Integrate Unity Ads with Mediation

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

Supported integrations and ad formats

The AdMob mediation adapter for Unity Ads has the following capabilities:

Integration
Bidding
Waterfall
Formats
Banner
Interstitial
Rewarded

Requirements

  • Unity 4 or higher
  • Latest Google Mobile Ads SDK
  • To deploy on Android
    • Android API level 19 or higher
  • To deploy on iOS
    • iOS deployment target of 11.0 or higher
  • A working Unity project configured with Google Mobile Ads SDK. See Get Started for details.

Step 1: Set up Unity ads

Sign up or log in to Unity Ads.

Create a project

On Unity Ads Dashboard, navigate to Projects and click Create Project.

Fill out the form and click Create Project to add your project.

Navigate to Monetization > Get started, then click Get started.

In the Project Setup modal, select I plan to use Mediation and Google Admob for Mediation Partner, then click Next.

Select your desired ad settings, then click Next.

Fill out the form, then click Add Project.

Take note of the Game ID.

Create an Ad Unit

Navigate to Monetization > Ad Units, then click Add Ad Unit.

Enter an Ad Unit Name, then select the desired Platform and Ad Format.

Android

iOS

Add a Placement

Once the project is created, navigate to Monetization > Placements. To create a new placement, click Add Placement for the desired ad unit.

Fill out the necessary details and click Add Placement.

Take note of the Placement ID.

Android

iOS

Retrieve your credentials

In addition to the Game ID and Placement ID, you will also need your Unity Ads API Key and Organization core ID for setting up your AdMob ad unit ID.

Navigate to the Monetization > Setup > API Management and take note of the Monetization Stats API Access Key.

Then, navigate to the Monetization > Organization Settings and take note of the Organization core ID.

Step 2: Configure mediation settings for your AdMob ad unit

You need to add Unity Ads to the mediation configuration for your AdMob ad units.

First, sign in to the AdMob UI.

If you're deploying your Unity app to both Android and iOS, you need two AdMob ad units, one for each platform.

Navigate to the Mediation tab. If you have an existing mediation group you'd like to modify, click the name of that mediation group to edit it, and skip ahead to Add Unity Ads as an ad source.

To create a new mediation group, select Create Mediation Group.

AdMob mediation tab

Enter your ad format and platform, then click Continue.

Android

Give your mediation group a name, and select locations to target. Next, set the mediation group status to Enabled. Then, click Add Ad Units to open the ad unit selection overlay.

New mediation group 2

Associate this mediation group with your existing AdMob ad unit and click Done.

You should now see the ad units card populated with the ad units you selected.

Mediation group ad units

iOS

Give your mediation group a name, and select locations to target. Next, set the mediation group status to Enabled. Then, click Add Ad Units to open the ad unit selection overlay.

New mediation group 2

Associate this mediation group with your existing AdMob ad unit and click Done.

You should now see the ad units card populated with the ad units you selected.

Mediation group ad units

Add Unity Ads as an ad source

In the Ad Sources card, select Add Ad Network. Then select Unity Ads.

Enable the Optimize switch. Enter your API Key and Organization core ID obtained in the previous section to set up ad source optimization for Unity Ads. Then enter an eCPM value for Unity Ads and click Continue

If you already have a mapping for Unity Ads, you can simply select it. Otherwise, click Add mapping.

Android

iOS

Next, enter a Mapping name, the Game ID and Placement ID obtained in the previous section. Then click Done.

Android

iOS

Rewarded ads

In the settings for your rewarded ad unit, check the Apply to all networks in Mediation groups box so that you provide the same reward to the user no matter which ad network is served.

If you don't check this setting, the Unity adapter defaults to a reward of type "" (empty string) with a value of 1. The Unity Ads SDK does not provide specific reward values for its rewarded ads.

For more information on setting reward values for AdMob ad units, see Create an ad unit.

Step 3: Import the Unity SDK and Adapter

Download the latest version of Google Mobile Ads mediation plugin for Unity Ads from the download link in the Changelog and extract the GoogleMobileAdsUnityAdsMediation.unitypackage from the zip file.

In your Unity project editor, select Assets > Import Package > Custom Package and choose the GoogleMobileAdsUnityAdsMediation.unitypackage file you downloaded. Make sure all the files are selected and click Import.

Then, select Assets > Play Services Resolver > Android Resolver > Force Resolve. The Unity Play Services Resolver library will perform dependency resolution from scratch and copy the declared dependencies into the Assets/Plugins/Android directory of your Unity app.

Using the Unity Adapter with Unity Ads Services

If you integrate with the Unity Ads SDK through the Services pane, Package Manager, or Asset store, then you already have a copy of the Unity Ads Android SDK in your app. To avoid issues with duplicate symbols when building for Android, you'll need to remove the reference to the Unity Ads SDK.

Update the Assets/GoogleMobileAds/Editor/UnityMediationDependencies.xml file and remove the Unity Ads SDK dependency:

<!-- If using the Unity Ads Service from Unity3D, comment out this dependency to
avoid including the Unity Ads Android SDK twice. -->
<androidPackage spec="com.unity3d.ads:unity-ads:x.y.z">
  <repositories>
    <repository>https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/</repository>
  </repositories>
</androidPackage>

Step 4: Additional Code Required

Compile errors

Android

No Additional code required for Unity Ads Android integrations.

iOS

For Unity Ads adapter 3.4.0 or higher, you must follow the integration steps in the Unity documentation.

Step 5: Test Your Implementation

Test ads can be enabled from the Unity Ads dashboard in two ways.

If you want to enable test ads for all devices, navigate to the Settings > Project Settings tab of your project. Under the Test Mode section, edit the Client test mode not overridden section, check Override client test mode box, select Force test mode ON and click Save.

Android

iOS

If you want to enable test ads only for specific devices, navigate to the Ads Data Export > Test Devices tab. Under the Test Devices section, click the Add New Device button and fill out the resulting form.

Optional steps

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 Google Mobile Ads mediation plugin for Unity Ads version 3.3.0 includes the UnityAds.SetConsentMetaData() method. The following sample code shows how to pass consent information to the Unity Ads SDK. If you choose to call this method, it is recommended that you do so prior to requesting ads through the Google Mobile Ads SDK.

using GoogleMobileAds.Api.Mediation.UnityAds;
// ...

UnityAds.SetConsentMetaData("gdpr.consent", true);

See Unity Ads' Privacy Consent and data APIs and Complying with GDPR guides for more details and the values that can be provided in each method.

Add Unity Ads to GDPR ad partners list

Follow the steps in GDPR settings to add Unity Ads to the GDPR ad partners list in the AdMob UI.

CCPA

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) requires giving California state residents 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 CCPA preparation 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 with CCPA.

The Google Mobile Ads mediation plugin for Unity Ads version 3.3.0 includes the UnityAds.SetConsentMetaData() method. The following sample code shows how to pass consent information to the Unity Ads SDK. If you choose to call this method, it is recommended that you do so prior to requesting ads through the Google Mobile Ads SDK.

using GoogleMobileAds.Api.Mediation.UnityAds;
// ...

UnityAds.SetConsentMetaData("privacy.consent", true);

See Unity Ads' Privacy Consent and data APIs and Complying with CCPA guides for more details and the values that can be provided in each method.

Error codes

If the adapter fails to receive an ad from Unity Ads, publishers can check the underlying error from the ad response using ResponseInfo under the following classes:

Android

com.google.ads.mediation.unity.UnityAdapter
com.google.ads.mediation.unity.UnityMediationAdapter

iOS

GADMAdapterUnity
GADMediationAdapterUnity

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

Android

Error code Reason
0-10 UnityAds SDK returned an error. See code for more details.
101 UnityAds server parameters configured in the Admob UI are missing/invalid.
102 UnityAds returned a placement with a NO_FILL state.
103 UnityAds returned a placement with a DISABLED state.
104 UnityAds tried to show an ad with a null context.
105 Context used to initialize, load and/or show ads from Unity Ads is not an Activity instance.
106 UnityAds tried to show an ad that's not ready to be shown.
107 UnityAds is not supported on the device.
108 UnityAds can only load 1 ad per placement at a time.
109 UnityAds finished with an ERROR state.
200-204 UnityAds Banner a specific error. See code for more details.

iOS

0-9 UnityAds SDK returned an error. See Unity's documentation for more details.
101 UnityAds server parameters configured in the Admob UI are missing/invalid.
102 Device not supported by UnityAds.
103 UnityAds finished presenting with error state kUnityAdsFinishStateError.
104 The Unity ad object is nil after calling its initializer.
105 Failed to show Unity Ads due to ad not ready.
106 UnityAds called a placement changed callback with placement state kUnityAdsPlacementStateNoFill.
107 UnityAds called a placement changed callback with placement state kUnityAdsPlacementStateDisabled.
108 An ad was already loaded for this placement. UnityAds SDK does not support loading multiple ads for the same placement.

Unity Ads Unity Mediation Plugin Changelog

Version 3.7.0

Version 3.6.1

Version 3.6.0

Version 3.5.0

Version 3.4.1

Version 3.4.0

Version 3.3.0

Version 3.2.1

Version 3.2.0

Version 3.1.0

Version 3.0.1

Version 3.0.0

Version 2.7.2

Version 2.7.1

Version 2.7.0

Version 2.6.0

Version 2.5.1

Version 2.5.0

Version 2.4.7

Version 2.4.6

Version 2.4.5

Version 2.4.4

Version 2.4.3

Version 2.4.2

Version 2.4.1

Version 2.4.0

Version 2.3.0

Version 2.2.0

Version 2.1.0

  • Supports Unity Ads Android adapter version 3.1.0.0.
  • Supports Unity Ads iOS adapter version 3.1.0.0.

Version 2.0.3

  • Updated the plugin to support the new open-beta Rewarded API.
  • Adds support for Banner Ads.
  • Supports Unity Ads Android adapter version 3.0.0.2.
  • Supports Unity Ads iOS adapter version 3.0.0.3.

Version 2.0.2

  • Supports Unity Ads Android adapter version 3.0.0.0.
  • Supports Unity Ads iOS adapter version 3.0.0.1.

Version 2.0.1

  • Fixed an "incompatible type" error that caused issues when building for iOS.

Version 2.0.0

  • Supports Unity Ads Android adapter version 3.0.0.0.
  • Supports Unity Ads iOS adapter version 3.0.0.0.

Version 1.2.0

  • Supports Unity Ads Android adapter version 2.3.0.0.
  • Supports Unity Ads iOS adapter version 2.3.0.0.

Version 1.1.3

  • Supports Unity Ads Android adapter version 2.2.1.0.
  • Supports Unity Ads iOS adapter version 2.2.1.0.

Version 1.1.2

  • Supports Unity Ads Android SDK version 2.2.0.
  • Supports Unity Ads iOS SDK version 2.2.0.
  • Added UnityAds.SetGdprConsentMetaData() method to manually request a user opt-in for targeted advertising.

Version 1.1.1

  • Supports Unity Ads Android SDK version 2.2.0.
  • Supports Unity Ads iOS SDK version 2.2.1.

Version 1.1.0

  • Supports Unity Ads Android SDK version 2.2.0.
  • Supports Unity Ads iOS SDK version 2.2.0.

Version 1.0.0

  • First release!
  • Supports Unity Ads Android SDK version 2.1.2.
  • Supports Unity Ads iOS SDK version 2.1.2.