Huge invalid traffic posted to my AdMob account in last two days

[goupi butong]

Hi All,

I have an Android app which I use admob banner at the bottom of the screen. I am using the AdView from the Google Play Service library if that matters. I also have my test device ID added to the adRequest. Despite of doing that, on my AdMob account, I still see invalid traffic posted almost everyday, though the amount is not big most of the days (less then $1 typically). However the invalid traffic suddenly goes very high ($10!!) in last two days!! What goes wrong with my AdMob account? Admob itself doesn't give any clue on why or where the invalid traffic comes from. What else I can do to prevent that or figure out what is the root cause of that huge invalid traffic? I've followed the rules laid out by Google.

Below is how I add my test device ID to my app for requesting ads:

        AdRequest adRequest = new AdRequest.Builder()
        .addTestDevice(AdRequest.DEVICE_ID_EMULATOR)       // Emulator
        .addTestDevice("92B413D52EFADEE67EA4C3B6F88B55C7") // My Nexus 4 test phone
        .addTestDevice("7A4A748BD64546A6581DBF1899498C4B") // My Nexus 5 test phone
        .addTestDevice("67A298B52A0CAF81CC1CD5D3DC2E80AE") // My Nexus 7 test phone
        .addTestDevice("46847501FDA395DFEA7A96D33086D083") // My S5 test phone
        .build();

        adView.loadAd(adRequest);

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Mobiz IT Solution]

I also found huge invalid traffic yesterday as well.

[goupi butong]

Hopefully that wouldn't result in banned account. Thanks.

Google should be more transparent and give more information on the invalid traffic. It is extremely frustrating to see the hugh invalid traffic but you have no clue at all. I am worried about my admob account being banned for that now.

[Eric Leichtenschlag]

Those test devices will only get test ads on those specific devices. If you released your app or you have friends testing on other devices, they're getting live ads.

[goupi butong]

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the reply.

Well, I don't have any friends or family members help testing on other devices. Actually all my family uses iPhone so they can not help testing on their iPhones.

All the invalid traffics comes from users I don't know. In that case, how can I protect my admob account from being banned from the invalid traffic which I have no knowledge at all? Is Google going to treat the invalid traffic generated by developer himself differently with those from general users? Is that fare for a developer to be responsible for the invalid traffic generated by general users while the app is in compliance with the guidelines laid out by admob, especially since admob doesn't give any hint on how and where the invalid traffic is? I don't care for the lose of couple of bucks from the invalid traffic. But I hope admob can give developers a peace of mind that they are going to protect developers as they do to advertisers.

Thank.

[Eric Leichtenschlag]

Since you haven't released your app yet, one thing you could do is archive the ad units you're currently using, and recreate new ones. That way any existing traffic won't work anymore. The requirements for banning are complex and outside my realm, so I can't predict how that traffic will affect you.

Thanks,
Eric

[goupi butong]

Eric,

I have already released my app. Good news is that the invalid traffic goes back to normal (< $.10 a day) after the two days surge. I also found many people posted online that they've got huge invalid traffic for the exactly same two days as my account. Some says Google was testing new tech, or admob was attacked during that two days. No one knows what happened as Google is so secretive.

Thanks.