Banner Ads - Differences between versions of SDK

[Christopher]

I have a question about the version of "Google Mobile Ads SDK" that I use in my Android apps. In my Android apps I use only "Banner Ads" (Smart Banners). I use only AdMob, no mediations. I have over 400,000 impressions per day.

I've been using version "11.8.0" for two years in my Android apps:

implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-ads:11.8.0'

The size of the app with this version (11.8.0) of "Google Mobile Ads SDK" is 3MB. The size of my Android apps is quite small and I would like keep it in the future.

The version of the "Mobile Ads SDK" I'm using is two years ago and I wanted to upgrade it to the version "17.2.1" or even to the latest version "18.2.0". After compiling my app with version "17.2.1" my app size increased to 3.6MB and after compiling my app with version "18.2.0" my app size increased to 3.8MB! I can see that every newer version of the "Mobile Ads SDK" is getting bigger. But I want to keep my apps size small.

I know that "Mobile Ads Lite SDK" has a very small size, but because of limitations I can't use it.

So my quesions are:

1. Are there any differences between versions "11.8.0" and "17.2.1" in displaying banner ads?

2. Does the version of "Mobile Ads SDK" has any impact on ad serving rates (RPM, CTR, Match rate, Impressions, etc.)?

3. Can I stay with the version "11.8.0" of "Mobile Ads SDK" without any loss of performance in displaying banner ads and earnings in the future?

4. If I should use a newer version than "11.8.0" then is there any way to limit the size of "Mobile Ads SDK" if I use only banner ads without mediation?

Thank you.

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor Prod]

Hi Christopher, 

Please find my response below:

1. Are there any differences between versions "11.8.0" and "17.2.1" in displaying banner ads?

Yes, there are some major changes to the SDK between v11.8.0 and v17.2.1. Please refer to our release notes. This includes the enhancements made to the SDK which might have an impact on the banner ads implementation too.  

2. Does the version of "Mobile Ads SDK" has any impact on ad serving rates (RPM, CTR, Match rate, Impressions, etc.)?

The version of the Mobile Ads SDK should not have an impact on ad serving rates. Please let us know if you experience any issues and we will be happy to take a look. 

3. Can I stay with the version "11.8.0" of "Mobile Ads SDK" without any loss of performance in displaying banner ads and earnings in the future?

We recommend users to always use the latest version of the Mobile Ads SDK. For any ads performance or earnings related concerns, I suggest that you reach out to the AdMob Product Team through this forum. 

4. If I should use a newer version than "11.8.0" then is there any way to limit the size of "Mobile Ads SDK" if I use only banner ads without mediation?

I'm afraid, since you are not comfortable using the lite version of the SDK, there is no other option to limit the size of the Mobile Ads SDK. 

Thanks,
Bharani Cherukuri
Mobile Ads SDK Team

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