Receiving real ads on test device

[Michael S]

I have an android app which I'm actively developing using the mobile ads sdk. When developing I always instantiate a test device and up until now I've always received test ads - the standard "great job" banner and one of the 2 google test reward ads.

On running this morning I received what looked like live banner ads, and a live reward ad albeit with "test ad" superimposed on it.

Please could you confirm whether this is the new expected behaviour for test banner ads as I want to ensure that I will not be penalised for any clicks on the banner ad during development. If this is the new standard banner behaviour would it be possible to indicate that the banner ad is indeed a test version?

The relevant elements of logCat relating to the banner ad are as follows:

01-03 10:23:01.614: D/DynamitePackage(4949): Instantiating com.google.android.gms.ads.ChimeraAdManagerCreatorImpl
01-03 10:23:01.657: I/Ads(4949): Starting ad request.
01-03 10:23:01.657: I/Ads(4949): This request is sent from a test device.
01-03 10:23:01.676: W/Ads(4949): Invoke Firebase method getInstance error.
01-03 10:23:01.676: W/Ads(4949): The Google Mobile Ads SDK will not integrate with Firebase. Admob/Firebase integration requires the latest Firebase SDK jar, but Firebase SDK is either missing or out of date
01-03 10:23:01.720: W/art(4949): Before Android 4.1, method double java.util.concurrent.ThreadLocalRandom.internalNextDouble(double, double) would have incorrectly overridden the package-private method in java.util.Random
01-03 10:23:01.720: W/art(4949): Before Android 4.1, method int java.util.concurrent.ThreadLocalRandom.internalNextInt(int, int) would have incorrectly overridden the package-private method in java.util.Random
01-03 10:23:01.720: W/art(4949): Before Android 4.1, method long java.util.concurrent.ThreadLocalRandom.internalNextLong(long, long) would have incorrectly overridden the package-private method in java.util.Random
01-03 10:23:02.656: I/Ads(4949): Scheduling ad refresh 70000 milliseconds from now.
01-03 10:23:02.703: I/Ads(4949): Ad finished loading.

[Bharani Cherukuri (Mobile Ads SDK Team)]

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us. Could you provide us your Ad Unit ID, so I can take a look at the creative and assist you further? Please use Reply privately to author option to share the details. 

Regards,

Bharani Cherukuri

Mobile Ads SDK Team

[funla...@gmail.com]

Exactly the same started happening to me, I would also like to know if it's safe to click the 'new' live test ads.
My logs also show: I/Ads: This request is sent from a test device. But shows real ads, using v11.8.0.

[Bharani Cherukuri (Mobile Ads SDK Team)]

Hello, 

Thank you for contacting us. If you're referring to the creative as specified here, it is a new update from the Mobile Ads SDK Team. You will now be able to configure the test device and use your own ad unit IDs that you've created in the AdMob UI. If you correctly added your device as a test device, you will see a Test Ad label centered at the top of banner, interstitial, and rewarded ads. You may refer to this guide for more information regarding this new update.

Regards,

Bharani Cherukuri
Mobile Ads SDK Team

On Wednesday, January 3, 2018 at 5:41:58 AM UTC-5, Michael S wrote:

[Michael S]

I see the test ad label on rewarded video, but I do not see it on the banner ad unit on the same device at the same time. I will respond privately with my ad units

[Bharani Cherukuri (Mobile Ads SDK Team)]

Hello Michael, 

Thank you for sharing the details. I was able to load ads with both the Ad Unit Ids. Could you share screenshots of these Ads that display the test ad labels, so I can take a look? With the new update, if you configure your device as a test device, any requests, impressions, and clicks on test ads do not show up in your account's reports. If that's the case, the test ad label will be available for Banner, Interstitial and Rewarded ad formats. Ads with this Test Ad label are safe to click. It is possible that these impressions are recorded before this specific update. 

Could you please configure the test device as mentioned in this guide and see if you're able to load the test ads? 

Regards,

Bharani Cherukuri

Mobile Ads SDK Team 

On Wednesday, January 3, 2018 at 5:41:58 AM UTC-5, Michael S wrote:

[Michael S]

Hi Bharani,

I've attached screenshots generated from a run this morning. As you can see the reward ad is fine and displays the test ad label. The banner ad is not - I've attached 2 samples to show that its not specific to one particular ad - I've only shown one of the Images that cycle for each ad but the test ad label never appears. These particular examples are leaderboards, this also happens with FULL_BANNER as well. The device is configured as a test device and has been showing test ads for more than a year until this recent change.

Logcat for the banner ad shows:

01-05 12:58:45.086: I/Ads(23010): Starting ad request.
01-05 12:58:45.086: I/Ads(23010): This request is sent from a test device.
01-05 12:58:45.126: W/Ads(23010): Invoke Firebase method getInstance error.
01-05 12:58:45.126: W/Ads(23010): The Google Mobile Ads SDK will not integrate with Firebase. Admob/Firebase integration requires the latest Firebase SDK jar, but Firebase SDK is either missing or out of date
01-05 12:58:46.506: I/Ads(23010): Scheduling ad refresh 70000 milliseconds from now.
01-05 12:58:46.566: I/Ads(23010): Ad finished loading.

The code I use for banner ads (which don't display as test and reward ads that do):

// for reward ad (which displays as test correctly)
  AdRequest.Builder builder = new AdRequest.Builder();
  if(isTest) {
   builder.addTestDevice(AdRequest.DEVICE_ID_EMULATOR);
   String ANDROID_ID = Settings.Secure.getString(plugin.getCordova().getActivity().getContentResolver(), android.provider.Settings.Secure.ANDROID_ID);
   String deviceId = Util.md5(ANDROID_ID).toUpperCase();
   builder.addTestDevice(deviceId);  
  }
  AdRequest request = builder.build();  
 
 
 
// for banner ad (which does NOT display as test)
  AdRequest.Builder builder = new AdRequest.Builder();
  if(isTest) {
   builder.addTestDevice(AdRequest.DEVICE_ID_EMULATOR);
   String ANDROID_ID = Settings.Secure.getString(plugin.getCordova().getActivity().getContentResolver(), android.provider.Settings.Secure.ANDROID_ID);
   String deviceId = Util.md5(ANDROID_ID).toUpperCase();
   builder.addTestDevice(deviceId);  
  }
  AdRequest request = builder.build();

I have verified that isTest is set correctly for both.

Best Regards,

Michael

[Bharani Cherukuri (Mobile Ads SDK Team)]

Hello Michael, 

Thank you for the code snippets. I see that you're using addTestDevice(AdRequest.DEVICE_ID_EMULATOR)  to load test ads on a device. You will need to add your device ID from the logcat output to load test ads. You may refer to this guide on how to add your device. Can you try with this change and see if that works for you?

Regards,

Bharani Cherukuri

Mobile Ads SDK Team

On Wednesday, January 3, 2018 at 5:41:58 AM UTC-5, Michael S wrote:

[faunag...@gmail.com]

I have the same problem with Google Mobile Ads Unity Plugin v3.11.1 (Android)

It looks normal on logcat but shows live ads. (This request is sent from a test device.)

[Bharani Cherukuri (Mobile Ads SDK Team)]

Hello, 

Thank you for contacting us. There has been a recent update to the Google Mobile Ads DSK test ads feature. If your device is configured as test device, you will be able to test your own Ad Unit ID to load test ads. Please refer to this blog post for more information. If you still have any other concerns, please share us your Ad Unit ID, so I can take a look? Please use Reply privately to author option to provide the requested information.

Additionally, please refrain from re-opening old threads. If you have any concerns, feel free to open a new thread in the future.