Some devices always get error code 3 (no fill) for the banner ads from DFP

[Pei-shiou Huang]

Let's say we have a 320x100 ad material and using direct sales. And we have 5 devices with different Google accounts, 3 of them can get the banner ad successfully, 2 of them always get error code 3. A Nexus 5x worked, another Nexus 5x didn't.

 

The only difference is the devices which get error code 3 are logged in by the Google accounts with DFP manager permission.

We also tried native ads, all of the devices worked fine. Only banners didn't work on specific devices.

Could you please help us to clarify this issue?

Code snippet:

adLoader = new AdLoader.Builder(mContext, mUnitId)
        .forPublisherAdView(new OnPublisherAdViewLoadedListener() {
            @Override
            public void onPublisherAdViewLoaded(PublisherAdView publisherAdView) {
                Log.d("test", "[dfp] onPublisherAdViewLoaded");
            }
        }, new AdSize[] { AdSize.LARGE_BANNER })
        .withAdListener(new com.google.android.gms.ads.AdListener() {
            @Override
            public void onAdFailedToLoad(int errorCode) {
                Log.d("test", "[dfp] onAdFailedToLoad errorCode=" + errorCode);
            }
        })
        .withPublisherAdViewOptions(new PublisherAdViewOptions.Builder().build())
        .build();


// Request an ad
adLoader.loadAd(new PublisherAdRequest.Builder().build());

[Joshua Lagonera (Mobile Ads SDK Team)]

Hi there,

Interesting issue. Would you be able to provide us some logs from Charles' Proxy from each device for us to investigate the actual Ad Request sent and the actual response received from our servers? Make sure to enable SSL Proxying.

Additionally, kindly provide us the device logs as well for us to investigate anything suspicious from the devices. Also, can you check if you can replicate the same behavior on our sample apps?

Regards,

Joshua Lagonera

Mobile Ads SDK Team

[Pei-shiou Huang]

Hi Joshua,

Thank you for getting back to me.

I've tested our ad using the sample apps with our unit id and banner size(large banner 320x100),  and all devices worked fine.

However, we need to serve different ad types (native and banner) in the same ad unit, so we should use AdLoader instead of PublisherAdView.

Please refer to the attached device logs and Charles request records, hoping that helps to clarify this issue. Thank you very much!

[Joshua Lagonera (Mobile Ads SDK Team)]

Hi there,

Thank you for providing the information I requested. This is certainly an interesting issue because the logged in account in the device should not have any significant effects on ad serving.

Looking at both logs, there doesn't seem to be any special difference between both Device and Charles' Logs. The only difference is that, the logs that indicated a No Fill did have an empty response which is intended behavior. Can you try logging a different account that's not a "DFP Manager" on the devices that showed No Fill Errors and check if it makes any difference? Additionally, would you be able to try resetting the affected devices to their Factory Settings since it seems that the issue is not network specific?

Regards,

Joshua Lagonera

Mobile Ads SDK Team

[Pei-shiou Huang]

Hi Joshua,

Unfortunately, I'm not able to reset my colleague's daily-use device. 

Besides I think "DFP Manager" may not affect the consequent of ad requests because of PublisherAdView is working even on the affected devices.

Is there another way to clarify why PublisherAdView and AdLoader have different results?

[Joshua Lagonera (Mobile Ads SDK Team)]

Hi there,

The difference between those two is the mode of request, but ideally they should return a similar, if not the same, response from the Ad Request. One reason I can think of is that Ads were not available to be retrieved of the time of the request which would make this a serving issue rather than something specific with the Mobile Ads SDK. You can contact our Product Support Team for any serving related issues, or you may also use our Troubleshooter as an alternative.

Regards,

Joshua Lagonera

Mobile Ads SDK Team

[Boy Lenssen]

I seem to be running into the same issue and posted a reply in a different topic: https://groups.google.com/forum/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer#!msg/google-admob-ads-sdk/mGgDCutr_HQ/5vfI87l5CgAJ

Should I remove it there and post it here?