Interstitial ads

Select platform: Android iOS Unity Flutter Android (Legacy)

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. Read one of our case studies.

This guide explains how to integrate interstitial ads into an Android app.

Prerequisites

  • Set up GMA Next-Gen SDK.

    • 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:

    ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/1033173712

    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 details on GMA Next-Gen SDK test ads, see Enable test ads.

    Load an ad

    To load an ad, GMA Next-Gen SDK offers the following:

    Load with the single ad loading API

    The following example shows you how to load a single ad:

    Kotlin

    import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.common.AdLoadCallback
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.common.AdRequest
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.common.FullScreenContentError
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.common.LoadAdError
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.interstitial.InterstitialAd
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.interstitial.InterstitialAdEventCallback
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.MobileAds

class InterstitialActivity : Activity() {
  private var interstitialAd: InterstitialAd? = null

  override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)

    // Load ads after you initialize GMA Next-Gen SDK.
    InterstitialAd.load(
      AdRequest.Builder(AD_UNIT_ID).build(),
      object : AdLoadCallback<InterstitialAd> {
        override fun onAdLoaded(ad: InterstitialAd) {
          // Interstitial ad loaded.
          interstitialAd = ad
        }

        override fun onAdFailedToLoad(adError: LoadAdError) {
          // Interstitial ad failed to load.
          interstitialAd = null
        }
      },
    )
  }

  companion object {
    // Sample interstitial ad unit ID.
    const val AD_UNIT_ID = "ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/1033173712"
  }
}

    Java

    import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.common.AdLoadCallback;
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.common.AdRequest;
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.common.FullScreenContentError;
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.common.LoadAdError;
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.interstitial.InterstitialAd;
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.interstitial.InterstitialAdEventCallback;
import com.google.android.libraries.ads.mobile.sdk.MobileAds;

class InterstitialActivity extends Activity {
  // Sample interstitial ad unit ID.
  private static final String AD_UNIT_ID = "ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/1033173712";
  private InterstitialAd interstitialAd;

  @Override
  protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    // Load ads after you initialize GMA Next-Gen SDK.
    InterstitialAd.load(
        new AdRequest.Builder(AD_UNIT_ID).build(),
        new AdLoadCallback<InterstitialAd>() {
          @Override
          public void onAdLoaded(@NonNull InterstitialAd interstitialAd) {
            // Interstitial ad loaded.
            AdLoadCallback.super.onAdLoaded(interstitialAd);
            InterstitialActivity.this.interstitialAd = interstitialAd;
          }

          @Override
          public void onAdFailedToLoad(@NonNull LoadAdError adError) {
            // Interstitial ad failed to load.
            AdLoadCallback.super.onAdFailedToLoad(adError);
            interstitialAd = null;
          }
        }
    );
  }
}

    Load with the ad preloading API

    To start preloading, do the following:

    1. Initialize a preload configuration with an ad request.

    2. Start the preloader for interstitial ads with your ad unit ID and preload configuration:

    Kotlin

    private fun startPreloading(adUnitId: String) {
  val adRequest = AdRequest.Builder(adUnitId).build()
  val preloadConfig = PreloadConfiguration(adRequest)
  InterstitialAdPreloader.start(adUnitId, preloadConfig)
}

    Java

    private void startPreloading(String adUnitId) {
  AdRequest adRequest = new AdRequest.Builder(adUnitId).build();
  PreloadConfiguration preloadConfig = new PreloadConfiguration(adRequest);
  InterstitialAdPreloader.start(adUnitId, preloadConfig);
}

    Ads are continuously made available as you show them. The following example polls for an ad from the preloader:

    Kotlin

    // Polling returns the next available ad and loads another ad in the background.
val ad = InterstitialAdPreloader.pollAd(adUnitId)

    Java

    // Polling returns the next available ad and loads another ad in the background.
final InterstitialAd ad = InterstitialAdPreloader.pollAd(adUnitId);

    Set the InterstitialAdEventCallback

    The InterstitialAdEventCallback handles events related to displaying your InterstitialAd. Before showing the interstitial ad, make sure to set the callback:

    Kotlin

    // Listen for ad events.
interstitialAd?.adEventCallback =
  object : InterstitialAdEventCallback {
    override fun onAdShowedFullScreenContent() {
      // Interstitial ad did show.
    }

    override fun onAdDismissedFullScreenContent() {
      // Interstitial ad did dismiss.
      interstitialAd = null
    }

    override fun onAdFailedToShowFullScreenContent(
      fullScreenContentError: FullScreenContentError
    ) {
      // Interstitial ad failed to show.
      interstitialAd = null
    }

    override fun onAdImpression() {
      // Interstitial ad did record an impression.
    }

    override fun onAdClicked() {
      // Interstitial ad did record a click.
    }
  }

    Java

    // Listen for ad events.
interstitialAd.setAdEventCallback(
    new InterstitialAdEventCallback() {
      @Override
      public void onAdShowedFullScreenContent() {
        // Interstitial ad did show.
        InterstitialAdEventCallback.super.onAdShowedFullScreenContent();
      }

      @Override
      public void onAdDismissedFullScreenContent() {
        // Interstitial ad did dismiss.
        InterstitialAdEventCallback.super.onAdDismissedFullScreenContent();
        interstitialAd = null;
      }

      @Override
      public void onAdFailedToShowFullScreenContent(
          @NonNull FullScreenContentError fullScreenContentError) {
        // Interstitial ad failed to show.
        InterstitialAdEventCallback.super.onAdFailedToShowFullScreenContent(
            fullScreenContentError);
        initerstitialAd = null;
      }

      @Override
      public void onAdImpression() {
        // Interstitial ad did record an impression.
        InterstitialAdEventCallback.super.onAdImpression();
      }

      @Override
      public void onAdClicked() {
        // Interstitial ad did record a click.
        InterstitialAdEventCallback.super.onAdClicked();
      }
    }
);

    Show the ad

    To show an interstitial ad, use the show() method.

    Kotlin

    // Show the ad.
interstitialAd?.show(this@InterstitialActivity)

    Java

    // Show the ad.
interstitialAd.show(InterstitialActivity.this);

    Example

    Download and run the example app that demonstrates the use of the GMA Next-Gen SDK.