UMP SDK mandatory or custom UI possible?

[Martin]

Hello,

When using the Google AdMob SDK for iOS it's not always mandatory to also use Google's "User Messaging Platform (UMP)" SDK as well, right? Instead of the UMP SDK I could also use a custom build UI in my app which presents my users the options to accept or decline (personalized) ads or to remove ads completely with an in-app purchase, right?

So the UMP SDK is not required in that case, right?

Thank you so much.

Kind regards,
Martin

[Senaika]

I have the exact same question, and my understanding is that UMP SDK is not mandatory. I see many apps using Google Ads with their own explainer message. 

The problem being that some Google docs says UMP SDK is a prerequisite, and some other Google doc says it is not, which creates a lot of confusion.

Hope this can be clarified as I am facing the same question, and I didn't get any proper answer so far.

[Martin]

Can someone from Google please clarify?

Can instead of the UMP SDK a custom build UI be used which presents users the options to accept or decline (personalized) ads or to remove ads completely with an in-app purchase?

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hello Martin,

Thank you for reaching out to us.

Please note that is the UMP process flow. You must display the UMP GDPR form and get basic permissions from users before ever even being able to load and render ads. Here is the list of conditions that were needed.

1. provide consent to “store and/or access information on a device
2. Select basic ads
   1. provide consent to “select basic ads”
   2. provide legitimate interest to “select basic ads”.

If a user has managed their options in that initial UMP dialogue and did not consent to the condition#1 settings mentioned above, AdMob will serve non-personalized ads. Also, if your user has consent for condition#1, but lacks legal bases for Basic Ads. The Ad requests are dropped and unfilled (due to lack of non-personalized ad inventory). You can find more information in this document: https://support.google.com/admob/answer/9999955?hl=en.

To implement UMP, you can follow our guide in iOS (https://developers.google.com/admob/ump/ios/quick-start) or Android (https://developers.google.com/admob/ump/android/quick-start). For personalized ads, kindly note that the default behavior of the Google Mobile Ads SDK is to serve personalized ads. Then, for non personalized ads, if a user has consented to receive only non-personalized ads (https://developers.google.com/admob/ump/ios/quick-start#forward-consent), you can configure an GADRequest object to specify that only non-personalized ads should be requested.

As for completely removing ads with in-app purchase, this can be implemented using Google Play Billing Library into your app (https://developer.android.com/google/play/billing/integrate).
 

This message is in relation to case "ref:_00D1U1174p._5004Q2luWUL:ref"

Thanks,
 

Mobile Ads SDK Team

 

[Martin]

Hello,

Thanks for your reply.

However, you explained how to implement the UMP SDK and what the process looks like, but my question was whether it's required to implement the UMP SDK at all? I would prefer not to use the UMP SDK and use my own custom build UI where I'm asking users to give their consent to ads or pay for removing ads (before ads are loaded).

I testet it and it works with my iOS app. Ads will still be served in Europe without using the UMP SDK.

So would it be ok if I use my own consent screen UI instead of the UMP SDK to ask for users permission before ads will be loaded?

So is the UMP SDK required or not? (Ads will still be shown without it)

Thank you so much.

Kind regards,

Martin

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hi Martin,

Thank you for your response.

With regard to your concern, you can create your own consent dialog that displays a message on your sites or apps asking your users in the EEA and the UK for consent. Just kindly make sure that you comply with the EU user consent policy (https://support.google.com/admob/answer/7666519?hl=en&sjid=958286124600267954-AP).

[Martin]

Great, thank you so much for your clarification! Good to know that creating our own consent dialog is possible.

Does this still apply when this comes into effect?
https://blog.google/products/admanager/new-cmp-requirement/
In this blog post from last month Google says that AdMob (and AdSense etc.) publishers soon have to use consent management platforms that are certified.

But I guess and hope that this does only apply for publishes who user their own consent dialog? Could you please clarify if an own consent dialog will still be possible when this comes into effect?

Thank you so much!

Kind regards,

Martin

[Mobile Ads SDK Forum Advisor]

Hi Martin,

Thank you for your response.

With regard to your questions, we are unable to further provide information on this if you're using your own consent dialog. However, kindly check the next steps (https://support.google.com/admob/answer/13554116?hl=en&sjid=4168331664679776963-AP#zippy=%2Cgoogle-certified-cmps:~:text=later%20this%20year.-,Next%20steps,-Publishers%20already%20working) mentioned on this article for your reference on what you should do next for your implementation.