Get started

This guide shows you how to use the native ads add-on to implement native ads in a Unity app, as well as some important things to consider along the way.

Native ads match both the form and function of the user experience in which they're placed. They also match the visual design of the app they live within. Ad Manager's native ads format enables publishers to render ads that are seamless with content. You can use this technology to implement highly custom renderings that take full advantage of the native code in Unity apps.

Native ads are shown using the same types of GameObjects with which you're already building your apps and can be formatted to match the visual design of the user experience in which they live. When a native ad loads, your app receives a native object that contains its assets and the Unity app, rather than the SDK, displays them.

Prerequisites

  • Google Mobile Ads Unity plugin version 7.0.0 or higher.
  • Complete the Get started guide.
  • Download and install the native ads add-on.

Load native ad formats

Native ads are loaded through the AdLoader class, which has its own AdLoader.Builder class to customize it during creation. The ForNativeAd() method configures the AdLoader to handle native ads.

private void RequestNativeAd() {
    AdLoader adLoader = new AdLoader.Builder(INSERT_AD_UNIT_HERE)
        .ForNativeAd()
        .Build();
}

Register for AdLoader ad events

To be notified when a native ad either successfully loads or fails to load, add delegates to the AdLoader class for the events listed below.

OnNativeAdLoaded

Invoked when a native ad is successfully loaded. It is required to have a delegate for this event to access the ad that loaded.

OnAdFailedToLoad

Invoked when a native ad fails to load.

Load the ad

Once you've finished building an AdLoader, call its LoadAd() method to request an ad:

adLoader.LoadAd(new AdRequest.Builder().Build());

Put the ad request together

The code snippet below demonstrates how to build an AdLoader that is configured to request native ads, sets delegates for successful and failed ad loads, and makes an ad request.

private void RequestNativeAd() {
    AdLoader adLoader = new AdLoader.Builder(INSERT_AD_UNIT_HERE)
        .ForNativeAd()
        .Build();
    adLoader.OnNativeAdLoaded += this.HandleNativeAdLoaded;
    adLoader.OnAdFailedToLoad += this.HandleAdFailedToLoad;
    adLoader.LoadAd(new AdRequest.Builder().Build());
}

Handle failed ad loads

The OnAdFailedToLoad event is of type EventHandle<AdFailedToLoadEventArgs>. Parsing the reason for an ad load failure from this event is shown below.

private void RequestNativeAd() {
    ...
    adLoader.OnAdFailedToLoad += this.HandleNativeAdFailedToLoad;
}

private void HandleNativeAdFailedToLoad(object sender, AdFailedToLoadEventArgs args) {
    Debug.Log("Native ad failed to load: " + args.Message);
}

Display a native ad

When a Native Ad loads, the ad event for the corresponding ad format is invoked. Your app is then responsible for displaying the ad, though it doesn't necessarily have to do so immediately.

Handle ad load

The OnNativeAdLoaded event is of type EventHandler<NativeAdEventArgs>. The ad, encapsulated in a NativeAd object, can be retrieved from NativeAdEventArgs as shown:

private NativeAd nativeAd;
...
private void HandleNativeAdLoaded(object sender, NativeAdEventArgs args) {
    Debug.Log("Native ad loaded.");
    this.nativeAd = args.nativeAd;
}

Retrieve native ad assets

Once ads have loaded, their assets can be accessed as shown below. Graphical assets are returned as Texture2D objects and text assets are returned as string objects.

private bool nativeAdLoaded;
private NativeAd nativeAd;

void Update() {
    ...

    if (this.nativeAdLoaded) {
        this.nativeAdLoaded = false;
        // Get Texture2D for the icon asset of native ad.
        Texture2D iconTexture = this.nativeAd.GetIconTexture();

        // Get string for headline asset of native ad.
        string headline = this.nativeAd.GetHeadlineText();
    }
}

private void HandleNativeAdLoaded(object sender, NativeAdEventArgs args) {
    Debug.Log("Native ad loaded.");
    this.nativeAd = args.nativeAd;
    this.nativeAdLoaded = true;
}

Note that ad assets should only be accessed on the main thread, for example, from the Update() method of a Unity script. Also note the following assets are not always guaranteed to be present, and should be checked before being displayed:

  • GetStarRating()
  • GetStore()
  • GetPrice()
  • GetAdvertiser()
  • GetIconTexture()

AdChoices asset

It's a requirement to display the AdChoices ad asset as part of the native ad. Also, it's important that the AdChoices ad asset be easily seen, so choose background colors and images appropriately.

Register GameObjects for ad asset

You must register the GameObject for the ad asset to be displayed in your Unity app. If registration is successful, the method used to register the GameObject returns a bool. For a List<GameObject>, the method returns an int indicating the successfully registered GameObject count.

If registration of an ad asset is unsuccessful, impressions and clicks on the corresponding native ad won't be recognized.

if (!this.nativeAd.RegisterIconImageGameObject(icon))
{
    // Handle failure to register the icon ad asset.
}

The GameObject that is registered for an ad asset must have a convex Collider component that is representative of the size and shape of the GameObject. If GameObject objects registered to ad assets are missing Collider components or have an incorrectly configured one, native ads will not operate correctly.

In the code snippet below, a BoxCollider is added to GameObject that uses a TextMesh to display the headline ad asset of a native ad. Once the BoxCollider is attached to the GameObject, it will automatically scale to accommodate the text of the TextMesh component.

// Create GameObject that will display the headline ad asset.
GameObject headline = new GameObject();
headline.AddComponent<TextMesh>();
headline.GetComponent<TextMesh>().characterSize = 0.5 f;
headline.GetComponent<TextMesh>().anchor = TextAnchor.MiddleCenter;
headline.GetComponent<TextMesh>().color = Color.black;

// Get string of the headline asset.
string headlineText = this.nativeAd.GetHeadlineText();
headline.GetComponent<TextMesh>().text = headlineText;

// Add box collider to the GameObject which will automatically scale.
headline.AddComponent<BoxCollider>();

Demo

The following code demonstrates how to retrieve the icon asset of a successfully loaded native ad, display the icon ad asset by setting the texture of a Quad, and register the GameObject to use to display the asset. This process of retrieving the ad asset and registering it with the native ad class should be repeated for each of the assets that the app displays.

private GameObject icon;
private bool nativeAdLoaded;
private NativeAd nativeAd;
...
void Update() {
    ...

    if (this.nativeAdLoaded) {
        this.nativeAdLoaded = false;
        // Get Texture2D for icon asset of native ad.
        Texture2D iconTexture = this.nativeAd.GetIconTexture();

        icon = GameObject.CreatePrimitive(PrimitiveType.Quad);
        icon.transform.position = new Vector3(1, 1, 1);
        icon.transform.localScale = new Vector3(1, 1, 1);
        icon.GetComponent<Renderer>().material.mainTexture = iconTexture;

        // Register GameObject that will display icon asset of native ad.
        if (!this.nativeAd.RegisterIconImageGameObject(icon))
        {
            // Handle failure to register ad asset.
        }
    }
}
...

private void HandleNativeAdLoaded(object sender, NativeAdEventArgs args) {
    Debug.Log("Native ad loaded.");
    this.nativeAd = args.nativeAd;
    this.nativeAdLoaded = true;
}