Interstitial ads are full-screen ads that cover the interface of their host app. They're typically displayed at natural transition points in the flow of an app, such as between activities or during the pause between levels in a game. When an app shows an interstitial ad, the user has the choice to either tap on the ad and continue to its destination or close it and return to the app.
This guide explains how to integrate interstitial ads into an Android app.
Prerequisites
- Google Mobile Ads SDK 19.7.0 or higher.
- Complete the Get started guide.
Always test with test ads
When building and testing your apps, make sure you use test ads rather than live, production ads. Failure to do so can lead to suspension of your account.
The easiest way to load test ads is to use our dedicated test ad unit ID for Android interstitials:
/21775744923/example/interstitial
It's been specially configured to return test ads for every request, and you're free to use it in your own apps while coding, testing, and debugging. Just make sure you replace it with your own ad unit ID before publishing your app.
For more information about how the Mobile Ads SDK's test ads work, see Test Ads.
Load an ad
To load an interstitial ad, call the AdManagerInterstitialAd
static
load()
method and pass in an
AdManagerInterstitialAdLoadCallback
to receive the loaded
ad or any possible errors. Notice that like other format load callbacks,
AdManagerInterstitialAdLoadCallback
leverages
LoadAdError
to provide higher fidelity error details.
Java
import com.google.android.gms.ads.admanager.AdManagerInterstitialAd;
import com.google.android.gms.ads.admanager.AdManagerInterstitialAdLoadCallback;
public class MainActivity extends Activity {
private AdManagerInterstitialAd mAdManagerInterstitialAd;
private static final String TAG = "MainActivity";
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
AdManagerAdRequest adRequest = new AdManagerAdRequest.Builder().build();
AdManagerInterstitialAd.load(this,"/21775744923/example/interstitial", adRequest,
new AdManagerInterstitialAdLoadCallback() {
@Override
public void onAdLoaded(@NonNull AdManagerInterstitialAd interstitialAd) {
// The mAdManagerInterstitialAd reference will be null until
// an ad is loaded.
mAdManagerInterstitialAd = interstitialAd;
Log.i(TAG, "onAdLoaded");
}
@Override
public void onAdFailedToLoad(@NonNull LoadAdError loadAdError) {
// Handle the error
Log.d(TAG, loadAdError.toString());
mAdManagerInterstitialAd = null;
}
});
}
}
Kotlin
import com.google.android.gms.ads.admanager.AdManagerInterstitialAd;
import com.google.android.gms.ads.admanager.AdManagerInterstitialAdLoadCallback;
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
private var mAdManagerInterstitialAd: AdManagerInterstitialAd? = null
private final val TAG = "MainActivity"
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
var adRequest = AdRequest.Builder().build()
AdManagerInterstitialAd.load(this,"/21775744923/example/interstitial", adRequest, object : AdManagerInterstitialAdLoadCallback() {
override fun onAdFailedToLoad(adError: LoadAdError) {
Log.d(TAG, adError?.toString())
mAdManagerInterstitialAd = null
}
override fun onAdLoaded(interstitialAd: AdManagerInterstitialAd) {
Log.d(TAG, 'Ad was loaded.')
mAdManagerInterstitialAd = interstitialAd
}
})
}
}
Set the FullScreenContentCallback
The FullScreenContentCallback
handles events related to displaying your
InterstitialAd
. Before showing InterstitialAd
, make sure to set the
callback:
Java
mAdManagerInterstitialAd.setFullScreenContentCallback(new FullScreenContentCallback(){
@Override
public void onAdClicked() {
// Called when a click is recorded for an ad.
Log.d(TAG, "Ad was clicked.");
}
@Override
public void onAdDismissedFullScreenContent() {
// Called when ad is dismissed.
// Set the ad reference to null so you don't show the ad a second time.
Log.d(TAG, "Ad dismissed fullscreen content.");
mAdManagerInterstitialAd = null;
}
@Override
public void onAdFailedToShowFullScreenContent(AdError adError) {
// Called when ad fails to show.
Log.e(TAG, "Ad failed to show fullscreen content.");
mAdManagerInterstitialAd = null;
}
@Override
public void onAdImpression() {
// Called when an impression is recorded for an ad.
Log.d(TAG, "Ad recorded an impression.");
}
@Override
public void onAdShowedFullScreenContent() {
// Called when ad is shown.
Log.d(TAG, "Ad showed fullscreen content.");
}
});
Kotlin
mAdManagerInterstitialAd?.fullScreenContentCallback = object: FullScreenContentCallback() {
override fun onAdClicked() {
// Called when a click is recorded for an ad.
Log.d(TAG, "Ad was clicked.")
}
override fun onAdDismissedFullScreenContent() {
// Called when ad is dismissed.
Log.d(TAG, "Ad dismissed fullscreen content.")
mAdManagerInterstitialAd = null
}
override fun onAdFailedToShowFullScreenContent(adError: AdError?) {
// Called when ad fails to show.
Log.e(TAG, "Ad failed to show fullscreen content.")
mAdManagerInterstitialAd = null
}
override fun onAdImpression() {
// Called when an impression is recorded for an ad.
Log.d(TAG, "Ad recorded an impression.")
}
override fun onAdShowedFullScreenContent() {
// Called when ad is shown.
Log.d(TAG, "Ad showed fullscreen content.")
}
}
Show the ad
Interstitial ads should be displayed during natural pauses in the flow of an app.
Between levels of a game is a good example, or after the user completes a task.
To show an interstitial, use the
show()
method.
Java
if (mAdManagerInterstitialAd != null) {
mAdManagerInterstitialAd.show(MyActivity.this);
} else {
Log.d("TAG", "The interstitial ad wasn't ready yet.");
}
Kotlin
if (mAdManagerInterstitialAd != null) {
mAdManagerInterstitialAd?.show(this)
} else {
Log.d("TAG", "The interstitial ad wasn't ready yet.")
}
Some best practices
- Consider whether interstitial ads are the right type of ad for your app.
- Interstitial ads work best in apps with natural transition points. The conclusion of a task within an app, like sharing an image or completing a game level, creates such a point. Make sure you consider at which points in your app's workflow you'll display interstitial ads and how the user is likely to respond.
- Remember to pause the action when displaying an interstitial ad.
- There are a number of different types of interstitial ads: text, image, video, and more. It's important to make sure that when your app displays an interstitial ad, it also suspends its use of some resources to allow the ad to take advantage of them. For example, when you make the call to display an interstitial ad, be sure to pause any audio output being produced by your app.
- Allow for adequate loading time.
- Just as it's important to make sure you display interstitial ads at an
appropriate time, it's also important to make sure the user doesn't have to
wait for them to load. Loading the ad in advance by calling
load()
before you intend to callshow()
can ensure that your app has a fully loaded interstitial ad at the ready when the time comes to display one. - Don't flood the user with ads.
- While increasing the frequency of interstitial ads in your app might seem like a great way to increase revenue, it can also degrade the user experience and lower clickthrough rates. Make sure that users aren't so frequently interrupted that they're no longer able to enjoy the use of your app.
Examples on GitHub
Next steps
- Learn more about ad targeting.
- Learn more about user privacy.
- Explore optimized SDK initialization and ad loading (beta).