Admob for HTML5 Developers!

Hooray! Admob is now available for all the HTML5 Developers!

Guys! Follow any update from the Intel XDK. Recently, it has announced that the third party Admob API is already available at github.

Something to note is that:

Because this app uses a Cordova plugin, it can only be built using the Cordova build targets. Attempting to use the "legacy" build targets will not work.

Meaning, when performing the "Build" action from the Intel XDK IDE, you have to select the Android from the "Cordova" section, instead of the Legacy part, as shown in the picture below:

What else are you waiting for? With the knowledge in the HTML, CSS and Jquery (Javascript), you are able to create an app with the Google Admob mobile advertising enabled!

A FREE and always updated Admob ANE

Good News!

To all the Adobe AIR developers (both iOS and Android), here's a FREE and always updated Admob Native Extension (ANE) by Code Alchemy.

In fact, I have a post previously that talks about how to import the Admob ANE into the Flash Builder 4.7 properly. But the thing is, this time, at the time of writing, the Open Source Codes of the Admob ANE provided by the Code Alchemy has indeed included everything you need - Sample Project + Native Source Code! Pretty Cool huh?

Basically, you just have to import the Sample Project and start getting your hands wet in testing out all the available features. There is one impressive thing to mention here - the author has made everything so intuitive! Change Banner position, Banner Type, Interstitial Ads and etc. Customize the Admob to suit your app!

Apart from the full-fledged Adobe ANE that works perfectly both in iOS and Android, the author is always available for feedback and future enhancement. Drop him a message and he will respond with useful answers and help.

I wish there are more generous people like him to make our lives easier, as an Adobe AIR app developer. :)

How to add Admob ANE into the Flash Builder project?

If you are first time integrating Adobe Native Extension (ANE) into the Flash Builder project (here, i demo an Andoid project), I bet you would have encountered some issues during debugging.

In this post, particularly, I would like to talk about adding Admob into the Flash Builder project. Since the Admob doesn't officially provide the ANE, here I am using the third-party one in the demo.

 If you have come across the error message such as:

VerifyError: Error #1014: Class so.cuo.anes.admob::Admob could not be found.

OR the error pop up similar to:

Error: Requested extension so.cuo.ane.Admob could not be found.

 then this is the right place to look for.


To revise, there are 2 steps to properly add an Adobe ANE into the Flash Builder (here, it is Admob ANE):

Step 1:

Go to Project Tab -> Properties -> Actionscript Build Path -> Native Extensions -> Add ANE

Step 2: (Which is most of the time overlooked by the beginner)

Go to Project Tab -> Properties -> Actionscript Build Packaging -> Google Android -> Tick the Checkbox of the Package

If you miss the step 2, you will face the errors mentioned.

One more thing, unlike using the Admob jar library in the Java project, the one provided by the third-party doesn't support Admob Ads in the debugging mode. You could only 'see' the Ads coming out if you "Export Release Build".

***Updated***
Following the link provided by Mike Monti, I am also able to display the Admob Ads.
One thing to remind is that, remember to add the following in your xml tags:

<meta-data android:name="com.google.android.gms.version" android:value="4323000"/>
<activity android:name="com.google.android.gms.ads.AdActivity" android:configChanges="keyboard|keyboardHidden|orientation|screenLayout|uiMode|screenSize|smallestScreenSize" />

To produce the Banner ads, you can simply follow the code below:

var adMobManager:AdMobManager = AdMobManager.manager;
if(adMobManager.isSupported)
     {
          adMobManager.bannersAdMobId = "ca-app-pub-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxx";
          adMobManager.createBanner(AdMobSize.SMART_BANNER,    AdMobPosition.BOTTOM_CENTER,"BottomBanner",null,true);
          adMobManager.showAllBanner();
      }

Hope this helps.

How to choose the best Mobile Ads Network for Android games?

Like establishing a website, one of the greatest motivations of creating android apps/ games is that, you can earn money in return, through advertising. In fact, there are tons of choices in the market, with each boasting of the high eCPM and revenue. The thing is, some of them even pay for writing non-justified commercial reviews in the forums (or creating a website for that), which further misleads the developers like us when making decisions.

When asking "Which is the best Mobile Ads Network" or "How to choose the best Mobile Ads Network", it is really tough to identify which facts on the search engine could really be trusted. I am personally a developer who hasn't been 'bribed' or paid for writing a discriminated review. However, i think it is appropriate to share my own opinions from time to time, at least for your reference about which options that i have tried before. And you can always correct me if i am wrong.
* I will always update this post whenever possible.

Admob
After realizing that Admob has been acquired by the Google, it is my first priority (and first attempt) of the mobile Ads network. It features a banner Ads that i liked to place at the bottom of the game display. The thing is, with the 50-100 downloads per day, the earning of Admob is pitifully low at around $0.50 - $1.00 per day. I have to honestly say the figure isn't that impressive (but at least i did earn something). After obtaining like $50 for the first time, i looked for some alternatives.

Revmob
I came across this mobile ads network in the forum. Some of the members have highly recommended this for a high revenue. I am attracted by the clean insterstitial Ads interface. However, after 2 months of advertising with this network, the stats shows dismay figures as well. Sometimes the number of impressions and installs don't really reflect your potential revenue. And the eCPM is even lesser than  3 (not even closed to the figure claimed at here). The support did respond quickly, but it was said that the number of impressions are not sufficient for the analytics. I will see how before adding more comments here.

Updated on 01 Oct 2013
Alright. After 3 months of testing, I would say Revmob generates poor results, at least for my Android game, despite the facts that the majority of the downloads come from the advanced countries like US, Korea, etc.

Vungle
This is the mobile ads network that caught my eyes in the Techcrunch tech geek site.. It only features a 15-second video ads (but it is quite special). The HD video quality is amazing. The Ads is pre-cached as well, providing almost no overhead when loaded. However, at the time of writing, the SDK only supports a landscape mode of video. If your gaming experience would be affected by the landscape mode, perhaps you need to wait for the future release. I would make more comments after having enough stats.

In the end? You are right, so far I haven't really found out a special mobile Ads Network that could really stands out (but i hope i am able to in one day, and update here). Furthermore, since different games have different gaming experience (and hence the Ads display), the comparison of the performance could have a slight discrepancy, unless all the games (that are using the different networks) are designed in a similar way.

Below shows the Alexa Ranking of some, as a reference of how popular the Ads networks are:

Mobile Ads Network	Alexa Ranking
Admob	4909
Revmob	29427
Vungle	81393

Apart from that, you may get some information from here.

Note:

• Some Ads Network have 'biased' results. For example, Revmob claimed that it has a higher revenue in iOS than in Android.
• Different Ads Networks have a different threshold for payment. For example, Admob pays if the accumulated amount reaches $30, while figure of some others is $100.
• Since Admob is acquired by Google, i would say that it is much more stable than any new start-up. The Mobile Ads Network industry is very competitive, such that you may never know which one will shut down taking your money away tomorrow. Remember the death of Adbrite last time?