the internal error you've encountered. This error mostly implies the following causes: Incomplete account setup (especially the billing info and address verification sections), Policy related, etc. In this case, since you've received an email related to invalid traffic concern, it's best that you reach out to our Product Support Team so they could provide better insights on this.

As an aside, let me also raise this to the rest of the team and get back to you for any feedback.

Regards,
Mark Albios
Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[LVeecode]

>This error mostly implies the following causes: Incomplete account setup (especially the billing info and address verification sections), Policy related, et

That's fair for live ads (although the wording "internal error" is unambiguous and refers to internal error, not an external one like address verification etc), however this shouldn't affect test ads.

>As an aside, let me also raise this to the rest of the team and get back to you for any feedback.

Thank you.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi there,

Thanks for your patience on this. I've already coordinated this with the rest of the team. Rest assured that I'll get back to you the soonest time possible.

Meanwhile, please reach out to our Product Support Team with regard to your invalid traffic concern so they could further check on their end.

Regards,
Mark Albios
Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Lesya Verbina]

Thank you for the suggestion, however (please correct me if I am wrong) the link in your response is for the Community Forum, not for the Product Support Team; it is an unmoderated self-help forum not monitored by the product support, and is not a way to get in touch with AdMob for them to “check on their end”, but rather a place to ask for help from other users.

Other users have no way of assisting me with this, and the forum is already full with unanswered threads identical to mine, so unfortunately I see no way to get Product Support team to address my issue, and my only option is to wait.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi there,

I understand your frustrations on reaching out to our Product Support Team. However, the only way to contact them is through this link which I've already provided to you.

I hope you get a response from them.

With regard to your other concern related to the Test Ads, this is still under discussion. I'll get back to you the soonest time possible.

Regards,
Mark Albios
Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[LVeecode]

Hi, I have received a private email from the "Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod" yesterday, stating that the problem was no longer reproducible.
I have tested it, and it was working yesterday.

However, today the issue is reproducible again, exactly as in my first message.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hello Lesya,

Please keep in touch with Product Support Team(who you got in touch with already) as this is a serving issue. That said, please avoid opening multiple threads on forum for the same issue as it might be hard for us to track down the original thread. 

Regards,
Deepika Uragayala

Mobile Ads SDK Team
 

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[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Lesya,

Thank you for reaching out to us again for your concern. I'm Ziv, Mark's colleague, and I'll be helping you with this for today since he is currently out-of-office.

I tested the app that you've previously provided for this concern (enabling our device as a test device), and can confirm that I was getting native ads from it (see attached screenshots). With this in mind, kindly note that getting an internal error can imply possible issues with your account, whether it be setup-related or policy-related. To that end, could you confirm if you've completed the setup of your account, particularly the billing and PIN verification sections? Could you also confirm if your account has reported any violations relating to policy, or otherwise had its ad serving limited? If so, then you will have to address those first before your account can reliably display ads again.

For further ad-serving or account-related concerns, you may visit the AdMob Help Center, or consult with our troubleshooter, for further assistance.

Regards,
Ziv Yves Sanchez
Mobile Ads SDK Team

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[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Lesya,

Thank you for providing a rundown of the discussion thus far. I'll be addressing each of your concerns in turn:

1. An "no fill for this ad slot" is due to my account having it's ad serving limited

• This is one reason, yes. You may want to resolve that particular issue first and foremost in order to restore normal ad serving capabilities.

2. However, "internal error" is unambiguous and refers to internal error, not an external one like address verification etc

• As discussed, an internal error can also imply possible issues with your account as well (such as the limited ad serving notice as per above), among other things. It can also be the result of incomplete billing information (see billing screenshot), or of incomplete PIN verification (see pin_verification screenshot, or this page). For further assistance on such account-related concerns, you may want to contact the AdMob Help Center for this.

3. None of this shouldn't affect test ads

• As discussed with the Engineering team, test ads that come from enabling your test device will indeed be affected by your account's ad-serving capability. This is because these test ads are actually pulled from live servers, and only modified so that they would not register clicks or impressions by themselves. This is done in order to simulate your app's ad-showing capabilities in a more production-level setup. For true dummy-level test ads, you may want to use the test ad units instead.

4. Mark has stated that "With regard to your other concern related to the Test Ads, this is still under discussion. I'll get back to you the soonest time possible."

• See above.

5. Nothing has been changed on AdMob's side, so nothing changed, the error is still there any time match rate drops.

• I understand your concern on this one, and I must apologize for the back-and-forth going on, but such internal errors or lack of ad inventories (that lead to the aforementioned drops in match rate) are outside of our control. I still highly recommend that you first resolve all the outstanding issues with your account first (such as the limited ad serving alert), as this would give you the highest chance of recovering your account's ad-serving capabilities. Once the account issues are resolved, you may reach out to us again if the situation persists.