Taking screenshots in native apps

[Klaas Müller]

Hello,

our customers need screenshot of their ads. How do I make screenshot of a campaign on iOS and Android? Most ads have capping and only fill a small amount of the banners in our network. So often it is very hard to capture these ads. Is there a way to target ads on a specific device? I know you do not allow IP targeting. Maybe via keyword, a test app or device ID?

Best  

Klaas

[Andrew Brogdon (Mobile Ads SDK Team)]

If what you need to do is take a screenshot of the running app with the ad loaded and displayed within it, that is something that can be achieved.

I would recommend setting up a new Ad Unit ID which will be used solely by a developer for this purpose.  Add a single line item for it within DFP that points to the ad you'd like to capture.  Then the developer can load the source code for the app from which you are taking screenshots, swap the new Ad Unit ID in for another, and run the application.  You would then see the ad in the placement for which you swapped ID values, and can take a screen capture.

This would, in effect, be targeting a single device, since you would only use the Ad Unit ID with one device (or the simulator).

-Andrew

[Klaas Müller]

Yes, I want to be able to display an ad inside a native app to take a screenshot for the customer.

I think that the solution using new adUnits and reprogramm all apps is not a very good way to go. As I said we have 50 apps and mobile websites. To keep all apps up to date by coping these with other adUnits is nearly impossible. Also the errors that will occur will be very high.

Let's dig a bit deeper into the problem and not just keep it relevated to screenshots. We have ad developers who would like to create these fancy interactive html5 mraid ads but do not have any plattform to test. There is no way to target a campaign to a specific person or device. Or a customer want to present his 'never ever been there first mover' interstitial to somebody, there is no way to achieve this.

Can you have a look into following suggestions from my side and give me feedback about possible realization:

1. Target on IP address ranges
   Is there a way to target ads on IP addresses to make them viewable to somebody
   
2. Set keyword via Google Showcases App
   Make the Google showcases App available for Android and iOS with an expert mode. So if you go on setting -> Advanced you set a key-value pair like testad=bmwinterstitial all doubleclick adrequests sent from that device will add the custom targeting parameter testad=bmwinterstitial to their adcalls. This way we can just copy the lineItem and set it to sponsorship with the keyword and makes everyone happy who wants to develop an ad in a live app, take a screenshot or want to demonstrate an ad
3. Targeting on advertiser ID
   The advertiser ID is now a common ID for iOS and Android. A simple targeting Parameter in DFP Backende would do the job to display the ad on a single device.

Best

Klaas

[William Ferguson]

@Klaas you could achieve all that right now using a CustomEvent.

That is, create a CustomEvent class that reads whatever config you need from the app and/or site and loads up the relevant mraid ad.

Then just insert the CustomEvent into your mediation chain for your apps.

See https://developers.google.com/mobile-ads-sdk/training/mediation/custom-events/

William

[Klaas Müller]

Hi William,

thanks for the feedback! Can you explain that idea a little bit more? How does this process makes it possible to target a lineitem on a specific device?

Klaas

[William Ferguson]

Hi Klaas, I'm not sure what you mean by a lineitem.

But your CustomEvent can execute whatever code you need to in order to determine whether to show an ad and what ad to show.

William

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[Klaas Müller]

Hi William,

I guess we are talking about different things. Are you working with DFP or AdMob? We sell our ads directly via DFP and use the Google Server and SDK to deliver our own ads. Thats what I need the features for. We do not use AdMob ads in our apps. It is all custom made premium ads from our customers 

Best

Klaas

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[William Ferguson]

Ah OK - my bad - sorry Klaas.

William

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[Andrew Brogdon (Mobile Ads SDK Team)]

I see now that what you're trying to do is more complex than simple screenshots.  This has come up before, and different developers have found solutions in different ways.

We don't currently offer targeting on Advertising ID or IP address range (for protection of user privacy among other reasons).  Many developers work around this by adding code to their apps to support a "showcase" or "test" mode.  They include a particular sequence of actions in the UI that brings up a password-protected developer settings menu, for instance.  One of the options in the menu allows you to enter an Ad Unit ID that replaces an existing one for the current execution.  In this way their engineers and designers can test Ad Units that aren't served to production users.

-Andrew

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[Klaas]

Hi Andrew,

I am more looking for a general solution for many apps. Individual implementations and workaround from many develeopers doesn't help me much at this point. Most other Adserver Systems that work with mobile SDKs have integrated solutions to solve these problems and give publisher/ad-developer/customer the possibility to create/test/show ads for their adserver. You can set key-value pairs, adunits and so on for showing and testing campaigns. Some of them even have QR code reader which is very nice for customers who are technically not experienced. The 'ad showcase' seems to go into that direction, it is just missing these features for premium publishers and is not available for iOS. Is there any solution on your roadmap for this? 

Best 

Klaas