Integrate AdColony with Mediation

This guide shows you how to use the Google Mobile Ads SDK to load and display ads from AdColony using mediation, covering both bidding and waterfall integrations. It covers how to add AdColony to an ad unit's mediation configuration, and how to integrate the AdColony SDK and adapter into an Android app.

Supported integrations and ad formats

The Ad Manager mediation adapter for AdColony has the following capabilities:

Integration
Bidding
Waterfall
Formats
Banner
Interstitial
Rewarded
Native

Requirements

  • Android API level 21 or higher

Step 1: Set up configurations in AdColony UI

Sign up and log in to your AdColony account. Add your app to the AdColony publisher dashboard by clicking the Setup New App button.

AdColony setup new app

Fill out the form and click Create at the bottom of the page to add your app to AdColony.

AdColony create app

Once your app is created you can obtain your App ID by navigating to Monetization > Apps under your app's Basic App Information section.

AdColony app id

Next, create a new Ad Zone by clicking the Setup New Ad Zone button in the Ad Zones section of your App's page. We recommend creating a new Ad Zone for mediation with Ad Manager even if you already have one.

AdColony set up zone

For additional instructions on creating an ad placement, select the tab corresponding to your preferred ad format.

  1. Set Zone is Active? to Yes.
  2. Enter a Name for your Ad Zone.

  3. Choose Banner as the Ad Zone Size.

  4. Enter a value for the Daily play cap.

Interstitial

  1. Set Zone is Active? to Yes.
  2. Enter a Name for your Ad Zone.

  3. Choose Preroll/Interstitial as the Zone Type.

  4. Enter a value for the Daily play cap.

Rewarded

  1. Set Zone is Active? to Yes.
  2. Enter a Name for your Ad Zone.

  3. Choose Value Exchange/V4VC as the Zone Type.

  4. Set Client Side Only? to Yes and enter a Virtual Currency Name, Daily Max Videos per User and Reward Amount.

  5. Enter a value for the Daily play cap.

Click the Create button when finished to create the Ad Zone.

Once the Ad Zone is created, you can locate your Zone ID under the Integration section of the Ad Zone. The Zone ID will be used in the next step.

AdColony zone id

Locate your AdColony API Key

Bidding

This step isn't required for bidding integrations.

Waterfall

You will need your AdColony API Key for setting up your Ad Manager ad unit ID. Navigate to Account Settings in your AdColony publisher dashboard to locate your API Key.

AdColony settings

Turn on test mode

To enable test ads on AdColony, go to your AdColony dashboard and navigate to Monetization > Apps. Select your Zone for which you would like to enable test ads under the Ad Zones section of your app. Test ads can be enabled by checking Yes to Show test ads only? under the Development section.

AdColony test

Step 2: Set up AdColony demand in Ad Manager UI

Sign in to your Ad Manager account.

Add AdColony in Companies

Bidding

This step isn't required for bidding integrations.

Waterfall

Navigate to Admin > Companies, then click the New company button in the All companies tab. Select Ad network.

Select AdColony as the Ad network, enter a unique Name and enable Mediation. Turn on Automatic data collection, and enter the API Key obtained in the previous section.

You don't need to enter a Username or Password. Click Save when done.

Enable secure signal sharing

Bidding

Navigate to Admin > Global settings. Go to the Ad Exchange account settings tab and review and toggle on Secure signal sharing. Click Save.

Waterfall

This step isn't required for waterfall integrations.

Configure AdColony bidding

Bidding

Navigate to Delivery > Bidders, and click New bidder under the SDK Bidding tab.

Select AdColony as the bidder.

Toggle on Add this bidder's signal library to the list of allowed signals and Allow signals to be shared with this bidder. Then, click Continue.

Click Continue.

Click Done.

Waterfall

This step isn't required for waterfall integrations.

Configure ad unit mapping

Bidding

Navigate to Delivery > Bidders, and select the company for AdColony under the SDK Bidding tab.

Go to the Ad unit mapping tab and click New ad unit mapping.

Choose Specific ad unit. Select an ad unit and format, Mobile app as the Inventory type, and your Mobile application. Then, enter App ID and Zone ID obtained in the previous section. Finally, click Save.

Waterfall

Navigate to Delivery > Yield groups and click the New yield group button. Select your Mobile application.

Scroll down and click Add yield partner.

Select the company you created for AdColony in the previous section. Choose Mobile SDK mediation as the Integration type, Android as the Platform, and Active as the Status.

Enter the App ID and Zone ID obtained in the previous section, and the Default CPM value. Click Save.

Note: Automatic data collection takes a few days to gather data before it can accurately calculate a Dynamic CPM value for a mediation network. Once the eCPM can be calculated, it is automatically updated on your behalf.

Add AdColony to GDPR and US state regulations ad partners list

Follow the steps in GDPR settings and US state regulations settings to add AdColony to the GDPR and US state regulations ad partners list in the Ad Manager UI.

Step 3: Import the AdColony SDK and adapter

In your app-level build.gradle.kts file, add the following implementation dependencies and configurations. Use the latest versions of the AdColony SDK and adapter:

dependencies {
    implementation("com.google.android.gms:play-services-ads:23.0.0")
    implementation("com.google.ads.mediation:adcolony:4.8.0.2")
}

Migrate project to AndroidX

The AdColony SDK depends on Android support libraries but the latest Google Mobile Ads SDK uses Jetpack libraries.

To ensure the AdColony SDK and the Google Mobile Ads SDK are compatible, create a gradle.properties file in the top-level of your project, and add the following code:

android.useAndroidX=true
android.enableJetifier=true

This will rewrite the AdColony SDK binary to use use Jetpack libraries. See AndroidX migration guide for more information about these settings.

Manual integration

  • Download the AdColony Android SDK and extract the adcolony.jar under the Library folder and add it to your project.
  • The AdColony SDK depends on the Annotations Support Library. See Improve Code Inspection with Annotations for details on how to add the Annotations Support Library to your project.
  • Navigate to the AdColony adapter artifacts on Google's Maven Repository. Select the latest version, download the AdColony adapter's .aar file, and add it to your project.

Step 4: Implement privacy settings on AdColony SDK

Under the Google EU User Consent Policy, you must ensure that certain disclosures are given to, and consents obtained from, users in the European Economic Area (EEA) regarding the use of device identifiers and personal data. This policy reflects the requirements of the EU ePrivacy Directive and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). When seeking consent, you must identify each ad network in your mediation chain that may collect, receive, or use personal data and provide information about each network's use. Google currently is unable to pass the user's consent choice to such networks automatically.

The AdColony adapter provides the AdColonyMediationAdapter.getAppOptions() method to customize parameters to be sent to AdColony's SDK. Two methods relevant to GDPR on these options are setPrivacyFrameworkRequired() and setPrivacyConsentString(). The following sample code demonstrates how to pass consent information to the AdColony adapter, which are then used in AdColony's initialization method. These options must be set before you initialize the Google Mobile Ads SDK to ensure they get forwarded properly to AdColony's SDK.

Java

import com.google.ads.mediation.adcolony.AdColonyMediationAdapter;
//...

AdColonyAppOptions appOptions = AdColonyMediationAdapter.getAppOptions();
appOptions.setPrivacyFrameworkRequired(AdColonyAppOptions.GDPR, true);
appOptions.setPrivacyConsentString(AdColonyAppOptions.GDPR, "1");

Kotlin

import com.google.ads.mediation.adcolony.AdColonyMediationAdapter
//...

val appOptions = AdColonyMediationAdapter.getAppOptions()
appOptions.setPrivacyFrameworkRequired(AdColonyAppOptions.GDPR, true)
appOptions.setPrivacyConsentString(AdColonyAppOptions.GDPR, "1")

See AdColony's GDPR implementation details for more details about what values may be provided in these methods.

US states privacy laws

U.S. states privacy laws require giving users the right to opt out of the "sale" of their "personal information" (as the law defines those terms), with the opt-out offered via a prominent "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" link on the "selling" party's homepage. The U.S. states privacy laws compliance guide offers the ability to enable restricted data processing for Google ad serving, but Google is unable to apply this setting to each ad network in your mediation chain. Therefore, you must identify each ad network in your mediation chain that may participate in the sale of personal information and follow guidance from each of those networks to ensure compliance.

The AdColony adapter provides the AdColonyMediationAdapter.getAppOptions() method to customize parameters to be sent to AdColony's SDK. Two methods relevant to CCPA on these options are setPrivacyFrameworkRequired() and setPrivacyConsentString(). The following sample code demonstrates how to pass consent information to the AdColony adapter, which are then used in AdColony's initialization method. These options must be set before you initialize the Google Mobile Ads SDK to ensure they get forwarded properly to AdColony's SDK.

Java

import com.google.ads.mediation.adcolony.AdColonyMediationAdapter;
//...

AdColonyAppOptions appOptions = AdColonyMediationAdapter.getAppOptions();
appOptions.setPrivacyFrameworkRequired(AdColonyAppOptions.CCPA, true);
appOptions.setPrivacyConsentString(AdColonyAppOptions.CCPA, "1");

Kotlin

import com.google.ads.mediation.adcolony.AdColonyMediationAdapter
//...

val appOptions = AdColonyMediationAdapter.getAppOptions()
appOptions.setPrivacyFrameworkRequired(AdColonyAppOptions.CCPA, true)
appOptions.setPrivacyConsentString(AdColonyAppOptions.CCPA, "1")

See AdColony's CCPA implementation details for more details about what values may be provided in these methods.

Step 5: Add required code

No additional code is required for AdColony integration.

Step 6: Test your implementation

Enable test ads

Make sure you register your test device for Ad Manager and enable test mode in AdColony UI.

Verify test ads

To verify that you are receiving test ads from AdColony, enable single ad source testing in ad inspector using the AdColony (Bidding) and AdColony (Waterfall) ad source(s).

Optional steps

Permissions

For optimal performance, AdColony recommends adding the following optional permissions to your app's AndroidManifest.xml file:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.VIBRATE" />

Using interstitial and rewarded ads

Network-specific parameters

The AdColony adapter supports additional request parameters which can be passed to the adapter using the AdColonyBundleBuilder class. The AdColonyBundleBuilder includes the following methods:

  • setShowPrePopup(boolean): Sets whether or not to show a popup before showing an ad. Set to false for no popup before ad shows.
  • setShowPostPopup(boolean): Sets whether or not to show a popup after showing an ad. Set to false for no popups after ad shows.

Here's a code example of how to set these ad request parameters:

Java

AdColonyBundleBuilder.setShowPrePopup(true);
AdColonyBundleBuilder.setShowPostPopup(true);

AdManagerAdRequest request = new AdManagerAdRequest.Builder()
  .addNetworkExtrasBundle(AdColonyAdapter.class, AdColonyBundleBuilder.build())
  .build();
rewardedInterstitialAd.loadAd(request);

Kotlin

AdColonyBundleBuilder.setShowPrePopup(true)
AdColonyBundleBuilder.setShowPostPopup(true)

val request = AdManagerAdRequest.Builder()
  .addNetworkExtrasBundle(AdColonyAdapter::class.java, AdColonyBundleBuilder.build())
  .build()
rewardedInterstitialAd.loadAd(request)

Verify your adapter and SDK versions

To log the adapter and SDK versions, use the following code snippet:

AdColonyMediationAdapter adapter = new AdColonyMediationAdapter();
VersionInfo adapterVersion = adapter.getVersionInfo();
VersionInfo sdkVersion = adapter.getSDKVersionInfo();
// Log the adapter patch version to 3 digits to represent the x.x.x.x versioning
// used by adapters.
Log.d("TAG", String.format(
    "Adapter version: %d.%d.%03d",
    adapterVersion.getMajorVersion(),
    adapterVersion.getMinorVersion(),
    adapterVersion.getMicroVersion()));
Log.d("TAG", String.format(
    "SDK version: %d.%d.%d",
    sdkVersion.getMajorVersion(),
    sdkVersion.getMinorVersion(),
    sdkVersion.getMicroVersion()));

Error codes

If the adapter fails to receive an ad from AdColony, publishers can check the underlying error from the ad response using ResponseInfo.getAdapterResponse() under the following classes:

com.jirbo.adcolony.AdColonyAdapter
com.google.ads.mediation.adcolony.AdColonyMediationAdapter

Here are the codes and accompanying messages thrown by the AdColony adapter when an ad fails to load:

Error code Reason
100 The AdColony SDK returned an error.
101 Invalid server parameters (e.g. missing Zone ID).
102 An ad was already requested for the same Zone ID.
103 The AdColony SDK returned an initialization error.
104 The requested banner size does not map to a valid AdColony ad size.
105 Presentation error due to ad not loaded.
106 Context used to initialize the AdColony SDK was not an Activity instance.

AdColony Android Mediation Adapter Changelog

Next Version

  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 22.4.0.

Version 4.8.0.2

  • Updated adapter to use new VersionInfo class.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 22.0.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 22.0.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.8.0.

Version 4.8.0.1

  • Added support for forwarding COPPA information to the AdColony SDK.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 21.5.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 21.5.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.8.0.

Version 4.8.0.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.8.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 21.0.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.8.0.

Version 4.7.1.1

  • Updated compileSdkVersion and targetSdkVersion to API 31.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 21.0.0.
  • Updated the minimum required Android API level to 19.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 21.0.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.7.1.

Version 4.7.1.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.7.1.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.6.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.7.1.

Version 4.7.0.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.7.0.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 20.6.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.6.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.7.0.

Version 4.6.5.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.6.5.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.4.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.6.5.

Version 4.6.4.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.6.4.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.4.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.6.4.

Version 4.6.3.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.6.3.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 20.4.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.4.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.6.3.

Version 4.6.2.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.6.2.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.3.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.6.2.

Version 4.6.0.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.6.0.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 20.3.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.3.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.6.0.

Version 4.5.0.0

  • Added support for banners advanced bidding.
  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.5.0.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 20.0.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.0.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.5.0.

Version 4.4.1.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.4.1.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 19.7.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.4.1.

Version 4.4.0.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.4.0.
  • Added support of AdColony's collectSignals() method for bidding.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 19.7.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 19.7.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.4.0.

Version 4.3.0.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.3.0.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 19.5.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 19.5.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.3.0.

Version 4.2.4.0

  • Fixed a bug where onUserEarnedReward() was not forwarded for rewarded ads.
  • Added additional error codes for AdColony SDK initialization errors.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 19.4.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 19.4.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.2.4.

Version 4.2.0.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.2.0.
  • Updated the adapter to support inline adaptive banner requests.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 19.2.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 19.2.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.2.0.

Version 4.1.4.1

  • Added descriptive error codes and reasons for adapter load/show failures.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 19.0.1.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 19.0.1.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.1.4.

Version 4.1.4.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.1.4.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 18.3.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.1.4.

Version 4.1.3.1

  • Fixed an issue where the onRewardedAdLoaded() callback is not being forwarded by the adapter.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 18.3.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.1.3.

Version 4.1.3.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.1.3.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 18.3.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.1.3.

Version 4.1.2.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.1.2.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 18.3.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 18.3.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.1.2.

Version 4.1.0.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 4.1.0.
  • Added support for banner ads.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 18.2.0.

Built and tested with:

  • Google Mobile Ads SDK version 18.2.0.
  • AdColony SDK version 4.1.0.

Version 3.3.11.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.11.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 18.1.1.

Version 3.3.10.1

  • Added bidding capability to the adapter for interstitial and rewarded ads.

Version 3.3.10.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.10.

Version 3.3.9.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.9.
  • Removed setGdprRequired() and setGdprConsentString() methods on AdColonyBundleBuilder.
  • Added the AdColonyMediationAdapter.getAppOptions() method. Publishers must now pass GDPR information to AdColony's SDK through these options. See the developer documentation for more details.

Version 3.3.8.1

  • Updated adapter to support new open-beta Rewarded API.
  • Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 17.2.0.

Version 3.3.8.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.8.

Version 3.3.7.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.7.

Version 3.3.6.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.6.

Version 3.3.5.1

  • Updated the adapter to invoke the onRewardedVideoComplete() ad event.

Version 3.3.5.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.5.

Version 3.3.4.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.4.
  • Updated the adapter with GDPR.

Version 3.3.3.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.3.
  • Removed the setTestModeEnabled method from the Bundle builder class. Publishers can now request test ads from AdColony by specifying a test device via addTestDevice() method from the AdRequest builder class.

Version 3.3.2.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.2.

Version 3.3.0.1

  • Fixed an issue where the adapter fails to fill when the adapter is reinitialized.
  • Fixed an issue where reward callback is sent incorrectly.

Version 3.3.0.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.3.0.
  • Updated the Adapter project for Android Studio 3.0.

Version 3.2.1.1

  • Added setTestModeEnabled method to the Bundle builder class. Publishers can use this method to mark AdColony requests as test requests.

Version 3.2.1.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.2.1.

Version 3.2.0.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.2.0.

Version 3.1.2.0

  • Fixed possible NullPointerExceptions.
  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.1.2.

Version 3.1.1.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.1.1.

Version 3.1.0.0

  • Verified compatibility with AdColony SDK version 3.1.0.

Version 3.0.6.0

  • Changed the version naming system to [AdColony SDK version].[adapter patch version].
  • Updated the minimum required AdColony SDK to v3.0.6.

Earlier Versions

  • Supports rewarded video and interstitial ads.