Integrate nend with Mediation

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

The dashboard interface for nend uses Japanese text for its labels, buttons, and descriptions, and the screenshots displayed below have not been translated. In this guide, labels and buttons are referred to by their English equivalents. "URL スキーム," for example, is "URL Scheme," and so on.

Supported integrations and ad formats

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

Integration
Bidding
Waterfall
Formats
Banner
Interstitial
Rewarded
Native

Requirements

Android API level 19 or higher

Latest Google Mobile Ads SDK

Step 1: Set up nend

To add your application to the nend dashboard, first click on the Placement Management tab, and then select Site/App. Click the Add an app button to add your app to nend.

Create an application

Enter the name of your app and choose Android application as the application type. Enter the URL and check if your app is in Google Play (see nend's unreleased apps FAQ if your app has not yet been released). Select a category for your app and click Create when done.

Your application will be shown on the dashboard once it is created.

Create a placement

Once the app is registered, you can move on to creating a placement. To create a placement for banner ads, go to the Placement Management tab and click on Placement. Then click the Create a new placement button.

Select your app in the drop-down menu. Then, follow the instructions below that corresponds to your preferred ad format.

Choose Still image for the Ad type, and Banner for the Inventory type. Once that's done, enter a Placement Name, fill out the Introduction to inventory, choose an Inventory format, and finally choose your desired Inventory size. When finished, click the Create button to create your placement.

Interstitial

Choose Still image for the Ad type, and Interstitial for the Inventory type. Once that's done, enter a Placement Name, fill out the Introduction to inventory, and select your desired Ad display frequency from the drop-down list. When finished, click the Create button to create your placement.

For Interstitial video ads, choose Video for the Ad type, and Interstitial for the Inventory type. Once that's done, enter a Placement Name, fill out the Introduction to inventory, and choose an appropriate a Category from the drop-down list. When finished, click the Create button to create your placement.

Rewarded

Choose Video for the Ad type, and Reward for the Inventory type. Once that's done, enter a Placement Name, fill out the Introduction to inventory, and choose an appropriate a Category from the drop-down list.

Under Reward settings, select your desired Reward content using the drop-down list, enter your preferred Virtual currency name. When finished, click the Create button to create your placement.

Native

Choose Still image for the Ad type, and Native for the Inventory type. Once that's done, enter a Placement Name, fill out the Introduction to inventory, and select your desired Ad image selection. When finished, click the Create button to create your placement.

For Native video ads, choose Video for the Ad type, and Native (custom) for the Inventory type. Once that's done, enter a Placement Name, fill out the Introduction to inventory, and choose an appropriate a Category from the drop-down list.

Under Native settings, select your desired Video ad orientation and Native ad type from the list. When finished, click the Create button to create your placement.

To set up your Ad Manager ad unit in the next section, you'll need the apiKey and spotID for each placement. To locate them, head to the Placement Management tab and select the SDK button under the name of your app.

Take note of the apiKey and spotID.

You'll also need your API Key for nend's reporting API, which they call the API Key for Scraping. You can find it in the Tools tab.

Step 2: Configure mediation settings for your Ad Manager ad unit

Enter a unique Name for your yield group, set the Status to Active, select your Ad Format, and set the Inventory type to Mobile App. Under the Targeting > Inventory section, select the Ad Unit ID to which you want to add mediation.

Next, click the Add yield partner button.

If you already have a Yield partner for nend, you can simply select it. Otherwise, select Create a new yield partner.

Select nend as the Ad network and enter a unique Name. Enable Mediation and turn on Automatic data collection, and enter the API Key for Scraping obtained in the previous section as the Reporting API Key. You don't need to enter a Username and Password. Click Save when done.

Once the Yield partner is selected, choose Mobile SDK mediation as the Integration type, Android as the Platform, and Active as the Status. Enter the Slot ID and the API Key obtained in the previous section and a Default CPM value.

Click Save at the bottom of the page when done.

Using rewarded ads

In the settings for your rewarded ad unit, provide values for the reward amount and reward type. Then, to ensure you provide the same reward to the user no matter which ad network is served, check the Override reward settings from third-party ad networks when using mediation box.

If you don't apply this setting, the nend adapter passes back the reward specified in the nend dashboard.

Step 3: Import the nend SDK and adapter

Android Studio integration (recommended)

Add the following nend Maven repository and implementation dependencies with the latest version of the nend SDK and adapter in the app-level build.gradle file:

repositories {
    google()
    mavenCentral()
    maven {
        url 'https://fan-adn.github.io/nendSDK-Android-lib/library'
    }
}

...
dependencies {
    implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-ads:22.1.0'
    implementation 'com.google.ads.mediation:nend:9.0.1.0'
}
...

Manual integration

Download the latest version of the nend Android SDK and add it to your project.
Navigate to the nend adapter artifacts on Google's Maven Repository. Select the latest version, download the nend adapter's .aar file, and add it to your project.

Step 4: Additional code required

No additional code is required for nend integration.

Step 5: Test your implementation

To get test ads for banners, interstitials, and rewarded, nend recommends using the API keys and Spot IDs provided in the nend test ad units page. These can be entered as the API Keys and Spot IDs for your AdMob ad units while testing, and then replaced with an actual API Key and Spot ID when your app is ready for production.

Optional steps

Network-specific parameters

The nend adapter supports additional request parameters for interstitial ads that can be passed to the adapter using the NendExtrasBundleBuilder class. This class includes the following methods:

setUserId(String) - Sets the UserID of a specific nend interstitial ad.
setInterstitialType(InterstitialType) - Nend provides the option of selecting either TYPE_NORMAL for regular insterstitial ads or TYPE_VIDEO for interstitial video ads.
setNativeAdsType(nativeAdsType) - Nend provides the option of selecting either TYPE_NORMAL for regular native ads or TYPE_VIDEO for native video ads.

Java

Bundle bundle = new NendAdapter.NendExtrasBundleBuilder()
                        .setUserId("userId")
                        .setInterstitialType(InterstitialType.TYPE_NORMAL)
                        .setNativeAdsType(FormatType.TYPE_NORMAL)
                        .build();

AdManagerAdRequest adRequest = new AdManagerAdRequest.Builder().addNetworkExtrasBundle(
  NendAdapter.class, bundle).build();

adLoader.loadAd(adRequest);

Kotlin

val bundle = NendAdapter.NendExtrasBundleBuilder()
                     .setUserId("userId")
                     .setInterstitialType(InterstitialType.TYPE_NORMAL)
                     .setNativeAdsType(FormatType.TYPE_NORMAL)
                     .build()

val adRequest = AdManagerAdRequest.Builder().addNetworkExtrasBundle(
  NendAdapter.class, bundle).build()

adLoader.loadAd(adRequest)

Using native ads

Ad rendering

The Nend adapter returns its native ads as NativeAd objects. It populates the following fields for a NativeAd.

Field	Populated by the Nend adapter
Headline
Image	1
Body
App icon	2
Call to action
Advertiser Name
Star rating
Store
Price

¹ Nend only provides an Image asset for native placements configured with an Ad image selection set to Horizontal (5: 3) large advertising image.

² Nend does not provide an Icon asset for native placements configured with an Ad image selection set to No image (text only).

Error codes

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

Format	Class name
Banner	com.google.ads.mediation.nend.NendAdapter
Interstitial	com.google.ads.mediation.nend.NendAdapter
Rewarded	com.google.ads.mediation.nend.NendRewardedAdapter
Native	com.google.ads.mediation.nend.NendMediationAdapter

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

Error code	Domain	Reason
101	com.google.ads.mediation.nend	nend requires an activity context to load and show ads.
102	com.google.ads.mediation.nend	nend server parameters configured in the Ad Manager UI are missing/invalid.
103	com.google.ads.mediation.nend	nend ad is not yet ready to be shown.
104	com.google.ads.mediation.nend	nend failed to play the ad.
105	com.google.ads.mediation.nend	The requested ad size does not match a nend supported banner size.
106	com.google.ads.mediation.nend	The Context object reference is `null` and/or was recently released from memory.
200-299	net.nend.android	nend SDK returned an interstitial ad load error. See code for more details.
300-399	net.nend.android	nend SDK returned an interstitial show ad error. See code for more details.
400-499	net.nend.android	nend SDK returned an ad error. See code for more details.

nend Android Mediation Adapter Changelog

Version 9.0.1.0

Updated adapter to use new VersionInfo class.
Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 22.0.0.
Verified compatibility with nend SDK 9.0.1.

Built and tested with

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 22.0.0.
Nend SDK version 9.0.1.

Version 9.0.0.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 9.0.0.
Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 21.2.0.

Built and tested with

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 21.2.0.
Nend SDK version 9.0.0.

Version 8.2.0.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 8.2.0.

Built and tested with

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 21.0.0.
Nend SDK version 8.2.0.

Version 8.1.0.1

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

Built and tested with

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 21.0.0.
Nend SDK version 8.1.0.

Version 8.1.0.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 8.1.0.
Fixed a NullPointerException crash when nend returns a null ad image or logo URL.
Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 20.5.0.

Built and tested with

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.5.0.
Nend SDK version 8.1.0.

Version 8.0.1.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 8.0.1.
Fixed a bug where some AdError objects were returned using the incorrect domain.
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.
Nend SDK version 8.0.1.

Version 7.1.0.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 7.1.0.
Updated error codes to capture the nend UNSUPPORTED_DEVICE error.
Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 20.2.0.

Built and tested with

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 20.2.0.
Nend SDK version 7.1.0.

Version 7.0.3.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 7.0.3.
Added descriptive error codes and reasons for adapter load/show failures.
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.
Nend SDK version 7.0.3.

Version 7.0.0.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 7.0.0.
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.
Nend SDK version 7.0.0.

Version 6.0.1.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 6.0.1.
Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 19.3.0.

Built and tested with

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 19.3.0.
Nend SDK version 6.0.1.

Version 6.0.0.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 6.0.0.
Updated minimum Android SDK version to API 19.

Built and tested with

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 19.2.0.
Nend SDK version 6.0.0.

Version 5.4.2.1

Updated the adapter to support inline adaptive banner requests.
Fixed a rare race condition crash that may happen when smart banner ads are destroyed.
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.
Nend SDK version 5.4.2.

Version 5.4.2.0

Added support for native ads.
Verified compatibility with nend SDK 5.4.2.
Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 19.0.0.

Built and tested with

Google Mobile Ads SDK version 19.0.0.
Nend SDK version 5.4.2.

Version 5.3.0.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 5.3.0.
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.
Nend SDK version 5.3.0.

Version 5.2.0.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 5.2.0.
Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 18.1.1.

Version 5.1.0.4

Fixed an issue where Banner and Interstitial ads were not forwarding the onAdClicked() event.
Fixed an issue where a NullPointerException was thrown when a nend Banner ad was destroyed.
Migrated the adapter to AndroidX.
Updated the minimum required Google Mobile Ads SDK version to 18.0.0.

Version 5.1.0.3

Added implementation to display a part of nend banner in SmartBanner. Appropriate size for SmartBanner
- Portrait and Landscape
  - Phones: 320×50
  - Tablets: 728×90 or 320×50

Version 5.1.0.2

Added support for flexible banner ad sizes.

Version 5.1.0.1

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

Version 5.1.0.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 5.1.0.

Version 5.0.2.1

Removed function that forward user features because following methods are deprecated on AdRequest.Builder.
- setGender()
- setBirthday()
- setIsDesignedForFamiles()

Version 5.0.2.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 5.0.2.

Version 5.0.1.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 5.0.1.

Version 5.0.0.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 5.0.0.

Version 4.0.5.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 4.0.5.

Version 4.0.4.1

Supported onRewardedVideoCompleted() method of RewardedVideoAdListener.

Version 4.0.4.0

Verified compatibility with nend SDK 4.0.4.

Version 4.0.2.1

Added the ability to create a Bundle of mediation extras using the NendExtrasBundleBuilder class.

Version 4.0.2.0

First release in Google Mobile Ads Mediation open source project.
Added support for banner, interstitial, and rewarded video ads.